China's eastern aesthetics will go global step by step. (Credit: Florasis) When people talk about beauty brands, their first thought is a variety of cosmetic brands from Europe and America, such as L'Oreal and Estee Lauder. If talking about the beauty brands from the eastern region, Amore Pacific from Korea and Shiseido from Japan will be a priority. But a Chinese brand is emitting a Chinese unique style arising out of all its details, from its intention of eastern aesthetics to the ingredients, design, packaging, and philosophy of the products. Florasis has made its way into the world with its extremely strong eastern cultural attributes. At present, products of Florasis is selling to some markets such as Japan, the United States, Europe, and many other countries. Florasis entered the e-commerce platforms of more than 100 countries and regions and opened stand-alone shops in 46 countries and regions. How did such a special eastern brand gain the favor of international markets? CHAILEEDO interviewed the co-founder of Florasis, Fei Man. He shared his opinion on going to global Florasis from its cultural perspective. (Mid: Co-founder of Florasis, Fei Man） Based on Chinese history and culture During the communication with CHAILEEDO, the co-founder of Florasis, Fei Man, said that they have always believed that Chinese culture has a long historical origin, but few brands in the world are currently able to integrate their products with Chinese culture in a proper way. The cultural barrier must be overcome by a very impressive aesthetic expression to let people from different cultural backgrounds comprehend what Florasis wants to express. At the beginning of its founding, Florasis was clear about its mission and values it insisted to be a global brand. Therefore, it made outstanding achievements in these areas, including the culture of beauty, aesthetics, and science in the world. "The growth and rise of a Chinese brand need to be recognized not within China, but on the world stage. It can be worthily called a beauty brand from China if it can be recognized by the world." Fei Man said. The name Florasis enjoys traditional Chinese style. Just like the Roman myth of FLORA, goddess of flowers, the name Florasis is a combination of the words "Flora" and "sis", symbolizing the eastern flower goddess who picks lotuses for medicine at the West Lake in Hangzhou. That gives Florasis a unique persona and aesthetic positioning. It also means that it hopes that women who use products of Florasis will be as beautiful as the eastern flower goddess. Rooted in traditional Chinese culture and eastern heritage, Florasis has positioned itself as a "Traditional Cosmetics, Floral Essences" since its launch. The products of Florasis combined culture, aesthetics, eastern culture, eastern craftsmanship, and makeup. For example, the Love Lock lipstick takes the meaning of love fusing the eastern carving craft with the romantic symbolism of a love lock. It engraves the eastern romantic love story into the lipstick body. Florasis' products are full of eastern elements from shades, textures, packaging materials, and style designs. (Blooming Rouge Love Lock Lipstick) To better show the characteristics of eastern beauty, Florasis has built its own Eastern Beauty System. On the one hand, Florasis has taken the theoretical system of Chinese Traditional Medicine(CTM) as its basic theory to constantly update its R&D technology and develop a new system of eastern ingredients. For example, Florasis Yurong Air-brushed Ultrawear Foundation Powder launched this year applies the formula favored by the Lao Fo Ye(the last empress dowager in Chinese history in Qing Dynasty) a hundred years ago. But Florasis has "rebirth" this product in a modern scientific way. On the other hand, Florasis has spent a lot of time studying Chinese culture, such as Chinese intangible cultural heritage, to incorporate ethnic characteristics into the presentation of colored cosmetics. (Florasis Yurong Air-brushed Ultrawear Foundation Powder) Step by step Some international consumers once reviewed Florasis as "This is a niche high-end beauty brand from Hangzhou, China". But Florasis' goal is much more than that. "I always keep one saying in my mind: Locating the potential future while making solid efforts. The goal of Florasis is to become a brand that is comparable to international brands. Although there will be many challenges in the development process, Florasis will move forward step by step, solidly." Fei Man said. Florasis is indeed moving exactly. The targeted international region chosen by Florasis was the more advanced and developed countries in the world at the outset, including mature markets with cosmetic consumer awareness such as Japan, North America, and France. From an achievable perspective, Japan is culturally homogeneous with China, which makes Japanese consumers inherently more receptive to Chinese-style beauty. Secondly, because of Japan's geopolitical attributes, it is more mature in terms of logistics, transportation, and sales channels than Europe and the US. For these two reasons, Florasis chose Japan as the first station for the brand to go global. In the early stage of going global, Florasis adheres to its goal, which is creating a cosmetic brand from China. Florasis take its stand-alone shops as an interaction place with all consumers, which has been the focus channel of Florasis. Communication with the influencer is also an important part of building the brand awareness of Florasis globally. Florasis has spent a lot of time communicating with local influencers to understand their views and suggestions on Florasis. Florasis also pick some products and sent these products to some customers through these influencers. In the interview, Fei Man specifically mentioned that he was impressed by the collaboration with Kazu Hiro, a well-known makeup artist from Japan. After Kazu Hiro tried the Florasis Flawless Jade Breathable Setting Powder, Florasis and Kazu Hiro started to deep communication and gradually build trust. After that, Kazu Hiro promoted this product to TV magazines. "He was recognizing the story of our brand and made a lot of preparations for it. There was a lot that wasn't in the scope of the collaboration, which we didn't expect and are very grateful for," said Fei Man. (Florasis Flawless Jade Breathable Setting Powder) According to Florasis, global consumers generally have a strong preference for Florasis' packaging designs. Based on cultural and ethnic differences, consumers in Japan, the U.S., and Europe have somewhat different preferences for products. Japanese consumers prefer loose powders and American consumers tend to buy more shade-based products (sculpted contour palettes, highlighters, eyeshadow palettes, etc.). Although Florasis is not currently developing special products for specific markets, it will cater to the needs of consumers by offering different combinations of gift boxes for existing products. When it comes to the achievements of Florasis going global, Fei Man says the happiest thing is that Florasis now has more than 1.5 million followers on international social media platforms. These followers all focus on the culture and makeup expression presented by Florasis. "Thousands of reviews on our posts all saying that it is never seen before. Our followers think that Chinese brands are doing a lot of creative things. I think this cultural communication will be more meaningful than business." Focus on product In the views of some consumers, Florasis may invest more of its budget on marketing than in R&D, but Fei Man dismisses this perception. "In fact, most of the customers we work with today are initiators meaning that they are interested in our products and proactively corporate with us rather than we invite them." Fei Man explained. Florasis appeared in the beauty review video of international famous influencer Jeffree Star earlier this year. After the release of the video, the traffic on Florasis’ website reached the same level on Black Friday. The sales and traffic of products such as Blooming Rouge Love Lock Lipstick, which was certified by Jeffree, soared the most. "Early in 2021, Jeffree left a message about our products, so we mailed Jeffree some of our products." Fei Man said in recalling the story. "As an example of this, the reason that a large number of international influencers worked with us is that they thought our brand was interesting and asked us if there was an opportunity to collaborate. We just did what we wanted to do." (Jeffree Star) Talking about insistence on creating a cosmetic brand, Lin Zengsheng, a Senior staff of Florasis, said that Florasis insists on being user-centered. Whether localized or combined with international needs, the starting point of the product is to meet the basic needs of users. In addition, Florasis also insists on taking in diversity from the outside and keeping the truth inside. This means that while Florasis upholds an open and tolerant mindset to embrace different regional cultures, it does not give up the core of eastern beauty. "Florasis' works are both traditional and fashionable while it enjoys the international style." Fei Man said, "When creating products, Florasis does not follow the traffic, but we made our efforts in creating products with eastern makeup characteristics." Indeed, the products of Florasis combine culture, aesthetics, and eastern colors into one. They are an interpretation of the eastern color system. Each piece has an eastern cultural origin. For example, Florasis again cooperated with Guo Hao, the author of Traditional Chinese Color: Color Aesthetics in the Forbidden City this year, to create four Chinese shades for the new labial gauze: Red lantern, Autumn palace, Blooming lotus, and Forested mountains. Thanks to their origins in history the products of Florasis are able to traverse time and become classic beauty products. "Every product has its value and story, we can't just follow the trends that everyone likes. We need to do our valuable work that originates from the aesthetics of Eastern culture. We also need to inherit the culture and represent it in our products." That's what Fei Man said when he commented on their product. Despite obstacles, Florasis will move forward Although Florasis has already achieved bright results going global, the revenue of the international segment only accounts for about 5% of the overall brand revenue and is still in the process of exploring and understanding. The main business goal of Florasis in 2022 is not performance growth, but rather to first cultivate internal strength by strategically improving five aspects: brand strength, product identity, service, content, and organization. Scientific research is one of the important matters. Li Huiliang, the chief scientist of Florasis' parent company, Yige Group, said in August this year, "The tougher the market environment, the more the brand decision makers should calm down and focus on systematic research and development of key products." He also emphasized that "everything should be consumer-centric." At present, Florasis is still in the stage of DTC in international countries. The important feature of the DTC brand is communication through social media. The brand needs to help spread the brand culture through social media, which requires the excellent operation of its content channels, such as TIKTOK, Meta, and YouTube. In addition, the content may still need interpretation and localized expressions in the process of communication to help international users better understand brand awareness. As for offline exploration, Florasis is about to open its first offline store by West Lake in Hangzhou at the end of this year (December). Although the plan for offline stores in countries other than China is not yet clear, Fei Man said that they would step into offline stores internationally in the future. For Chinese brands going global, Fei Man has his own advice: "Doing the eastern cultural communication can only be a slow feel. From the view of business, the company that combines capabilities of strong manufacturing, DTC, and global brand management has a greater likelihood of success." Florasis said it would continue to invest 1 billion yuan(about $141 million) in product development from 2022 to 2026. At the same time, the company will further deposit overseas user research in various countries and regions. It also hopes that more affiliates will participate in the infrastructure needed for Chinese brands to go global.

Shiseido said that the new China CEO is the current Representative Director President Masahiko Uotani. At the time of the personnel appointment release, Shiseido's third quarter earnings report came out. Shiseido China recorded a loss of about $60.6 million in the first three quarters of this year. How to revive the Chinese market is the issue that Toshinobu Umezu needs to focus on. (Credit: Shiseido Official) On November 10, Shiseido headquarters released new personnel appointments, previously serving as Senior Executive Officer China Region CEO Kentaro Fujiwara will be promoted to Shiseido President and COO and China CEO will be replaced by the current Shiseido Group Representative Director President Masahiko Uotani. The above appointments will take effect in January 2023 and the presidential appointments will be resolved by election at the annual general meeting of shareholders to be held in 2023. Born in 1966, Kentaro Fujiwara joined Shiseido in 1991 and has been based in Germany for six years since 1994 with Paris and Düsseldorf as his main geographical focus. He was responsible for international business development. Prior to his appointment as the General Manager of Shiseido (China) Investment Co., Ltd., he also served as Board President of Shiseido Korea and Chairman and President of Shiseido Professional Hair Care Business Korea. In 2015, Kentaro Fujiwara became the General Manager of Shiseido (China) Investment Co., Ltd. and the President of Shiseido China after the establishment of Senior Executive Officer China Region CEO in 2017. In the same year, Shiseido Group achieved sales of approximately $7.12 billion, completing the sales target of $7.1 billion three years ahead of schedule. The Chinese market has also become the largest overseas market for the Shiseido Group since 2017, even surpassing Japan in the first half of this year to become Shiseido's top global market. According to the documents released by Shiseido, after the promotion of Kentaro Fujiwara to the position of Chief Operating Officer of Shiseido, the successor as CEO of China is the current Representative Director President and CEO, Masahiko Uotani. Prior to his appointment as Representative Director President, he held the positions of head of Shiseido's business strategy department and head of marketing intelligence. During the seven years of Kentaro Fujiwara's tenure, Shiseido's sales in China have been soaring. CHAILEEDO found that the total sales of Shiseido China for the period from 2016 to January-September 2022 totaled $9.4 billion. Among them, in the six years from 2016 to 2021, Shiseido China performance has been in a growth trend, except for 2020, the growth rate of the rest of the years exceeded 10%, while sales grew from $824.3 million in 2016 to $1.92 million in 2021. However, Shiseido China's operating profit has been decreasing since 2020 with operating profits of $128.5 million and $8.23 million in 2020 and 2021, respectively, and a loss of $60.6 million recorded in the first three quarters of this year. It seems that in the past two years, affected by the epidemic and other aspects, as Shiseido's largest overseas market, the world's second largest market, China's performance losses. 2023 is also the closing year of Shiseido's "WIN 2023" business strategy. How to revive the Chinese market, Masahiko Uotani shoulders a heavy burden. Source: Shiseido official website If there is any infringement, please contact to delete.

On November 11, Japan's Orix announced that it would acquire cosmetics e-commerce and health food company DHC. The acquisition is expected to amount to approximately 300 billion yen (about $2.1billion). (Credit: Facebook official account of DHC) Orix will acquire all of the company's shares from existing shareholders, including DHC's founder, chairman and president, Yoshiaki Yoshida (81 years old). It is said that after the acquisition, the brand will be maintained its brands and Orix will send directors to participate in the management. Orix seems to highly value DHC's brand appeal. If it goes well, this will be Orix's most expensive acquisition to date. Orix said that after the acquisition, it will push forward with business restructuring and strive to increase its corporate value. DHC is mainly engaged in cosmetics and health foods, and has a wide range of businesses including apparel and resort facility operations. The official announcement shows its operating income was $637 million and operating profit was $77 million for fiscal year 2021 (ending July 2021). DHC's cosmetic business began in 1983, and all products are sold in the form of communication sales (telephone and internet). The products cover basic skincare, body care products, hair care products, men's skin care products, baby skin care products, and health food products, ranking in the top 10 in the Japanese cosmetics market. Since 1995, DHC has been expanding its overseas market and has set up branch offices all over the world. In July 2003, DHC set foot in China and established Shanghai DHC Commercial Co. According to public information, as of 2008, DHC Shanghai has 1500 employees and more than 200 directly-managed counters in China. Shanghai DHC Commercial Co. has a registered capital of 10 million yuan(about $1.4 million), and the founder of DHC, Yoshiaki Yoshida, is the chairman and legal representative of the company. DHC Corporation is the controlling shareholder of Shanghai DHC Commercial Co., holding 97% of the shares, the natural person originally held the remaining 3% of shares by Yuanyoujia. It is worth noting that in recent years, DHC has been fined several times for false advertising and other reasons with a total penalty of nearly 2 million yuan(about $281 thousand). The administrative penalty judgment issued in May 2021 shows that the Pudong Market Supervision Bureau seized a number of sunscreen lotions sold by DHC in Shanghai that did not match the actual content of the advertisements. In July this year, CHAILEEDO learned from the official website of Shanghai Medical Administration that Shanghai DHC Commercial Co., Ltd. was fined 1.15 million yuan(about $162 thousand) for importing and selling two DHC products that did not comply with the technical specifications for cosmetic safety. If there is any infringement, please contact to delete.

Net sales of Colgate-Palmolive(Colgate) in Asia Pacific declined 3.0% in the first three quarters, accounting for 26.1% of Group net sales. Recently, Colgate announced its third quarter 2022 financial results. Colgate achieved net sales of $13.338 billion in the first three quarters, up 2.46% year-over-year. Its third quarter revenue was $4.455 billion, up 1% year-over-year. All divisions reported positive results. The results show that Colgate has met or exceeded its performance target range for the 15th consecutive quarter. In light of the positive performance, Colgate has decided to increase its organic sales growth guidance for the year from 5-7 percent to 6-7 percent. In addition, while raw material prices were stable in the third quarter, Colgate still expects raw material prices to increase by $1.3 billion in 2022. Colgate said it remains the leader in the toothpaste industry with a global market share of 39.7 percent, while the manual toothbrush segment has a global market share of 31.6 percent year to date. By geography, net sales in Asia Pacific declined 3.0 percent in the third quarter and operating profit was $185 million, down 14 percent from a year ago and accounting for 26.1 percent of net sales. The segment's performance was driven by Greater China, Australia and the Philippines. The decline in operating profit as a percentage of net sales was primarily due to significantly higher raw material and packaging material costs and increased advertising investments. Notably, in August, Colgate announced Stephan Habif as its new Chief Technology Officer, responsible for the company's global research and development organization, effective Sept. 1 of this year. Colgate's current CTO, Patricia Verduin, who will retire at the end of the year, has been with Colgate for 15 years. Stephan Habif was previously senior vice president of research and innovation for L'Oréal North America, responsible for new product development across all divisions and categories; in addition, he worked at Unilever, where he was responsible for R&D in categories including skin care, cleansing, hair care, deodorant and home care in Europe, North America and Latin America. In his new role, Stephan Habif led a team of scientists and engineers to continue to develop innovative products and packaging to support Colgate's oral care, pet nutrition, skin health and other businesses. In 2014, Crest, Darlie, Colgate, Yunnan Baiyao and Zhonghua were the top five brands in the toothpaste market in China, accounting for 68% of the market share and continuing to climb, according to a research report by Zhongtai Securities. Crest, Colgate and Zhonghua, on the other hand, are all international brands. However, in 2021, Chinese toothpaste brands such as Yunnan Baiyao, Darlie, Lesening and Saky, ranked first, second, fourth and sixth with 23.86%, 20.10%, 6.83% and 4.88% in the term of market shares, respectively. At present, the Chinese toothpaste market is gradually forming a new layout with the mutual competition between the traditional Chinese brands Lesening, Liangmianzhen, Saky and the international brands Colgate and Crest, and the rapid rise of Yunnan Baiyao.

To accelerate China's cosmetic industry to the world, the 2022 Oriental Beauty Valley International Cosmetic Conference(OBVIC) kicked off on November 9, 2022 in Fengxian, Shanghai. Oriental Beauty Valley International Cosmetic Conference has been successfully held four times. At present, Oriental Beauty Valley has gathered more than 1/3 of the cosmetic enterprises in Shanghai with an industry scale of nearly 70 billion yuan (about $9.7 billion). The total brand value of "Oriental Beauty Valley" has exceeded 28 billion yuan(about $3.9 billion), making it one of the largest and most well-known cosmetic clusters in Shanghai. Oriental Beauty Valley International Cosmetic Conference has also become one of the highest profile and strongest international events in the cosmetic industry. This year's conference closely caught the uncertain era beauty industry hotspots. International and Chinese domestic well-known entrepreneurs, industry experts, industry newcomers from L'Oreal, Shiseido, Amore Pacific, JALA, Mageline, Forest Cabin gathered in Shanghai to discuss the new technologies, new trends, new developments in global cosmetics industry. CHAILEEDO reported on the scene. L'Oréal: Under the uncertain times, high-end development is needed Mr. Fabrice, President of L'Oréal North Asia & CEO of L'Oréal China 1. In the uncertain era with uncertainty, the cosmetic industry continues to develop. We will continue to innovate, achieve breakthroughs, target higher-end consumers and talent development, and promote the industry. 2. This year is the 25th anniversary of L'Oreal's entry into China. L’Oreal will continue to strengthen the cooperation between cosmetics among international and China. Shiseido: Shisedo China sales will soon surpass Shiseido Japan Hidefumi Araki, Shiseido Chief Innovation Officer 1. China market is very important, I believe Shiseido in China market sales soon exceeded the Japanese market. 2. Shiseido's vision for 2030, which is to contribute to the well-being of 200 million people worldwide through beauty and health. 3. Shiseido's strengths are skincare products and expanding to beauty devices, personalized services leading brand development and strengthening high-end beauty. 4.Shiseido China has become the second headquarters in the world, with three pillars in the Chinese market: 1.Powered in skincare. Shiseido made detailed research on Asian skin, development of original technology "digital skin" to reveal the causes of aging. 2. Leading the trend of sustainability. Shiseido offers approximately 800 SKU's of "replacement" products across 33 brands worldwide. 3. Accelerate innovation. The establishment of a new innovation center in China to expand new business areas. The establishment of investment funds leads investment in recombinant collagen material companies. Amore Pacific: Sustainable beauty market size may reach $40 billion Yu Jian, General Manager, China Amore 1、Sustainable development is an important responsibility of the beauty industry. 2. 64% of Chinese consumers are willing to pay 25% more for sustainable products. 3、Generation Z and Millennials are more willing to embrace the idea of sustainability. Brands are key to driving sustainability awareness, and consumers expect brands to take more responsibility for sustainability. 4. The market size of the sustainable beauty industry is likely to reach $40 billion. JALA: the cost of self-research ingredients saved 90% of imported ingredients Zheng Chunying, Chairman and President, JALA Group 1. Jala adheres multi-brand development. Jala established more than 42,000 offline retail stores across China and entered all e-commerce platform. JALA enjoys more than 67 million member. 2. Chinese enterprises should build their own industrial core, so that we can do better and better, not only bigger and faster. 3. Microbial fermentation development platform is currently completing the commercialization of 2 independent ingredients, one of which is HiMurchaSin. Compared with the imported ingredients from Europe, the cost saving is 90%, and yeast is no longer synonymous with expensive. The plant cell development platform has completed the commercialization of 1 independent ingredients and listed 5 products, and CHANDO Pink Diamond Firming Delicate Rose series co-created with Li Jiaqi has applied this ingredients. The sales exceeded 50 million yuan(about $6.9 million) on the first day of launch. 4. JALA believes that enterprise development should promote the harmonious coexistence of people, society and the environment in a beautiful world, which is the meaning of corporate. Mageline: the success of brands depends on the product efficacy Guo Miao, founder and chairman of Mageline. 1. China's cosmetic industry high boom development and the rise of Chinese domestic beauty brands maintained strong momentum. Chinese young consumers have given more trust and choice of Chinese domestic products. 2. Consumers are more and more professional. Their needs of skincare also upgraded to higher level of efficacy needs such as anti-aging and repairing skin and others. The trend of sensible consumption is more prevalent. On the other hand, with the development of the cosmetic industry, regulatory regulations continue to improve and the industry gradually tends to standardize, high-quality development, longer product development cycles. More corporate will invest in research and development. The Chinese cosmetics industry has entered the era of strong efficacy. 3. Unique ingredients are the core competitiveness and moat of beauty brands and the brand concept can help differentiate the brand development. Forest cabin: Investing 300 million yuan in a carbon-neutral plant, investing our future Sun Laichun, founder of Forest cabin 1.Environmental protection is being done as the underlying logic of the business to make the skin of mankind and the earth more beautiful. 2.Keep optimistic. In April June 2022, the sanitary control in Shanghai, Forest cabin's industry performance counterattacked, and the omni channel performance increased by 12% year-on-year in April. In May, the omni channel performance increased by 15.9% year on year. 618 omni channel performance increased by nearly 30% year on year. 3.The way to counter the trend of growth is to keep a good attitude, keep looking for ways and strengthen organizational confidence. Enterprises should do a good job of customer communication during the uncertain period, and look for opportunities in the crisis. 4.Investing 300 million yuan in a carbon-neutral plant, investing our future.

The 5th China International Import Expo is held at the National Convention and Exhibition Center (Shanghai) from November 5 to 10, 2022. Shiseido's skincare brand IPSA's product made its world debut. According to Shiseido official news, since its birth in 1986, IPSA has been dedicated to "tailor-made" beauty solutions for consumers. In this exhibition, IPSA displayed its exclusive skin tester IPSALYZER, a professional skin test. Through visual data visualization of skin types and troubles, consumers can select the exclusive ME lotion. According to CHAILEEDO, IPSA officially entered China in 2004 and became one of the first brands to introduce Japanese-style customized services to China. According to Shiseido's 2021 quarterly earnings report, China business jumped 46.8%, with high-end brands achieving more than 70% year-on-year growth, including IPSA , which grew 27% year-on-year. But this year's IPSA performance is not as good as it should be, in the first half of shiseido's financial report, IPSA's sales fell by 14%. At the site of the expo, IPSA brought IPSALYZER, a skin tester, to provide professional skin testing, which can determine the skin's moisture retention, sebum secretion, transparency, tension elasticity, stratum corneum condition and many other items. It visualizes the skin through visual data. At the same time, IPSA private prescription customizer combine with consumers' recent diet, health and life condition to provide seasonal and accurate skin care solutions for individual skin. According to the report, with the official implementation of the "Shanghai Pudong New Area Cosmetics Industry Innovation Development Regulations", the "Skin High Definition" personalized customization project of IPSA is planned to land in Pudong, Shanghai in the future, and the world premiere of the new customized beauty concept brought by IPSA at this year's Expo. In the future, IPSA said its personalization project would be based on the IPSA ME ULTIMATE for skin anti-aging at the myo-genetic level, and then customize the cream to suit individual skin conditions, so that every consumer can get a personalized skin care customization experience.

The summit aims to provide new ideas, new thoughts and new opportunities for the beauty industry and bring into play the synergy of the North Asian beauty triangle to jointly promote regional research and innovation. The first North Asia Beauty Industry Innovation Summit, organized by L'Oreal, was held on November 7 at the 5th China International Import Expo. With the theme of "The Future of Beauty Powered by Technology and Innovation", the summit invited authoritative experts and beauty professionals, such as Mr. Fabrice Megarbane, President of L'Oréal North Asia & CEO of L'Oréal China, Marie Boisdron, China Make-up&Color Lab Director, L’Oreal Research & Innovation, Dr. SokJu Kim, Director, Clinic 10, Korea/Phiskin, Clinic, Shanghai, etc. The event discussed the future consumption and innovation trends of the beauty market in China, Japan and Korea, explore the joint innovation in the beauty triangle in these three countries, and drive the synergistic development of the beauty industry in North Asia through regional cooperation. Mr. Fabrice said at the summit that the beauty triangle in North Asia includes China, Korea and Japan, and that Asia is the most dynamic beauty market in the world and the largest beauty market, accounting for 43.8% of the global market share, while North Asia, where China is located, accounts for 35.5% of the global market share. L'Oréal calls the unique North Asian ecosystem, which includes C-beauty, J-beauty and K-beauty, the 'Beauty Triangle'. The beauty market strengths in each of the three markets are also unique, with China focusing more on anti-aging, new color cosmetics and beautiful consumption, Korean consumers more interested in new styling and color cosmetics and functional beauty products, and Japanese customers more inclined to research skincare trends, luxury products, and skincare science communication, said Fabrice. The summit aims to provide new ideas, new thoughts and new opportunities for the beauty industry and bring into play the synergy of the North Asian beauty triangle to jointly promote regional research and innovation. For the theme of the summit "The Future of Beauty Powered by Technology and Innovation", experts from various industries also gave professional insights from different aspects. Guive Balooch, Head of L'Oreal's Technology Incubator said that the future of beauty lies in the convergence of science, technology and creativity, and that consumers want to use products that are more effective, and that technology-enabled beauty products can help realize this expectation. As for technology empowerment, Marie Boisdron, China Make-up & Color Lab Director, L'Oreal Research & Innovation, also mentioned technology empowerment and super-charged efficacy is the latest trend pursued by North Asian consumers in her speech on the Latest Beauty Trends &Innovations in North Asia. In North Asian markets, consumers are diverse and have their own unique cultural identities. L'Oréal has also noticed that consumers are more interested in super-charged efficacy products. To meet this trend, L'Oréal has combined beauty and devices to create high efficacy beauty products with a medical research mindset. The specific product manifestation is the Dual Led Youth Treatment device launched by Lancôme, a subsidiary brand of L'Oreal, etc. Technology has also changed the behavior of consumers. In the expert panel of the summit, Katia Lan, Consumer Centricity Protect Director, L'Oreal China, said that North Asian consumers are more focused on personalized expression, and the brands of L'Oreal, for example, are now launching Metaverse for some brands that meets this demand, as well as the creation of more beauty devices also because consumers have a lot of personalized needs. Innovation and consumer demand is a win-win situation. During the discussion, all experts called for more cross-industry, cross-market collaboration to bring new technologies and innovations to consumers. In the area of artificial intelligence and digital technology, experts emphasized the urgency of strengthening the AI infrastructure and using the power of "digital intelligence" to drive collaboration. On medical beauty, experts noted the importance to bring together breakthrough startups, resourceful companies and professionals to drive the future of innovation.

From November 5 to November 10, the fifth China International Import Expo(CIIE) was held in Shanghai National Convention and Exhibition Center as scheduled, L'Oreal, Estee Lauder, Shiseido and other international beauty giants participated in this expo. New technology, new products empower the downturn in the beauty market and brought vitality. It can also be seen that the new strategy of the beauty group in the Chinese market is under the counter-trend. Fragrance category has become a trend This year, L'Oreal's Prada beauty brought the new PARADOXE women's perfume and Chinese fragrance brand DOCUMENTS, which was recently invested, into the expo. LeLabo, the fragrance brand of Estee Lauder, has been rumored to be filed in China this year, and the first store is located in Shanghai. This time, LeLabo's perfume, scented candles, personal care and other products are also all presented at the expo. In this Expo, Unilever also presented its new men’s fragrance care brand PROUDMEN. According to Unilever staff, PROUDMEN was founded in Japan in 2007 and has been listed on Amazon Japan and Rakuten Japan for four consecutive years in the category of male fragrance care and it ranked first among this category on these platform. It was positioned in the high-end market. It is reported that the brand will first enter the Chinese market through cross-border trade next year, and then gradually expand the general trade. In addition to fragrances, color cosmetics and skincare also remain one of the brands' priorities. Speaking to CHAILEEDO, COTY Group's China Managing Director, Guilhem Souche, said, "We hope to achieve the trio of perfume, color cosmetics and skincare driving together." Therefore, the group has repositioned Lancaster to focus on the high-end skincare segment, and the new high-end collection is expected to be introduced to China in the first half of next year. Souche said, "GUCCI beauty is currently the largest brand in Coty China, Burberry beauty is also taking off quickly. Overall, the current development of several iconic brands are relatively balanced, the next goal is to pull up our skincare sector." In skincare track, anti-aging efficacy is loud and clear In the trend of efficacy skincare, the vast majority of new products are aimed at the anti-aging sector. Compared to previous years, Amore Pacific has a new look this year. The company's brands display more than 20 new products on the expo, including the Chinese market premieres of Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum (25th Anniversary Limited Edition) and Innisfree Collagen Peptide Essence Face Cream. Kao Group's sensitive skin brand, Curel, launched the new Curel Light Ageing and Stretching Anti-Wrinkle Cream, which was jointly developed by Kao's R&D team in China and Japan and produced by Kao's factory in China. The product focuses on C-Ceramide functional substance and G-Ginger ginger root extract, which can slow down the formation of wrinkles while repairing the barrier and solve the problem of anti-aging for sensitive skin. The staff of Cruel told CHAILEEDO that the new product is aimed at people in their 20s who have anti-aging needs, which is to cater to the Chinese domestic market. Shiseido also brought more than 40 new products from 22 brands this time, the newly upgraded three new products are mainly anti-aging effect Shiseido Vital Perfection Intensive Wrinkle Spot Treatment eye cream, etc. Among them, IPSA’s new upgraded product is the debut of CIIE, with the hospital-grade ingredient "GN3" as the main focus, which can promote the production of three core skin anti-aging proteins. The product will be launched in December in China. EVE LOM, a SPA-level luxury skincare brand acquired by Chinese beauty group YATSEN, also made its world debut at the expo with its new Brightening Retinol Serum, which uses three core anti-aging ingredients: Caviar Finger Orange Extract™, Gilt Microcapsules Encapsulated A Alcohol, and Oat Kernel Fermentation Microbiota, focusing on firming and reducing lines. China's market is becoming increasingly attractive to international brands This year, it is the 100th year of Unilever's investment in China, the 25th anniversary of L'Oreal's entry into China, the 30th anniversary of Amore Pacific's entry into China, and more than 40 years of Shiseido's entry into China ...... The average age of these international beauty groups in China is more than 30 years old, and their development in the Chinese market has entered a new cycle. L'Oréal's BIG BANG Program found like-minded government partners at the CIIE 2020. In June 2021, L'Oréal China signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Suzhou Industrial Park Administrative Committee to build the Group's first self-built Smart Fulfillment Center in the world. in October 2022, the foundation stone of L'Oréal's Suzhou Intelligent Fulfillment Center was officially laid. Regarding the investment in the Suzhou Intelligent Fulfillment Center, L'Oréal North Asia President and CEO of China, Fabrice Megarbane, told the media, "We fully believe in the potential of the Chinese market and we fully believe that to do beauty in China, we have to focus wholeheartedly on China and provide the best support, the best innovation and the best production for the Chinese market." On the site of CIIE today, L'Oreal also re-announced a youth empowerment program - L'Oreal YOUTH BANG Camp. According to the introduction, the program aims to empower young entrepreneurs under 30 years old in China and to create a future of beauty with the younger generation. Looking towards 2023, Fabrice told CHAILEEDO that the beauty consumer is continuing to change with new consumer trends encompassing new categories, new models/channels, new strategy and new beautiful consumption, in which we see great opportunities. For L'Oréal, China is not only a growth engine but also strategically important in terms of innovation (R&D and innovation, beauty technology), sustainability and talent. Its growth in China over the past 25 years has given them long-term confidence. As Fabrice said that with 'In China, for China, L’Oreal look forward to continuing its journey in China for the next 25 years and beyond.

On November 4, the heated topic of "Fresh moisturizing lotion with a bug" rushed into the list of Weibo trends, triggering a hot debate. It is understood that a netizen posted a note on the Chinese social platform Xiaohongshu that there was a worm in the Fresh Rose Deep Hydration Facial Toner she bought during the Chinese Double 11 Shopping Festival on one of the leading Chinese shopping platform Tmall. In fact, this is not the first time that Fresh has flopped during the same shopping festival. The repeated flop of its product has reflected the brand has flaws in the production process and product quality. As a high-end skincare brand of LVMH group, Fresh has a good beginning during the Double 11 Shopping Festival this year. According to the latest news released by Tmall Beauty, Fresh ranked the 20th in the beauty and skincare full-cycle brand performance list on Tmall(Note: the caliber of data statistics for October 31, 20:00 - November 3, 24:00 turnover). However, this flop may cast a shadow on the subsequent performance of Fresh. Searching on the internet, CHAILEEDO found that a netizen posted a note with pictures on the Xiaohongshu platform on November 4, claiming that she purchased the Fresh Rose Gift Set, originally priced at 1120 yuan, from the official flagship store of Fresh on Tmall during the Tmall Chinese Double 11 Shopping Festival with a discount price of 491.96 yuan, which included Fresh Rose Deep Hydration Facial Toner in question. The netizen claimed that just after unpacking the gift box and before opening the cap, she found a thumb-sized, intact bug inside the bottle of that toner, soaked at the bottom of the bottle. The netizen also showed a screenshot of the consultation with customer service from the official flagship store of Fresh on Tmall after he found that. The customer service staff said that the issue had been reported. After the incident spread out, some media called Fresh customer service personnel, the Fresh said that the product from the regular channels is genuine. This product the netizen bought is unexpected. There is no precedent before. Netizens can apply for a 7-day no-reason return on Tmall. If compensation is requested, it needs to be handled after feedback to the company. Up to now, the official Fresh has not made a public response on the matter. Today, CHAILEEDO tried to contact Fresh China for details of the matter according to the public phone number on the official website of Fresh China, but no reply was received as of press time. "There is bug in the bottle, which can be divided into two situations. First, they are brought in by the production environment, which factory fail to guarantee quality of product. Second, they are brought in by the rose, especially the real flower. It is difficult to avoid bugs and eggs in the rose. I think it is normal to have a few bottles occasionally, or the proportion is controlled within a certain range." said the production director of a cosmetics company in Guangdong. An industry insider who has been engaged in cosmetics production for more than 10 years told CHAILEEDO that it is generally easy to mix in bugs when cosmetic ingredients or creams are made, but the bugs may all be broken during this process. However, if the bugs fall in during the packaging process, the bugs will exist more intact. In addition, if the pests of the product production environment is not well controlled, it is also easy to let the worms mix in. "However, as intact as the bugs are, the quality control has problem." He said. In general, product quality is the lifeline of the brand, but also the foundation of the brand in the market. The presence of bugs in cosmetics will undoubtedly damage the image of the brand. Therefore, how to do a good job of product quality control is the major cosmetic brands must pay attention to.

Recently, Perfect Corp was listed on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "PERF", becoming the first stock of global beauty and fashion technology. According to the prospectus, Perfect Corp had revenues of about 300 million yuan (about $41.37 million) in 2021, and the company is valued at about 7.4 billion yuan (about $1 billion). Its investors include Ali, Shiseido, Chanel, and others, who are also its partners. Founded in 2015, Perfect Corp is none other than artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) beauty and fashion technology business solutions provider. Among the TOP 20 beauty groups in the world, 17 beauty groups, including L'Oreal and Estee Lauder, use Perfect Corp's services. In 2019, Perfect Corp also entered into a partnership with Alibaba to apply its AR trial technology to shopping sessions on Taobao and Tmall, providing online makeup trial services on Taobao product pages. Taking advantage of the benefits of e-commerce development, Perfect Corp has also started to expand its business territory. In addition to providing services such as virtual makeup trials and skin quality measurement for cosmetic companies, Perfect Corp's business gradually extends to virtual styling and fashion accessories, including virtual hair trials and virtual watch-wearing trials. Its series of apps such as "Fusion of expressions" and "YouCam Perfect" have also grown and have been downloaded more than 1 billion times worldwide. Perfect Corp's Global Beauty and Fashion Technology Trends Report in Q3-2022 showed that AI+AR technology can meet consumer demand for entertainment, boost consumer confidence, drive product exploration, and enhance customer engagement. Its brand partner, NARS, found that consumers tried an average of 27 shades on its website using a virtual trial tool, fueling a 300% increase in conversion rates. Demand has created a market, which has directly driven the growth of Perfect Corp's business volume, and has led to a capitalization. Public information showed that Perfect Corp, since 2017 to date, had a total of four times to obtain financing, the combined financing amount of more than $275 million, investors including Goldman Sachs China, Alibaba, China Creation Ventures, Cyber Link, and so on. Meanwhile, unlike most other companies that go public, this time Perfect Corp reached its goal of listing on the Nasdaq by merging with Provident Acquisition Corp, a company that acquired the company for the special purpose of listing. According to previous media reports, Perfect Corp is expected to raise approximately 2.4 billion yuan (about $331 million) in the merger agreement, which includes a 360 million yuan (about $49.6 million) PIPE private equity investment, with participation from Ali, Shiseido, Chanel, Snap, and other institutions. Perfect Corp said the money obtained will be used for technology development as well as company operations, etc., with a view to achieving its global expansion.

International ingredients giant DSM's Health, Nutrition and care business, which includes fragrances and personal care, reported sales of 2.234 billion euros (about $2.18 billion) in the first three quarters of the year, thanks mainly to high demand from international consumers for hair care and fine fragrances. (Credit: website) DSM, the international nutraceuticals, chemicals and pharmaceuticals group, has recently published its results for the first three quarters of 2022. In the first three quarters, DSM reported total sales of 6.297 billion euros (about $6.16 billion), up 18% year-on-year, and total sales of 2.182 billion euros (about $2.13 billion) in the third quarter, up 20% year-on-year. Although the macroeconomic environment remains challenging and energy and prices of ingredients continue to rise, all DSM businesses as a whole achieved good organic growth in the third quarter, according to the results report. DSM's main business Health, Nutrition & Biomedical is composed of three business units, including Animal Nutrition & Health, Health, Nutrition & Care, and Food & Beverage. Health, Nutrition & Care business mainly comprises Personal Care, Fragrances, Life Nutrition, Dietary Supplements, and Biomedical. Sales of this business in the first three quarters were 2.234 billion euros (about $2.18 billion), up 18% year-on-year, while sales in the third quarter were 770 million euros (about $753 million), up 22% year-on-year. Among them, personal care and fragrance products achieved strong growth thanks to the liberalization of international flows for high demand for skin care, sun protection, hair care and fine fragrances. It is worth noting that in May this year DSM announced a merger with Swiss perfume and fragrance giant Firmenich to form a new company DSM-Firmenich, which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023 and will be listed on Euronext Amsterdam upon completion. The DSM-Firmenich merger will further accelerate innovation in the industry and bring new growth opportunities to customers, the companies said. Firmenich's fragrance and ingredients business will be combined with DSM's personal care and fragrance business through a merger, of which the combined fragrance and beauty division will have total revenues of RMB 23,584 million. Firmenich's fragrances and ingredients business will further expand the share of the beauty market for both companies through a merger with DSM's personal care and fragrances business. The combined fragrance and beauty division will be a leader among fragrance ingredients companies and will also have high-end renewable, natural and biodegradable technologies, the sources said. (Credit: from DSM official) According to the FY2022 results announced by Firmenich (as of June 30, 2022), Firmenich's revenue reached CHF4.723 billion (approximately $4.67 billion) in the previous fiscal year, up 11.1% year-on-year. In particular, its aroma and fragrance ingredients business revenue grew by 11.3%, thanks to high growth rates and market share gains in its fine fragrance business. Source: DSM Official If there is any infringement, please contact us for timely removal.

According to the prospectus, Giant Biogene has been the largest collagen skin care company in China for three consecutive years since 2019. (Credit: Giant Biogene) On November 4, Giant Biogene (02367. HK) landed on the Hong Kong Exchanges at the price of 25 Hong Kong dollars per share. Giant Biogene is known by some industry insiders as "the first collagen company listed in Hong Kong”. The prospectus states that it is "a leader in the professional skin care products industry based on bioactive ingredients in China". According to Frost & Sullivan, Giant Biogene is the second-largest professional skin care products company in China in 2021 (with a retail sales revenue of 6 billion yuan). And based on the prospectus, it has been the largest collagen professional skin care products company in China (by retail sales) for three consecutive years starting in 2019. Currently, there are 105 SKUs in the Giant Biogene product portfolio, covering eight major brands of efficacy skin care products, medical dressings, and health food products, including Comfy, Collgene, Keyu, Kehen, Kefupin, Liyan, Xinxin, and Shengan. As of the latest prospectus, Giant Biogene's revenue for 2019, 2020, 2021 and the first five months ending May 31, 2022, was 956 million RMB (about $130.9 million), 1.19 billion RMB (about $0.163 billion), 1.552 billion RMB (about $0.212 billion), and 723 million RMB (about $99.05 million). According to the prospectus, Giant Biogene contains two main business segments: professional skin care products and health food and others, of which the former has grown to 97.7% (as of May this year). And this cannot be done without the outstanding contribution of the two flagship brands of Giant Biogene, Comfy and Collgene. The combined revenue of the two flagship brands of Giant Biogene exceeds 80% of the company's revenue in 2019-2021, and reaches 91.7% in 2021. To date, Comfy and Collgene are already the third and fourth best-selling brands, respectively, in the professional skin care products industry in China in 2021 (by retail sales). According to the prospectus, in 2021, the retail sales of Comfy and Collgene were 2.9 billion RMB (about $0.397 billion) and 2.7 billion RMB (about $0.369 billion), respectively, and they had a repurchase rate of approximately 42.9% and approximately 32.4% on Tmall Mall, respectively. (Credit: Giant Biogene) It is worth mentioning that Giant Biogene said: "Direct sales business, especially online direct sales business, will be the focus of the company's sales and marketing efforts in the future." The prospectus shows that from 2019 to 2021, Giant Biogene's revenue from online direct sales will be 158 million RMB (about $21.6 million), 307 million RMB (about $42 million) and 644 million RMB (about $88 million), respectively, accounting for 16.5%, 25.8% and 41.5% of total revenue in the same period, and further increasing to 315 million RMB (about $43 million), or 43.6%, in the first five months of 2022. CHAILEEDO interviewed the relevant person in charge of Giant Biogene about the development plan of 1-3 years after the list. The person said that among the company's pipeline products, there are three Class III medical device products that have entered the clinical trial stage and are expected to obtain Class III medical device registration certificates in the first quarter of 2024. These injectable products will be one of the main growth areas for the company in the future. At present, in addition to Giant Biogene, Trauer and Jinbo Bio, which are in the same sector, are also accelerating their pace to the capital market. Source: Giant Biogene prospectus If there is any infringement, please contact us for timely removal.