New beginnings: Indonesia’s Lune Skin tapping into potential for local niched fragrances

By Amanda Lim

- Last updated on GMT

Indonesia’s Lune Skin finds new life as a fragrance brand after COVID-19. [Getty Images]
Indonesia’s Lune Skin finds new life as a fragrance brand after COVID-19. [Getty Images]

Related tags Fragrance make-up Indonesia COVID-19

A Jakarta-based company has found new life as a fragrance brand after the COVID-19 pandemic decimated its colour cosmetics business.

After a stint in fashion marketing for a digital direct-to-consumer brand, Lune Skin founder Andrea Moudy developed a line of colour cosmetic products. The brand’s star product was the Multi-Stick, multipurpose lipstick, blush and eyeshadow product.

After launching in November 2018, Moudy told CosmeticsDesign-Asia​ that she was pleased with the progress of the brand.

Between its online shop and a handful of brick-and-mortar stockists, it managed to sustain month-on-month growth of around 5% to 7%, without spending too much marketing dollars, added Moudy.

Despite its positive beginnings, the brand was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought down sales of colour cosmetics around the globe. This, coupled with the lockdowns and production freezes, the company spent a demoralising 2020 clearing out its remaining inventory.

It was during this time Moudy had a realisation that she needed to pivot her business and create essential products that consumers were more likely to repurchase more than once.

“The thing about colour cosmetics is that you won’t repurchase it because you would want to find something more interesting, try something new – that’s what I wanted to avoid with my business. I wanted to provide people with something essential, something timeless.”

In late 2021, Lune Skin was reintroduced with a new line-up of products including three fragrances and two lip balms.

“There are a lot of local make-up brands but now there are more local perfume brands launching and people are really happy to support local brands. The perfume market is really growing in Indonesia; I think it’s because of millennials and the youngsters, which is who we are targeting, and that market is expanding. That’s why I see a lot of potential for the brand now,” ​said Moudy.

The company is also exploring new markets including neighbouring countries Singapore and Malaysia. In June, Lune Skin took part in a consumer tradeshow Public Garden in Singapore, where she promptly sold out on the first day of the show.

This is giving her confidence to explore regional opportunities for the brand. Given the intricacies of shipping fragrances internationally, Lune Skin is only available domestically at the moment. However, the company is aiming to make regional shipping available soon.

In the meantime, it is exploring offline expansion in Bali, Indonesia, a popular holiday destination to capture the influx of tourists now that travel is recovering. Lune Skin had previously been stocked in several boutiques in Bali pre-COVID and Moudy said she hoped to recreate its success there.

In addition to market expansion, Moudy is also working on launching new products this year. She revealed to us that one of the priorities for the brand is to expand its range of perfumes and hinted that the brand will be launching a new product to complement its perfumes.

“In 2020, because we weren’t able to launch any new products, we lost a lot of followers. I don’t want that to happen again so I will be launching new products so my customers will not be bored, and they’ll have new things to purchase from our brand.”

Beyond this year, the brand could expand into new categories, including skin care.

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