China focus: Latest developments in China’s booming beauty market

SENSAI outlines Asia expansion plans starting with Shanghai flagship in Q4​​

Japanese luxury skin care brand SENSAI is set to unveil a flagship store in Shanghai in the fourth quarter as it gears up to target China’s "affluent consumers" for future growth.

The firm will launch a flagship store in Shanghai, China in the fourth quarter. The company expects to share more details about the flagship next month.

This would mark the start of SENSAI’s three-year expansion plan in China. According to the firm, it plans to increase the presence of SENSAI starting from Shanghai.

Film star? Perfect Diary launches lipstick that can ‘reduce fine lines by over 50%’​​

Chinese makeup brand Perfect Diary has launched a lipstick that claims have built-on lip essence and lip mask benefits thanks to its latest patented “bio film” technology.

The Bio Film Essence Lipstick was described as “​the brand's first innovative lipstick product that combines lipstick makeup effects, lip essence functions and lip mask”.​

The effects of the ingredient are said to be boosted by the Biolip technology, which claims to form a protective barrier on the lips.

Sa Sa aims to reopen retail stores in Singapore by Christmas​

Hong Kong-based beauty retail company Sa Sa International plans to re-establish its brick-and-mortar stores in Singapore by the year-end festive season this year.

t made the decision in order to “concentrate its resources” on its core markets – Hong Kong, Macau, China, and Malaysia.

It then launched a flagship store on e-commerce platform Shopee to serve the Singapore market in early 2020 before announcing its intentions to return to Singapore earlier this year.

CHLITINA CEO marks SEA as next major growth opportunity​

Beauty company CHLITINA is poised to expand in South East Asia on the back of the rising spending power of consumers in the region’s emerging markets.

The COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the firm’s expansion plans, and CEO Ryan Chao is keen to get back on track.

After Vietnam, the company hopes to expand into Singapore, which Chao believes will be the ideal base of its Nanyang operations.

Dark tea demonstrates potential for cosmetics application – China study​

The stress-relieving action of dark tea polysaccharide and its ability to reduce stress-induced lipid secretion suggest strong cosmetics application potential, say Chinese researchers.

Dark tea is a post-fermented tea native to many regions of China, including Yunnan, Hunan, Sichuan, and Guangxi provinces.

Although it is widely used in food and pharmaceutical products its application in the cosmetics industry has rarely been reported.

Is your brand ready for the Single’s Day sales?​

If you’re selling into China, here’s how to make the most of this annual shopping holiday, also known as 11:11…

According to Elena Gatti, MD of China retail partner Azoya Europe, players like Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and Kuaishou are posing challenges to traditional industry giants such as Tmall and JD.com.

She said that to stay relevant and competitive, these established platforms are being forced to rethink their strategies, focusing on enhancing their content and pricing.