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

Is Vitamin K set to become the next ‘hero’ skin care ingredient?​

The skin-repairing and strengthening abilities of vitamin K, coupled with the insatiable demand for new and exciting ingredients, will spur interest in the “wound healing vitamin”, according to one skin care brand.

Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin that can assist with redness, strengthen capillaries and can help with wound healing.

Skin care brand Biologi believes that vitamin K has the potential to become one of the next big things in skin care ingredients.

Natural trend driving beauty to embrace Africa’s traditional oils​

The cosmetics industry is seeing a rising appetite for traditional oils that have been used for centuries by Africa’s indigenous people as the demand for new, powerful, and efficacious natural ingredients booms.

Japanese firm Celmyon top three selling African oils are baobab, marula and mongongo oil. In particular, it has seen high growth rates for the latter because of its unique properties.

The company has data to show that Mongongo oil can protect against UV rays and blue light. More interestingly, when it comes in contact with UV, it forms a film on the hair.

Web3 expert encourages beauty brands to make ‘first small steps’ into the future​

Beauty brands big and small are being urged to experiment with Web3 concepts such as NFTs and the Metaverse in order to “get ready for the future”.

“I really believe that it's time for the brands to start moving into Web3. For the first step, start small, maybe with NFTs, which is easily to play and start with,” ​said Jean-Philippe Hanquez, founder of Web3 consultancy MNT3.

Hanquez was speaking at a webinar event held by the Singapore Society of Cosmetic Chemists (SCSS).

Meeth developing bikini line moisturiser in collaboration with consumers​​

J-beauty brand Meeth is developing a moisturiser for the sensitive bikini line area in collaboration with a group of consumers that personally pitched it to its CEO.

Brand founder and CEO Sonmi handpicked the idea out of over a hundred of pitches over an online event she held in 2020, where she invited her consumers to present product ideas to her.

Sonmi added that the presentation made her confident that releasing such a product would make a difference in the lives of women.

Why Aminu co-founder makes it a point to ignore social media trends​

Beauty brands are too quick to jump onto the hype train when they should be investing time and money on education and research, says the co-founder of skin care brand Aminu.

Making a point not to follow fads has been a challenge for the brand, which is only just over a year old.

By ignoring the trends, the brand instead focuses a lot on research into new ingredients and consumer concerns. The firm also works with local beauty salons as a way of keeping an ear on the ground.