Hot topics: Top 5 beauty and cosmetics stories trending on our socials right now

1 – ‘Beauty for all travellers’: Valentino Beauty among new brands L’Oréal will be launching in Hainan to drive growth​

Valentino Beauty will be among the new brands​ that L’Oréal’s will debut in Hainan, China, as it continues to invest into the lucrative holiday destination.

Despite global tourism woes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the growth of L’Oréal’s travel retail division has been positive, largely due to its performance in APAC – especially in Hainan.

“The foundation for beauty consumption is solid in Travel Retail China, and we are experiencing strong dynamic in all three categories – skin care, makeup, and fragrances,” ​said Emmanuel Goulin, Managing Director at L’Oréal Travel Retail Asia Pacific.

Among the three categories, the firm said the demand for skin care continues to be a driving force in terms of growth.

2 – Gender neutral: New Japan survey reveals potential for cosmetic products that can be used by both men and women

More than 60% of Japanese women would be willing to share their cosmetic products with men​, indicating opportunities for brands to develop genderless products, according to a new survey.

Owned by Japanese beauty retail and media firm istyle Inc, @cosme is a cosmetic portal that has amassed over 15 million product reviews from around 16 million monthly visitors.

It has also spun off into retail, with cosmetic stores in markets such as Japan, Thailand and Taiwan.

Its latest report surveyed over 5,800 women ages 18 to 69 on their attitudes towards men’s grooming habits.

3 – Good enough for teens: Aussie mums aim to spread awareness of sun protection among tweens and teens without ‘nagging’

Newly launched Aussie sun care brand New Day Skin is targeting the underserved and ‘vulnerable’ tweens and teens demographic​ to spread awareness of the importance of sun protection.

New Day Skin was founded by Brisbane-based mums and twin sisters Angela Tallon and Joanne Harding.

Harding, who has two decades of experience in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector working for firms such as Colgate-Palmolive, Nestle and United Breweries, told CosmeticsDesign-Asia​ that she saw a gap in the market for sunscreens that tweens and teens would want to use.

The lightbulb moment was when Harding’s then nine-year-old daughter asked to use her mother’s sun-protective moisturising, which was a high-end skin care product that costs A$70 (U$54) a bottle.

4 – Native stories: Aboriginal-owned firm Nood Australia to strengthen B2C arm with high-end skin care brand

Australian First Nations personal and home care firm Nood Australia is set to launch a high-end skin care brand​ made with native Australian botanicals in the third quarter of the year to reinforce B2C business.

Nood was founded by managing director Anthony Wilson, who is of Ngarrindjeri and Kaurna descent.

Wilson, who is also a South Australian National Football League player, told CosmeticsDesign-Asia​ that he founded Nood as a platform to showcase native Australian botanicals that have been used by his people for millennia.

“Over the last five to 10 years, there’s been a lot of research on Australian native botanicals, their properties and how we use them. Now people are using them in food and drinks, wines and spirits. I think being able to incorporate that into another market like cosmetics is super important.”​

5 – Smells like success: Growth of men’s fragrance surpasses make-up and skin care in China​

The men’s fragrance category is leading the way in China​, exceeding make-up and skin care in terms of annual and quarterly growth, according to data from one market research company.

According to market research company NPD Group, the prestige beauty market saws sales of $10.8bn from e-commerce alone in 2020.

This was in part driven by China’s three biggest e-commerce festivals: Women’s Day in March, the 618 campaign in June and Double 11 in November.

The same data showed that the men’s prestige grooming surpassed the growth rate of the women’s segment, growing 75% compared to the women’s 35%.