L’Oreal confirms offer to buy niche thermal water skin care player

By Simon Pitman+, 15-Jul-2016, Cosmeticsdesign-europe

The world’s biggest cosmetics company has confirmed that it is going ahead with the acquisition of a tiny France-based skin player with a very long name: Société Des Thermes de Saint-Gervais-Les-Bains.

The article outlines that the acquired company has a hypoallergenic skin care portfolio formulated for sensitive skin types and contains safe preservatives that guarantee the formulation’s security and tolerance.

The range constitutes six different product lines from famed thermal waters: Cleansing, redness and irritations, greasy skin types and a treatment for acne, sun care and anti-ageing.

[READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE]

L’Oréal’s wearable UV patch finally launched

By Lucy Whitehouse +, 10-Aug-2016, cosmeticsdesign-europe

L’Oréal has launched its long-awaited wearable UV patch technology allowing consumers to monitor exposure to harmful sun rays with a view to encouraging consumption of its La Roche-Posay sun care range.

This band aid-sized device is comprised of an ultra-thin heart-shaped sensor for UV radiation detection and was developed by a team of 25 researches across the world. It is intended to be launched in 16 countries and available for purchase on the La Roche-Posay website.

According to Guive Balooch, Vice President of L’Oréal R&I’s Connected Beauty incubator, “The connected technologies can fundamentally change the way we monitor exposure of the skin to various external factors such as UV rays”.

Details of the UV patch:

-          Printed electronic circuit on a flexible film

-          Contains photosensitive blue dye for color changes when exposed to UV light

-          Sensor linked to app for UV measurement over a certain time period

[READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE]

FROM EXANE BNP & PROMISE CONSULTING - SEPTEMBER, 07, 2016

Luca SOLCA
Managing Director
Sector Head Global Luxury Goods
Rue du Rhône 80, 1204 Genève, Switzerland
Tel: +44 203 4308503
Mob: + 44 7881249464
luca.solca@exanebnpparibas.com

Luxury goods brand desirability in America shows domestic and aspirational bias
We find a number of surprises and a few confirmations in the results of our extensive consumer investigation in America: 1) Americans like their local champions; 2) Americans seem more attracted by fashion brands; and 3) Our analysis confirms a strong accessible luxury bias among American consumers.

Luxury brand exclusivity perception is also quirky
Prada, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Giorgio Armani lead the group - with Hermès coming in only 6th place. Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Prada and Versace look strong, as they boast higher desirability than purchase - a convergent indicator of exclusivity perception.

We are adding 'brand identity' analysis to our desirability and exclusivity research
Louis Vuitton and Gucci rank in the top 5 of all brand identity traits we have investigated, with the exception of 'elegance', in which Chanel and Prada lead.

Investment conclusions
Our analysis of brand desirability and exclusivity in America reminds us of how important mega-brands remain in this industry. Louis Vuitton stands out as the strongest brand by far, followed by Gucci, which seems to have lost some of the vigour of a few years back but is likely benefiting from its successful and thorough turnaround. These results reinforce our positive ratings on both LVMH and Kering.

Ask for the full document : philippe.jourdan@promiseconsultinginc.com

Eye on the Trends in Asia: customisation

By Lucy Whitehouse +, 20-Jul-2016, cosmeticsdesign-asia

Four key trends are tipped to define the skin care market in Asia in the coming years, according to research from Euromonitor International. In this series of specials, Cosmetics Design takes a closer look at each, starting here with customisation.

According to a research analyst with Euromonitor based in Singapore, customization is defined as key trend, since the consumer demand for personalized skin care products is growing. Indeed, 50.5% of the respondents claimed ‘suited to my skin type’ as the decisive element during their last skin care purchase.

In China there are five key areas in which personalization is strongly demanded:

• Age
• Moisture balance
• Ethnicity
• Gender
• Lifestyle

Consequently, the article outlines the importance of catering to consumers’ specific needs related to ethnicity and offering products that correspond to the consumers’ local environments, climates and cultural beliefs and identities.

[READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE]

Clarins targets Asian consumers with skin whitening range

By Lucy Whitehouse +, 30-Mar-2016, cosmeticsdesign-asia

Premium skin care brand Clarins has spoken of its focus on skin whitening in its strategy to target Asian consumers.

With their recent launch of the Clarins White Plus Pure Translucency Tri-Intensive Brightening Serum the management intended to meet Asian women’s needs.

According to Datamonitor, half of the interrogated Asian women declare skin whitening benefits as essential skin care products, whereas the percentage in North America accounts only for 24% and 22% in Western Europe.

Furthermore, Euromonitor has found out that the demand for male-specific skin care products in Asia is leading the rise of the segment globally. The firm’s analyst points out that “The majority of growth is coming from the skin care inclined Asia pacific region, however, upcoming emerging markets in men’s skin care include Latin America”.

[READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE]

Louis Vuitton Releases a Transportative New Fragrance Line, Complete with Léa Seydoux as Muse

By Jane Larkworthy+, 18-08-2016, wmagazine.com

It's been 70 years since storied label Louis Vuitton last put out a fragrance. Now they're back, and they've recruited perfume genius Jacques Cavallier, who created already game-changing scents as Issey Mikake’s L’eau d’Issey and Stella by Stella McCartney to revive the Louis Vuitton line with French actress Léa Seydoux as muse.

Interestingly, high fashion brands launch at least one or two fragrances per season and Louis Vuitton stayed out of the business for so long. But Louis Vuitton hired its first in-house perfumer Jaques Cavallier-Belletrud in 2012, who finished his lab in Grasse this year with 7 luxurious and exclusive scents; a collection entirely based on flowers.

“The philosophy of my creations are to celebrate femininity,” Cavallier explained at a recent presentation. “A lot of people ask me if I think of a very precise type of woman when I create a perfume, and I always say no. Every woman is different.” So different, in fact, that two of the scents lean rather far into the classic men’s arena with notes of leather and woods (Contre Moi and Matière Noire, respectively).

[READ ENTIRE ARTICLE]