Hot Topics: Top 5 trending beauty and cosmetics news stories on social media

1— H&H Group sees potential for personalisation, probiotics and CBD in Asian beauty market

Hong Kong-based Health & Happiness (H&H) Group has made a raft of recent investments in order to capitalise on emerging beauty trends.​

In January, the H&H Group finalised its acquisition of UK-based Aurelia Probiotic Skincare for £21m ($25.5). In July, the firm’s innovation arm, NewH2, made investments into US personalised skin care brand Proven, as well as health and skin care company Bod Australia.

With these new investments, the company now has a strong foundation in the skin care space, said Sarah Chibnall, Global Communications Director of H&H Group.

“Investing in skin care is not new for H&H. We’ve been involved with skin care for eight years through our wellness brand. Now, with a skin care presence in both parts of the business I think, it feels like we have a strong investment in skin care.”​

2 – Playing with colour: Singaporean beauty start-up launches DIY lipstick system

Singapore-based beauty start-up, GoPlay, has unveiled a DIY lipstick ‘printer’ ​as a solution to some of the pain points beauty consumers face on a daily basis.

According to Mugdha Hedaoo, founder and creator of the GoPlay Lipskit, beauty consumers have three major problems when it comes to buying lipstick: unhygienic testers, inaccurate store lightening and the discontinuation of lipstick products.

“Personally, I also realised how much waste the cosmetics industry generates when I was moving and found boxes of barely used products. I know I’m not alone. Most people have had similar experiences. That’s why I created this solution,” ​she added.

Development process​

GoPlay Lipskit took about a year to develop. The whole system consists of a holder and five slots for cartridges that dispense liquid lipstick formulas in red, yellow, blue, white and black.

The formulas are dispensed into reusable jars that can be attached securely to the holder.

3 – Singaporean beauty entrepreneur eyes SEA expansion for ‘effortless beauty’ brand

Founder of Singapore-based beauty brand The Feisty Chick is looking to expand its presence in South East Asia where she believes there is high demand​ for her ‘effortless’ beauty products.

The Feisty Chick launched last month with two eyeliner sets which consist of an eyeliner stamp and a felt-tip liner, were designed to help Asian consumers perfect the winged eyeliner look.

Founder Chua Si Ting, a former lawyer, believes most beauty consumers want products that take the stress out of the morning routine and get them out of the door quicker.

“The nature of my previous job meant I had to work till later and start early. In situations like this, every second counts. So, I wanted to create a cosmetics brand to help the modern-day woman achieve flawless make-up effortlessly. So every product has to be time-saving and work well,” ​Chua told CosmeticsDesign-Asia.​

Chua estimated that the winged eyeliner stamp idea has been around as early as 2016. While it is not a brand new idea, Chua saw a gap in the market as these stamps were not suitable for Asian beauty consumers.

4 – Zero waste hero: Res Pharma Industriale scores top prize in Korea for recycled silk protein ingredient

Res Pharma Industriale has scooped the Functional Ingredient Gold Award at in-cosmetics Korea for its sustainable silk protein,​ Moripure Silk Aqua, which is derived from textile wastewater.

The development of Moripure Silk Aqua was part of the company’s desire to expand on its sustainability efforts and produce a solution to water scarcity, said Paolo Siragusa, innovation manager, Res Pharma Industriale.

“Water is the most important part of the cosmetic industry; it is the blue gold. Sustainability will continue to be a key topic and water will be at the center of it. People now realise we need to save the water for the next generations.”​

Transforming waste​

The company eventually discovered a solution outside of the cosmetics industry.

5 – Making a comeback: Crabtree and Evelyn plans Asian expansion after brand relaunch

Bath and body care brand Crabtree & Evelyn has relaunched in Singapore after closing all its stores in January, and now plans to expand across Asia.​

The brand unveiled a new e-commerce website as well as two new bath and beauty collections: Evelyn Rose, a rose-scented collection, and Crabtree, its first genderless range.

Reaching ‘Zillennials’​

The brand is also sporting a new identity and ethos – ‘Born Curious. Grown Wild’, which was inspired by its founder, Cyrus Harvey.

“We knew we had to reconstruct everything – our brand, our products, our business model – to be welcomed into that community, and to be authentic there could be no half-measures,”​ said David Stern, CEO of Crabtree & Evelyn.

“So, we made the daring decision to discontinue all of our existing products, close all of our existing stores, and reintroduce the brand behind a dynamically different product range and a social and digitally driven business model.”​