Brand story: The recent APAC developments from the biggest names in beauty

Waterless beauty trend ‘bound’ to become mainstream – Lush Cosmetics​

Lush Cosmetics’ Singapore director believes beauty is ready to be ‘100% waterless’ based on rising consumer education and its own innovations.

Speaking exclusively to CosmeticsDesign-Asia’s​ Beauty Broadcast series, director of Lush Cosmetics Singapore, Nafees Khundker, revealed that sales of waterless products have double in the last five years.

Khundker attributed the increase to better knowledge and education about sustainability issues such as plastic waste and water scarcity. This trend has accelerated over the past two years in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

K-beauty giants see mega demand for shampoos that conceal grey hairs and prevent hair loss​

South Korean cosmetic titans Amorepacific and LG Household & Healthcare (LG H&H) have both recently launched shampoos that can conceal grey hairs to great success, signalling a huge demand for anti-ageing hair care products.

According to Amorepacific, RYO Double Effector Black Shampoo pre-launch sales on channels including G-Market and SSG.com promptly sold out.

A month later, rival LG H&H introduced two grey hair care products under its hair care brand ReEn and claims to have sold over 200,000 units within three weeks of its release.

FIVEISM x THREE outlines post-COVID market expansion plans to tap into growing men’s beauty market​

Genderless make-up brand FIVEISM x THREE is embarking on an overseas expansion as the COVID-19 situation abates, with new markets including Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan on its cards.

The company recently announced that it had expanded the brand into Thailand with four department locations – Siam Paragon, Central World, ICONSIAM, and Central Ladphrao.

Thailand is the second overseas market expansion for the brand, which previously expanded into China via cross-border e-commerce. The brand is capitalising on THREE’s popularity in Thailand as well as its large base of male customers.

LG H&H launches vegan make-up brand targeted at younger consumers​​

South Korean consumer goods conglomerate LG Household & Health Care (LG H&H) has launched Freshian, a vegan-certified colour cosmetic brand in bid to attract the young set of millennial and Generation Z beauty consumers.

The new brand debuted with two types of cushion compacts, a range of lip balms, and a sunscreen. According to the press statement, the products were designed to ‘soothe the skin’.

The company said that it would expand the brand’s product portfolio this year with eye make-up, foundation and lipsticks.

How to win over… beauty consumers in the shifting post-pandemic brick-and-mortar landscape​

Major brands including Sephora, Lush Cosmetics, Health & Glow and SUGAR Cosmetics have exclusively shared their insights on how they are redefining the in-store consumer experience in the wake of the COVID-pandemic.

As we begin emerging from the fight against COVID-19, there are some who believe retail is in decline, especially now that the pandemic has accelerated retail’s digital transformation.

However, expert insights show it is going through a metamorphosis, finding a way to coexist with its digital counterpart, all to make the consumers’ shopping experience that much more seamless and pleasurable.