mySmink part I: Beauty platform launches in Malaysia

Unveiled in August 2017, founding sisters, Nadia and Diana Nasimuddin, launched its ‘one stop beautyʼ digital store. mySmink — meaning ‘make up’ in Swedish — aims to empower customers with the confidence to ‘SMile & wiNKʼ.

The brand, by Beauty Luxe Sdn Bhd, first came up with the idea for the sales and education-based platform earlier this year, with the website then going live in late May 2017.

At a press event held in BLVD House, Platinum Park, Kuala Lumpur, Nadia and Diana introduced its philosophy and brand, encouraging consumers to #getSMINKed.

Its philosophy aims to introduce a  fun, inspiring and hassle-free process that offers make up, skin care, tools and beauty tips for cosmetics shoppers.

Following an initial investment cost of RM1 mn (€199,000), mySmink is now expected to welcome average yearly sales of RM2 mn (€398,000) with a net profit margin of 12%, as it expands to the Singaporean and Indonesian markets.

Beauty community​

With the tagline “My beauty, my way, mySmink”,​ the label has aspirations to become an online beauty community that provides content, education, product information and transparency in a luxury digital setting.

“We wanted to set up an avenue for the best make up, skin care, tools and beauty tips to let beauty enthusiasts put their best face forward,”​ expressed Nur Nadia SM Nasimuddin, Director and Co-Founder of mySmink.

“mySMINK is also a platform that will give local beauty brands the opportunity to build an international audience,”​ Nasimuddin noted.

Beauty collections​

Consumers have access to over 40 local beauty brands, with collections sporting products from make up, skin care, tools, hair and body care labels.

mySmink is currently the exclusive online distributor for Madame Izara, a make up collection by actress Izara Aishah, and Morena, a cosmetics line aimed at those with tan to dark skin tones.  

As Halal-certified products grow in popularity in APAC, mySmink curates JAKIM-approved items — the authority responsible for halal certification in Malaysia — or those that have been approved by international regulatory bodies.

Malaysian and APAC brands​

The global and local demand for Malaysian beauty brands is available as currently, there are a limited number of must-have beauty items from abroad that are pricier, and which, often fail to match the tropical weather and Asian skin types, mySmink reports.

As a result, make up and skin care alternatives are popular as these provide suitable textures that match Malaysia's tropical weather and include colours and textures that are suitable for Asian skin tones, the brand added.

Affordability is also key due to high exchange rates, along with halal products that have received genuine, certified and trusted endorsements.

“We want to showcase what the Malaysian beauty scene has to offer and turn the Malaysian beauty industry into a force to be reckoned with in Asia,”​ the brand enthused.

“If Korea and Japan can position themselves as beauty authorities, then so can we! Asian beauty is a growing trend that we don’t foresee slowing down,”​ mySmink added.

mySmink gives an insight into how it strategises brand selection: “We look at branding and formulation, market positioning and certification (such as KKM approval and/or halal- certification). We do, however, take on more artisanal brands too.”​

Growth potential​

“We are an e-commerce platform that focuses greatly on education and discovery - hence why each of our product pages educates customers throughout their shopping journey. In addition, our brand pages carry brand information while our halal tab leads to an article explaining what halal beauty is and how it's for everyone,”​ the founders expressed.

“Besides the platform’s ease of use, we focus a lot on product transparency – all product pages have a full ingredients list in addition to highlights and other useful information – so that everyone can shop worry-free and in comfort.”​

Commenting on market demand and what sets the brand apart from prestigious and internationally, recognised multi-brand platforms such as Sephora and Hermo, the founding duo stated: “We're structured inversely...while other platforms bring in reputable brands from the US and Europe here, with the potential that we see in Asian brands, we decided to provide a unified platform to sell Asian beauty products at a larger scale to other parts of the world such as to the US.”​

Emphasising the potential this presents them, the founders go on to say: “All this also gives our local beauty brands the opportunity to build an international audience.”​

The second part of this article, which explores mySmink's business and marketing strategy, will be published on Monday 18th September 2017.