Shiseido Group announced today that it has entered into a three-year global strategic partnership with Tencent. The Group will build a D2C (Direct to Consumer) growth engine to enhance global consumer experience and accelerate the Group's digital capability building and transformation through comprehensive cooperation with Tencent's social and content ecology, enterprise digital transformation services and innovative technologies. Shiseido and Tencent signed a strategic cooperation agreement at Shiseido China headquarters. Shiseido China CEO Kentaro Fujiwara said, "In recent years, Shiseido China, as the Group's second global headquarters, has not only accelerated its own digital transformation, but also actively explored the way to work together with partners to export the innovative power of the Chinese ecosystem outward." After active expansion, Shiseido China and Tencent have continued to deepen cooperation in areas such as brand advertisement, product promotion, omnichannel consumer experience management, and the expansion of WeChat Mall. Both parties will take the lead in the enhancement of the global Chinese consumer experience through Shiseido China's social e-commerce platform and digital innovation of beauty technology. In the future, Shiseido Group will work with Tencent to gradually cooperate in the areas of smart retail, innovative models, virtual immersive brand experience and smart skincare solutions for specific groups of people through digital solutions. Tencent's President Liu Chiping said: "We hope to provide customized products and services for users and businesses through technological innovation. We also aim to create a consumer-centric D2C growth engine and help Shiseido and more beauty brands upgrade."

Abstract: If cosmetics of non-compliant quality on the Chinese network are found by consumers, the sellers and third-party e-commerce platforms will be held responsibility.

Global household chemical giant P&G announced that it was voluntarily recalling several aerosol spray products produced in the U.S. under four brands, including Pantene, Herbal Essences, Aussie and Waterless. The recall is due to concerns over the levels of the chemical benzene, which is known to cause cancer. On December 17, U.S. time, global household chemical giant P&G announced that it was voluntarily recalling several aerosol spray products produced in the U.S. under four brands, including Pantene, Herbal Essences, Aussie and Waterless. The recall is due to concerns over the levels of the chemical benzene, which is known to cause cancer. P&G said in the announcement that benzene hadn’t been added in any of the spray-on products as an ingredient, but benzene has recently been detected in some spray products. With full knowledge, the company is issuing a voluntary recall. The announcement elaborated on the risks of benzene: Benzene is classified as a carcinogen for humans and can be caused cancer such as leukemia through inhalation, oral ingestion, and contact with the skin. However, P&G also specifically stated that "Based on exposure models and cancer risk assessments published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (IRIS database), daily exposure to benzene in recalled products is not expected to cause adverse health effects at the levels detected in our testing. Benzene is ubiquitous in the environment ...... To date, P&G has not received any reports of adverse events related to this recall." In response to the detection of benzene in some batches produced in the U.S. this time, P&G Japan and P&G China have given a timely response. On December 18, Beijing time, Japan P&G issued a recall notice on its official website for the products involved. It recalled nearly 190,000 bottles of the products which mainly included some Pantene aerosol spray manufactured in the U.S., due to detected with benzene that was not used as a failed component. On December 19, Beijing time, P&G China also stated that: this recall of dry hair spray products issued by P&G in the North American market is limited to some batches produced in North America, which China did not import the above products.

Recently, Kwai E-commerce issued a new announcement of the "Rules of Operation on Kwai Imported E-commerce". In terms of admission, the main body of the merchant need to have registered company entity overseas or China Hong Kong, China Macau, China Taiwan with qualification on overseas retail or trade, have a entity that bears joint and several responsibility within mainland China, i.e., a domestic agent and have a corporate account overseas or China Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan . In addition, the announcement also mentioned that priority will be given to recruiting brand owners, brand agents, and well-known brands that have not entered the Chinese market from overseas and China Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and e-commerce teams with experience in cross-border e-commerce operations. This means that Kwai further liberalize and encourage the entry of overseas brands. Overseas beauty into the Chinese market ushered in the opportunity. In the term of qualifications, the main qualification of the resident merchant (overseas) should contains: registration documents, authorized representative statement, authorized representative identity document and overseas responsible subject (joint and several responsible subjects) need to provide business license, overseas enterprises and domestic agent enterprise entrusted cooperation statement, legal person documents. Brand qualifications need to include brand trademark registration certificate, brand authorization certificate. At the same time, distribution of Kwai implemented the targeted invitation system to Kwai imported stores. In the term of commodity requirements, it is required that the sale of goods prohibited for sale under national regulations are prohibited. Merchants should comply with requirements that the cross-border e-commerce model imported products shall not be sold twice. Goods classified as illegal or restricted in the jurisdiction to which the goods belong, or goods used to participate in illegal or restricted activities and goods prohibited from entering or leaving the country, are prohibited for sale on the platform. In addition, it should also comply with the "Release Rules of Kwai Import E-Commerce Commodity". In the term of marketing and promotion, it should be followed the relevant marketing regulations of the " General Rules of Kwai Imported E-Commerce Platform". Moreover, in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, the influencer shall not encourage or induce users to resell cross-border imported goods and shall not facilitate secondary sales.It should be complied with the basic requirements of the "Management Code of Kwai Community Live Streaming" "Code of Kwai Community User Profile" "Cover Code of Kwai Community Live Streaming" "Code of Kwai Community Comment”.

Since the implementation of the Code, it has become a consensus in the industry that all cosmetic efficacy claims made in China need to be reported. In the future, a cosmetic product claimed efficacy must be valid as long as it has been formally filed in China, theoretically.

It is reported that Xiao Hong Shu launched a new special campaign of "fake marketing" and 29 well-known brands were banned in the first batch including Dove, Nivea, Neutrogena, wonderlab, Little Dream Garden and Bodcrme. It is reported that the governance will be further expanded to cover the entire upstream and downstream of "ghostwriting" gray chain compared to the previous special campaign. At the moment, when we search key words such as Dove, the content of the relevant notes can not be displayed and the resulting page only appears the notice: "the brand is suspected of fake marketing so related content will not be displayed" . Xiao Hong Shu has been liked by many brands because of its strong promotion to users. The brands seek to find a large number of people without reputation in the way of product replacement or cash through external intermediaries or platforms. And the brands ask the people to post fake marketing in Xiao Hong Shu. Thus a gray industry chain of fake marketing is formed. Since 2019, Xiao Hong Shu has set up a professional team to implement several special campaign of fake marketing including the "Woodpecker Plan" to combat low and poor content, fake promotion notes and accounts. Through cross-platform reporting by WeChat, Baidu Tieba, Douban, Taobao, more than 1.6 million recruitment links of this gray chain have been taken down or blocked. "If the demand for brand’s 'ghostwriters' can’t be cut off , this gray chain will continue to exist and continue to grow. It is band-aid at best by only managing the fake content and accounts in the platform.” The person in charge of the special campaign of "fake marketing" of Xiao Hong Shu said. A well-known lawyer believes that the industry chain of fake marketing also has a supply and demand relationship. The order taker is catering to the brand’s demand in upstream. The upstream demand should be cut off to completely govern the gray industry chain. Fake marketing on the one hand violates the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests and infringes on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. On the other hand, there is unfair competition to peers, which  violates "Anti-unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China".

According to Beiersdorf's official website on December 16, the Supervisory Board of Beiersdorf AG has appointed Grita Loebsack to the Company’s Executive Board effective January 2022. She will be at newly created position as President NIVEA and will take over its global management. Grita Loebsack has extensive management experience in skincare and global brand building and she has held leading positions at Essilor, Unilever and L'Oréal. Grita Loebsack joined L'Oréal in 1996 as International Marketing Director of L'Oréal Skincare Paris and Global President of the Vichy. In 2012, she joined Unilever as Executive Vice President of Global Skincare and later joined Kering as CEO of Fashion and Leather Products and was responsible for a diversified fashion portfolio. Currently, Grita Loebsack serves as Chief Marketing Officer and member of the Executive Committee at Essilor. Vincent Warnery, Chairman of Beiersdorf’s Executive Board, added: “I am very pleased that Grita Loebsack will take over responsibility for our flagship brand NIVEA, leading it into an even more successful future. I am convinced that she will develop NIVEA into an even more global, digital, and sustainable brand inspiring our consumers around the world.”

In China, the whitening ingredient "377" will not be allowed to be added to ordinary cosmetics.

According to a newly-filed trademark application for registration, French luxury brand Chanel is looking to register the number 5 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) for use on cosmetics Chanel stated that it has been using the mark since November 2021, using the No. 5 eyeshadow palette as an example, with a box designed with the number "5" in relief. As early as 2002, Chanel attempted to register a trademark with a single number "5" for handbags and tote bags, but it was rejected by the USPTO. The main reason for the rejection by the USPTO was that a single number "5" had already been used by an independent third party on a different type of bag and Chanel eventually abandoned the application. In fact, Chanel maintains trademark registrations in the U.S. for numbers. In 2015, for instance, it filed for and was issued a registration for 2.55 for use on handbags. The number is used by the brand to refer to a handbag style – “a special handbag shape created by Gabrielle Chanel in February 1955,”. Around the same time,Chanel similarly filed an application and eventually received a registration for 11.12 for use on handbags, namely, a handbag designed by late creative director Karl Lagerfeld that “reinterprets the iconic 2.55 handbag.” Beyond that, Chanel maintains registrations for 1932 for use on perfumery, and for 3.55 for use in connection with downloadable podcasts featuring commentary and ideas in the fields of “fashion, art, music, travel, and creative inspirations.” In the United States, Chanel has registered trademarks for perfumes, bath gels and body creams with the name "Chanel No. 5" since 1998 and it also registered a trademark for the shape of the bottle of No. 5 perfume. Since then, Chanel's trademark applications have been simplified from "Chanel No. 5" to "No. 5" and then to the number "5" alone. The scope of application has been expanded to deodorant, hair care products, jewelry, stickers/tape and water bottles. This evolution has enabled Chanel to hold a wider range of trademark rights for its classic No. 5 fragrance.

Darlie’s Chinese name is "Hei Ren Ya Gao" and it will be changed to "Haolai" which echoes Hawley & Hazel's Chinese name. The full range of oral care products with the new logo of the brand will be launched in the market from around March 2022. On December 14, 2021, Hawley & Hazel announced its "Brand Renewal Plan". In order to better interpret the brand concept of "beauty comes from a smile", one of its brands Darlie will be changed its Chinese name. Darlie’s Chinese name is "Hei Ren Ya Gao" and it will be changed to "Haolai" which echoes Hawley & Hazel's Chinese name. The full range of oral care products with the new logo of the brand will be launched in the market from around March 2022. It is reported that Darlie is associated with Hawley & Hazel Chemical (Zhongshan) Limited which was established in July 1995 with a registered capital of $ 25 million, wholly owned by Hawley & Hazel Asia Investment Company. Darlie is a native famous brand in China. It was first founded in 1933 by two businessmen Yan Bolin a Yan Zhongli from Ningbo in Shanghai. The two people are also brothers. During the foreign settlement existing in Shanghai, they founded Hawley & Hazel Pharmacy, the predecessor of Hawley & Hazel Chemical. In 1985, Colgate acquired 50% of the shares of Hawley & Hazel Chemical for $50 million, which made Darlie an oral care subsidiary of Colgate. Today, Darlie is owned by Colgate and its joint venture partner, Hawley & Hazel. The violent death of African American man George Perry Floyd caused by a white police officer has sparked a bigger storm against racial discrimination worldwide and Darlie has been affected by the incident. As previously reported by Reuters, American. daily chemical giant Colgate is negotiating with its partners to evaluate and further refine its Chinese toothpaste brand "Darlie" including the brand’s name. The brand's English name was initially "darkie" and later changed to "DARLIE". But its Chinese name has always been "Hei Ren Ya Gao" and has been used since 1933.

Abstract: The release and use of the Children's Cosmetics Mark will greatly enhance the recognition of children's cosmetics in China, and help further strengthen the supervision of children's cosmetics in China to ensure the safety of children's makeup in China.

Abstract: This network rumors that "After the prohibition of the ingredient “377”, alpha-Bisabolol is also banned in ordinary cosmetics" caused a hot debate in China's cosmetics industry.