K-pop idols (Korean celebrities) appear to have an effect on the Chinese cosmetics market. As a matter of fact, a research from L2 entitled “The Beauty China: The Rise of Korean Brands” highlights the huge impact that South Korean beauty products have on this market in China – which is 126% higher than last year – and the fact that these products are now ¼ of those imported to China, mostly online.

This skyrocketing trend can be explained by the significant impact of Korean celebrities and K-pop culture on China’s TV. This is illustrated on Kering as being a “bridge between the Chinese and western cultures” and especially on western hobbies, promoted through Korean series.

Source : Luxury Daily - China Daily - Kering

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FROM L2 / THE DAILY THURSDAY / MARCH,31, 2016

Innisfree is one of the most popular Korean beauty brands in China, as evidenced by its high search volume on Baidu, Taobao, and Youku. (Innisfree was the top Beauty brand according to both the Taobao and Baidu Indexes.) L2 research finds the success of Innisfree to be a result of robust digital properties on the brand site, mobile, in-store and on social media.

Innisfree maintains a sophisticated brand site designed for consumers to spend time on; a gamified cross-channel loyalty program, user-generated content syndicated from multiple social platforms, and video libraries are among the features offered. Furthermore, the brand site ensures product research and purchases are seamless with grid pages that include quick-view and product pages featuring reviews and recently-viewed products. The brand’s site is also mobile optimized with swipeable carousels and mobile-specific offers.

Social media also plays an important role in Innisfree’s success. Consumers can create a customer profile by logging in with their Weibo, QQ, or Alipay accounts. These accounts allow Innisfree to create an omnichannel loyalty program that tracks online and offline purchases. Users can also gain points by engaging on social media or checking into a brand site.

Innisfree’s Spring 2015 social campaign “Summer Love”, featuring Korean influencers Lee Minho and Yoona, became one of the most successful campaigns among Korea Beauty peers. The campaign promoted the Innisfree Summer Foundation Cushion with five videos on Youku with the storyline of a young couple. The two most viewed videos from the campaigned averaged 181,000 views, more than four times the brand’s average video view count. The Youku campaign was supported by desktop and mobile advertising, as well as WeChat and Sina Weibo promotions. The most successful WeChat post was viewed 10,600 times while the campaign’s Sina Weibo post remains the brand’s most engaging post with 2,000 interactions. But much of the success is evident in the sheer number of users who spread the word; the campaign hashtag #innisfree received 17.7 million impressions and 36,000 mentions on Weibo. Yet, Innisfree expanded the campaign beyond just promotions, and connected the buzz to shopping. The popular couple remains featured on the Innisfree Tmall site to promote products and maintain brand buzz.

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Learning about your makeup may be more than just a fashion decision. According to a new study published Monday in Environmental Health Perspectives choosing personal care products wisely could reduce exposure to hormone disrupting chemicals.

Commonly found in makeup, deodorants, toothpastes, and other personal care products, these chemicals have the power to block or mimic natural hormones in the body, like estrogen and testosterone. Messing with these natural systems may present health risks, particularly for pregnant women, children, and teenagers, according to Kim Harley, an epidemiologist at U.C. Berkeley and one of the study’s lead authors. While the average woman uses 12 personal care products each day, the average teenage girl uses 17, making them especially vulnerable where health effects exist, she said.

“Teenagers are going through a period of rapid growth and development,” said Harley. “We’re concerned that exposure during adolescence might have long term health consequences.”

While these chemicals are found elsewhere too — in products like air fresheners, cleaning products, and fabric softeners — researchers from U.C. Berkeley and Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas suspected that personal care products, which go directly on the skin or in the mouth, might be major contributors to daily exposure. They wondered if consumers could effectively lower that exposure by paying attention to labels and avoiding certain worrisome ingredients in the products they took home from stores. They asked 100 teenage Latina girls from Salinas to forgo using their typical personal care products for three days.

Instead, the researchers set up a “beauty bar” — a stockpile of products free from nine commonly used hormone disruptors including phthalates, parabens, triclosan and oxybenzon. They educated teens about the health concerns surrounding hormone disruptors and invited them to take home products to replace what they would typically use. Researchers wanted to ensure the changes could be tenable outside the experiment, so they stocked the Beauty Bar with skin moisturizers, sunscreens, makeup, and other care products that the teens could have purchased themselves from local stores.

The researchers tested for these chemicals in the girls’ urine before the trip to the beauty bar and after. At the beginning of the study, about 90% of the girls tested positive for hormone disrupting chemicals, confirming the researcher’s suspicions that they were being exposed. But three days after visiting the Beauty Bar, the concentrations of five of the nine chemicals decreased, suggesting avoiding their old products was helping. Levels of methyl parabens and propyl parabens, common preservatives in cosmetics, dropped 44 to 45%, while levels of other chemicals — triclosan, benzophenone-3 (BP-3), and metabolites of diethyl-phthalate — dropped 27-36%.

“After just three days of changing the products they used, they could lower their levels of these hormone disruptors,” said Harley. “Part of the takeaway is if consumers want to reduce their exposure to these chemicals there are steps they can take in terms of what products they buy.”

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(NPN) - For most women it’s nearly impossible to pick out the perfect lip color or foundation just by looking at the box. But it’s also hard to find the time to sit down at a makeup counter and try it all out.

Now there’s a solution for busy women who still want to look their best. A new array of beauty apps are being introduced that will allow you to virtually test out all sorts of cosmetics and even hair colors without ever leaving your house.

RamshackleGlam.com blogger, author, and mother of two Jordan Reid loves her busy lifestyle. But sometimes it’s hard to find time for herself, especially when it comes to shopping for beauty products.

[CLICK TO WATCH THE VIDEO FROM NBC12]

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From Premium beauty news,  extract of the Research on Trends lead by Les Persiennes Consulting, by Nilufar Khalessi

After 35 years of isolation, Iran is making a comeback on the international stage. This little-known country, which already represents 29% of the beauty market in the Middle East, is often described as the ‘new eldorado’ for cosmetics brands. Nilufar Khalessi, the French-Persian Founder of trends and consulting agency Les Persiennes Consulting, has taken a look at this country for a first qualitative, forward-looking deciphering. She gave Premium Beauty News an overview of the study The New Faces Of Iran - Fashion, Beauty & Paradoxes, to be presented next May.

With a population of 80 million inhabitants, including 55% under 30, Iran is a growth-driving, dynamic market. The fact that international sanctions have been lifted and that the economic situation should therefore improve have made it even more attractive. But this country is not without its own paradoxes.

For a thorough understanding of unknown Persia’s trends and lifestyles, the study The New Faces Of Iran - Fashion, Beauty & Paradoxes first describes the historical, geographical, cultural, and social pillars that define the Persian civilization. As a tremendous cultural and historical cradle, the country that became an Islamic Republic after the 1979 Revolution, mainly defines itself according to its ancient origins. “It is a Muslim country, but people consider themselves Persians and Iranians above all. It is essential to understand this subtlety,” Nilufar Khalessi explains.

Despite an embargo that lasted for decades, the major cities of Iran have been experiencing much progress, driven by the dynamics of a 2.0, highly-connected, Western-oriented young generation. However, the choices made by these young people show they will not let foreign countries dictate their consumption habits, as they actually prefer national goods. “Young Iranians deliberately have not completely assimilated the Western culture, although they do know and master its codes, since they have integrated them. And we would make a mistake if we tried to force them into a mould,” Nilufar Khalessi adds.

Iranian women, a status apart
As they are extremely educated – so is most of the population in large cities - Iranian women enjoy an important part in society. They are very present in institutions and play a crucial role, whether in the family or society. “The status of women is different from what can be observed in many Arab countries. Even the way they wear their veils is more lax, as it does not completely frame their faces and allows for much femininity to be seen,” Nilufar Khalessi explains.

The study used portraits of women from Isfahan, Tehran, and Shiraz to shape the contours of a generation that has been playing with the paradox between their public lives, as they comply with the established Islamic laws, and their private lives, subverting these laws for more freedom, whether in terms of beauty or fashion. Women are deeply committed to this young generation’s active and creative development, in all artistic fields.

The face at the core of femininity
“Iranian women hardly go out without makeup on, because the relationship with aesthetics is strongly developed,” Nilufar Khalessi affirms. Therefore, it is essential for them to beautify their eyes, eyebrows, lips, and hair. “In the city, the veil does not completely frame women’s faces. It is a real distinguishing feature: half the hair is uncovered, so women work a lot on it, often dying it blonde, and they are not keen on naturalness”. Facial care focuses on “zero defect” choices to fight against pollution-related problems, acne, or oily skins. In addition, the study highlights the very strong relationship with plastic surgery, in particular rhinoplasty.

“They choose L’Oréal, Dior, Lancôme, and many other well-established brands for their daily consumption, although they also buy other products by interesting local brands to be studied,” Nilufar Khalessi concludes.

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Though the 66-year-old former Olympian won't be walking down any Victoria's Secret runways anytime soon, the transgender activist just became the newest face of MAC Cosmetics, reports CNN.

"She has come to represent courage, fearlessness, honesty and compassion - characteristics long-prized and celebrated by MAC," the company said in an official statement.

The makeup company released its first photo of Jenner in a tweet regarding the new launch.

"All Ages. All Races. All Sexes. #MACCaitlynJenner online in Apr," they wrote.

The lipstick that she is launching is called "Finally Free," which references her own struggle to come out and embrace her gender identity. It will be in stores on Apr. 7 and all of the proceeds will go to programs meant to support transgender communities. They will also benefit the MAC AIDS Fund Transgender Initiaitve

"Her beautiful transformation inspires all of us to live our best lives and to honor who we are. Differences are what make us interesting. Acceptance, warmth and understanding are what make us human," the company went on to say in the statement.  

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