What’s trending? The most-read stories on APAC beauty market and consumer insights

1 – Vulnerable but irreplaceable: Indian sandalwood essential to creating nostalgic notes consumers want during pandemic

The unique composition of Indian sandalwood makes it the best ingredient to tap into need to create nostalgia​ in perfumery and personal care during pandemic times, says one supplier.

In the past troubled year, people have been turning to nostalgia to find comfort and cope with the instability that the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought.

“We’re seeing this trend surrounding nostalgia and it's really come out of the COVID scenario. It’s playing across in a number of different segments from food to fragrances, harkening back to a time when life was simpler,”​ explains Vanessa Ligovich, chief marketing officer at Quintis Sandalwood, an Australian supplier of sandalwood products.

This is further driving the demand for the already prized sandalwood in segments that are linked to wellness and self-care, including ambient scenting, perfumery, and personal care.

2 – Baby boom: MyGlamm expanding into mum and baby care with over 80 new products on the way

Amazon-backed MyGlamm is set to launch over 80 new personal care products to tap into the rapidly growing mum and baby care segment in India.​

This news follows the company’s announcement that it was acquiring online parenting platform BabyChakra and investing INR100cr ($13.5m) to build a mummy- and baby-centric content-to-commerce platform over three years.

Naiyya Saggi, founder and CEO of BabyChakra will join the MyGlamm group as co-founder and president and will spearhead the mum-baby vertical for the company.

The company is gearing up to launch over 80 products in this category under the BabyChakra brand in the next eight to 12 months.

3 – ‘A shift is happening’: Why brands that emphasise scientific accuracy will displace clean beauty firms – 5 to 5

The founders of a newly launched skin care brand 5 to 5 is expecting the clean beauty trend to decline​ in the coming years and be replaced by brands that are based on solid science.

5 to 5 was co-founded by Nico Yosman and Selvie Jusman, who both have a background in finance.

Launched in June, the Singapore-based brand’s philosophy is that everything it does “from product development to marketing communication” ​should be “rooted in science”.​

Yosman and Jusman believe that the information clean beauty brands tend to market, such as a fear of certain ingredients, is contributing to its downfall.

4 – Customised for India: Quench Botanics launches K-beauty-inspired products tailored for local consumers

Quench Botanics is tapping into the rising K-wave with Korean-inspired beauty products​ that have been tweaked to better suit Indian consumers.

The brand was conceived to offer Indian consumers a K-beauty experienced that is catered to their needs, concerns, and lifestyles.

For instance, unlike conventional K-beauty brands, Quench Botanics does not espouse a lengthy 10- or 12-step skin care routine.

“This is one of the most important things for us. Indian consumers don’t spend more than seven to 10 minutes on skin care per day. Therefore, expecting them to follow a lengthy 10-step routine would be unrealistic,”​ said Janvi Kapadia, brand manager of Quench Botanics.

5 – WATCH – ‘Ageless beauty’: Shiseido and Native Extracts on how inclusivity and acceptance is changing skin ageing developments

On this episode of the Beauty Broadcast, we are exploring how the changing perception of ageing is pushing cosmetic companies such as Shiseido and Native Extracts to rethink the ‘anti-ageing’ skin care category entirely.​

In this era of inclusivity and acceptance, the fear of ageing is slowly diminishing. The narrative is shifting away from anti-ageing to ageing well and ageing authentically.

“Consumers these days are a lot more open and they're more positive towards ageing…We've seen that they're not focusing only on fixing problems, they are now embracing ageing and embracing every stage of life,” ​said Bow Tachamahachai, regional brand director, Shiseido APAC.

When it comes to skin ageing, there is now more emphasis on health and looking healthy rather than aesthetics.