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AUGUST 14, 2020
A Publication of WWD
Masks With BenefitsAs masks become a staple of everyday life, beauty brands are offering their
own options that are not only good for your health — but your skin, too. For more, and a look at the trendiest masks from Brooklyn to L.A. — see pages 8 to 10.
PLUS: The newest nail craze and NPD enters China. PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL BUCKNER
ISSUE#22
Beauty Bulletin
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AUGUST 14, 2020
THE BUZZ
¬ firmenich names new cfo
Firmenich, the largest privately owned fragrance and flavors supplier, has named benoit fouilland as its new chief financial officer.
Fouilland will start in the position on Sept. 1, succeeding Eric Nicolas, and will report to the Geneva-based company’s chief executive officer, Gilbert Ghostine, as a member of Firmenich’s executive committee.
Fouilland will also serve as the board’s secretary of the finance, audit and risk committee. He most recently was cfo at Criteo SA. Nicolas, meanwhile, becomes the group’s chief operating officer. barbara de laere becomes aveda global brand presidentBarbara de Laere is Aveda’s new global brand president, effective last month.
Following her promotion, de Laere is expected to maintain her omnichannel approach to sales, which includes the brand’s salons, stores and e-commerce. She will also be leading the sustainability transformation pillar with Nancy Mahon, senior vice president, global corporate citizenship and sustainability. beverly morgan joins benefit as svp of global human resourcesBeverly Morgan is now the senior vice president, global human resources at Benefit Cosmetics.
Morgan comes from Make Up For Ever, where she was the head of the brand’s New York City academy and vice president of human resources. Prior to that, she had a 15-year career in fashion. She replaces Corey Yribarren, who is now the chief people officer at Sephora.
¬ Makeup artist Jillian Dempsey launched an app in the middle of a global pandemic, and now she’s amping up its offerings.
Fyfe Beauty, the app she launched
earlier this year, has gained new artists contributing video content, as well as added brands to the platform’s e-commerce component. Hairstylists Adir Abergel and Chris
McMillan now join makeup artist Molly R. Stern on the platform. It also features a section called the Shade Arcade, allowing users to try on various shades virtually.
“I wanted brands to see what was being offered,” Dempsey said. “I wanted brands to understand that we can all work together.” She considers the expansions as going hand-in-hand with artist tutorials educating consumers and products they can later shop. “They have the same goal: they want to educate and teach other people. Through the Fyfe app, it’s your own way to connect with the artist.”
Brands that have also joined the app include Chantecaille, Virtue and Drunk Elephant. McMillan, who collaborated with Drunk Elephant on its hair-care line, uses the products in his own videos. “I’m known as the lazy-girl makeup artist, I’m about out-the-door makeup, I don’t believe in wasting people’s time,” Dempsey said. “This is the future, this is how people should be getting their information. Why not get the information, click-and-buy your products and get out?”
That being said, Dempsey said she ultimately gives the artists free rein to use whatever tools and products they prefer. “This isn’t sponsored, we don’t have any rules because I want them to be who they are. That’s how they represent the brands authentically,” she said. “Right now, brands are more intrigued working on this type of platform because it highlights how artists work with the actual products.” — James Manso
Jillian Dempsey Adds Brands, Artists to Fyfe Beauty App
The Beauty Carousel Firmenich, Benefit and Aveda all saw senior-level shifts in leadership.
Fyfe Beauty's video content educates users on how to
use products for sale.
The great social media shakeup of
2020 is here.
TikTok has become ubiquitous
— much like Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram and Snapchat before
it — and until now, the ByteDance-
owned video-sharing application has
gone unchallenged. President Trump
has identified the app as a national
security threat, and Microsoft is
eyeing it for potential acquisition.
It is good timing, then, that
Facebook, whose chief executive
officer Mark Zuckerberg appeared
virtually at a congressional hearing
on July 29, released its TikTok copy.
On Aug. 5, Facebook unveiled
Instagram Reels. For months prior,
TikTok users had flooded Instagram
with uploads from the competitor
app. But the launch of Reels seems
to be an assertion of Facebook's
desire to remain all-powerful and,
presumably, continue to find new
ways of collecting advertising dollars.
How Reels came to be is
reminiscent of Instagram Stories,
which bowed as Facebook's answer
to competitor app Snapchat. When
Instagram Stories first launched,
it, too, was critiqued for having
filters deemed inferior to those
within Snapchat's app. Since then,
Stories has become ingrained as a
key feature of Instagram. Whether
Reels will, too, remains to be seen.
Also making waves on Instagram
is an account called @glowgraphs,
which shares graphs on skin-care
data. “I did a post about what
people are saying about Fenty Skin.
That post blew up,” said the
account creator, who spoke to
Beauty Inc on the condition
of anonymity.
They are no stranger to data —
hence the graphs, which aggregate
numbers from Nielsen, Google
Trends and Twitter.
“I’m a social science Ph.D.
student, and I do a lot of
quantitative work with data and
methodology.” the founder said.
Their involvement in the
industry is only as an enthusiast
pursuing a pastime.
“It’s a fun hobby for me,” they
said. “I haven’t set it up in a way
that would be monetized.”
The Thread: Will Beauty Embrace Instagram Reels? How Reels came to be is reminiscent of Instagram Stories. BY ALEXA TIETJEN AND JAMES MANSO
Benoit Fouilland Barbara de Laere Beverly Morgan
Sustainability and the Human ElementS E P T E M B E R 1 5 • V I R T U A L C O N F E R E N C E
C U L U R E C O N F E R E N C E
ATTENDEE INQUIRIES LAUREN PYO LPYO@WWD.COM | EVENT SPONSORSHIP KATE WALKER KWALKER@WWD.COM
For more information visit fairchildlive.com
LE AR N M O R E
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and thought leaders committed to a more sustainable and
equitable future for fashion, beauty and retail.
REINVEST, REDESIGN, RETHINK
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CAROLINE BROWNManaging DirectorClosed Loop Partners
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COLLEEN VIENSustainability DirectorTimberland
FL_HAD_SUSTAINABILITY_01.indd 2 7/30/20 8:07 PM
4
AUGUST 14, 2020
NEWS FEED
SEPHORA’S PRIVATE LABEL
brand is jumping on the clean makeup
bandwagon with a small assortment of
products launching Friday.
The four new Sephora Collection
products — Glowing Skin Foundation,
Glossy Lip Oil, Liquid Lip Mousse
and Bouncy Eyeshadow Palette —
all have the Clean at Sephora seal,
meaning they have been formulated
without certain ingredients including
parabens, sulfates, mineral oil,
formaldehydes, coal tar and more.
The beauty retailer this year has
significantly bolstered its clean makeup
selection, adding brands such as
Kosas and Tower28 and working with
others such as Tarte and Bite Beauty
to reformulate according to the Clean
at Sephora standards. A key point
of difference between these brands
and those sold under the Sephora
Collection label is price. None of the
Sephora Collection clean makeup
products are priced at more than $20.
“We thought it was important to
bring clean makeup at a great value,”
said Brooke Banwart, vice president
of Sephora Collection. “It starts with
what the clients are looking for and
where the biggest demand is.”
The products are vegan, cruelty-
free and formulated with natural
ingredients such as matcha and rosehip
oil. The packaging is said to have been
designed using sustainable resources
and vegetable ink. They are designed to
impart a more natural, no-makeup look.
The foundation, priced at $20,
comes in 20 shades, though it is
formulated with a buildable coverage
designed to work on a variety of
skin tones. The lip oil, $12, is made
with watermelon seed oil. The eye
shadow palette, $18, offers six neutral
shades with a “cushion-y” texture. It
was developed using pearls for color
— pigments used in conventional
eye shadows are often touted as
potentially harmful or toxic by
clean beauty advocates. Finally, a lip
mousse, designed for lightweight but
long-lasting color and “smooth and
blur” the lips, is priced at $15.
Prior to the global coronavirus
pandemic, clean makeup was
considered a small yet fast-growing
segment of the broader prestige makeup
category. While makeup sales have
plunged amid weeks of store closures,
the broader clean beauty category is still
considered to be a bright spot.
Sephora is working to expand its
two-year-old Clean program, most
aggressively in skin care. Most
notably, it is transitioning its entire
Sephora Collection skin-care line to
be Clean at Sephora compliant. Some
old products have been reformulated,
some are being phased out, and any
new products launched in the back
half of the year will all have the seal.
Clean makeup at Sephora is still a
small category relative to skin care,
and while the segment is “not for
everybody,” it has potential to grow,
said Banwart — though it will depend
on how fast brands can release
innovation that can compete with
conventional makeup products. The
category is not something Banwart
sees the consumer compromising on.
“What happened over time with
ski-care is that being clean and
eco-friendly became table stakes, she
noted. “At the end of the day, clients
need efficacy and high-performance.
It’s a matter of technology and the
pace at which that happens, but
we’re looking to help push that
innovation forward.”
Sephora Collection Launches Clean Makeup ProductsThe beauty retailer is slowly aligning its private label brand with its Clean at Sephora initiative. BY ELLEN THOMAS
VILHELM PARFUMERIE IS in
full expansion mode.
The niche fragrance brand
launched by Swede Jan Vilhelm
Ahlgren in 2015 has just reestablished
U.S. distribution, is opening a Paris
store and enlarging its range.
A Swiss investment group took a
majority stake in the label in November
2018. Ahlgren, who remains a part
owner in Vilhelm Parfumerie and its
creative director, said: “This really gave
me the tools to make the brand grow.”
Vilhelm Parfumerie moved its
headquarters from New York to Paris,
where it now has 15 employees.
“The group has decided to do
everything as much as possible in-
house,” said Ahlgren, adding there’s
been a big investment in production.
New fragrance sizes are coming out,
for instance.
Top French suppliers have been
tapped, such as Groupe Pochet for
glass, he continued.
In September, Vilhelm
Parfumerie will introduce a new
fragrance, Chicago High, bringing
the brand’s count to 23. Each
perfume is linked to an imaginary
tale. Chicago High was created to
evoke the spirit of a party in the
Windy City in the Twenties (think
“Great Gatsby” style).
Typically, Ahlgren creates
fragrances with a traditional
structure but overdoses a note.
“For this one, I wanted it to smell
more like an old perfume, so I
didn’t use that overdose of a single
ingredient,” he said, of the scent
which has notes of Champagne,
tobacco and leather.
Six candles and a body line are on
deck for 2021.
Vilhelm Parfumerie, which
launched a web shop in January and
on Net-a-porter in March, for Europe,
expects to open its first freestanding
boutique, at 58 Rue Pierre Charron in
Paris, in October. The shop will have
400 square feet of selling space on
the street level and the same square
footage for stock one flight down.
“It’s always a dream when you
start a brand to then be able to do a
boutique that can really capture all
the things you want to communicate.
You can really have people enter into
the world of Vilhelm Parfumerie,”
said Ahlgren, describing it as “an
ode to the past and to the new. That
difference gives a very nice friction.”
For the shop, Ahlgren envisioned
Pierre Cardin boarding a spaceship
in the Twenties then flying straight
into the future.
Vilhelm Parfumerie debuted in
three doors with eight perfumes five
years ago. By the end of 2020, it will
be in 24 countries.
Europe is today the brand’s
largest market.
While Ahlgren would not discuss
numbers, industry sources estimate
Vilhelm Parfumerie has generated
7 million euros in retail sales
since its acquisition, and that the
business could double by the end
of 2021.
A main focus is on relaunching
in the U.S., with the distributor
Europerfumes, after exiting the
country in 2019. Since July, Vilhelm
Parfumerie has entered nine niche
retailers there, including The Scent
Room, Merz Apothecary and ZGO,
and is on saksfifthsvenue.com.
More sales points should be added
in the U.S. through the fall, and the
brand is launching an e-shop there.
To enter the Middle East Vilhelm
Parfumerie partnered with Chalhoub
Group for launches in September and
October in Harvey Nichols in Riyadh,
Qatar and Kuwait; Galeries Lafayette
in Dubai, and a pop-up shop in Dubai’s
Bloomingdale's, among other doors.
The brand will be carried in
Joyce in Hong Kong and Mecca in
Australia, two more new markets
alongside the likes of the Baltics,
Ukraine and Russia.
Vilhelm Parfumerie’s next store
openings could be in London, Milan
and Moscow.
Vilhelm Parfumerie Ramps Up ExpansionThe niche fragrance brand has just reentered the U.S. market and is opening its first boutique in Paris. BY JENNIFER WEIL
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Chicago High
Sephora Collection clean products
5
AUGUST 14, 2020
NEWS FEED
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TARI KANDEMIRI USED TO shop in-store at beauty retailers
such as Ulta and Sephora in search
of products for hyperpigmentation.
Despite her focused efforts, she often
found herself overwhelmed.
“I’d read all the labels, read reviews
while standing in the store, trying
to find help, but it seemed like there
were so many products and nowhere
I could go that could synthesize all of
that information for me,” Kandemiri
told Beauty Inc on a recent phone call.
The 23-year-old, who studied
computer science and business
at Sewanee University, began
to contemplate how platforms
such as StitchFix employ data
to offer personalized product
recommendations to consumers. That
led her to build Hama Beauty, an
online platform that uses more than
500,000 data points and a patented
algorithm, developed by Kandemiri, to
recommend beauty products to users.
Hama, which means “family and
friends” in Kandemiri's native Shona
language, has drawn thousands of users
to its web site since its May 1 launch. Of
the more than 5,000 people who have
taken Hama's Skin Quiz, the majority
are aged 18 to 24. Their most common
skin-care concerns are hydration, acne,
dark spots, redness and dullness.
Hama Beauty, which Kandemiri
built from scratch with a developer,
caught the attention of Glow Recipe
cofounders and co-chief executive
officers Sarah Lee and Christine Chang.
The pair selected Hama, along with two
other start-up companies, to participate
in Glow Recipe's inaugural Community
Mentoring Initiative, which aims to
offer guidance and support to Black-
owned beauty and wellness businesses.
“I thought [Hama Beauty] was
interesting, new and very different
from any other business we’ve met
and interviewed,” Lee said. “I love
that [Kandemiri] has a specific point
of view on what she has to offer for
people with dark skin tone and similar
skin concerns that she experienced.”
Kandemiri, Chang said, has “had
good recruitment” in terms of
attracting users to Hama's web site.
“We’re trying to find ways to
convert those customers who
have been taking the quiz to join
[Kandemiri's] e-mail database, and
how she can become an associate to
partner with brands so this can be a
real revenue stream,” Chang said.
Hama Beauty uses APIs and public
data to house hundreds of brands
sold at Sephora, Ulta and Walmart.
The platform is self-funded by
Kandemiri, who works full-time as
a consultant and has not taken on
investment. She is expanding the web
site to include reviews and forums.
“I find solace in knowing that this
algorithm has information about
anyone and everyone,” Kandemiri
said. “I want anyone to be able to
come to the web site and feel like it
doesn’t matter if they’re filtering for
something under $25 or purchasing
for over $75. I wanted to create
somewhere that was simple and easy
for people to access information
about beauty because it can be tough
to feel good or informed as you’re
shopping for these products.”
How Hama Beauty Uses Data for Product RecommendationsThe online platform has racked up thousands of views since its May launch. Its 23-year-old creator, Tari Kandemiri, shares how it works. BY ALEXA TIETJEN
HIPDOT IS rolling out a program
dedicated to microinfluencer beauty
product collaborations.
The company, known for its
SpongeBob SquarePants cosmetics
collection, works with microinfluencers
on social media content, but typically
reserves product collaborations for more
prominent names, such as singer Kesha.
In an effort to support up-and-coming
creators, HipDot is launching The
HipDot Creator Series, a sequence of
collaborations that kicks off Aug. 17 with
FacedByKareem, aka Kareem Maliek.
Maliek, who has worked with
HipDot on content since last year,
shared a product proposal with the
company in January, before the onset
of the coronavirus in the U.S. HipDot
responded to Maliek's e-mail within
the hour it was sent, confirming the
company's interest in proceeding
to realize Maliek's first product
collaboration.
“HipDot took my vision and
elevated it to a whole collection, even
during this time where shopping
for makeup in stores may not be the
thing people want to do right now,”
Maliek told Beauty Inc via phone.
Jeff Sellinger, HipDot's cofounder
and chief executive officer, said
Maliek “deserves a lot of credit”
for cold-pitching the company.
“It took a lot of guts for Kareem to
reach out and put the amount of thought
and effort that he did into his proposal,”
Sellinger said. “We hope that Kareem’s
launch inspires a lot of creators to go for
it and make it happen.”
The HipDot Creator Series' first
collection consists of an eye shadow
palette, brush set and blending sponge,
all of which will be sold on HipDot's
web site. The company plans to release
future microinfluencer collaborations
“if the demand is there,” Sellinger said.
“It’s up to the audience to decide.
If the demand is there, we’ll continue
to produce new products,” he said.
HipDot's series comes as the
influencer industry undergoes a
coronavirus-induced shakeout. Brands
have slashed their marketing budgets
to cut costs, and superinfluencers are
struggling with relatability, accelerating
the rise of microinfluencers.
Maliek is one of a growing number
of Black men claiming space in an
industry that has historically uplifted
problematic, though highly influential
men such as James Charles, Jeffree
Star and Shane Dawson.
While working at a summer
camp program in 2013, Maliek was
encouraged to experiment with
makeup by his boss. In creating his
HipDot collection, Maliek turned to his
20,000 Instagram followers, whom he
polled. He wanted the palette shades
to be “multifunctional,” he said, adding
that they “work on all complexions.”
HipDot has more cosmetics
collaborations in the works, but
timelines have slowed due to
COVID-19, Sellinger said.
“Retail has been impacted as stores
have shut down, but on the d-t-c side,
it’s been strong,” he said, adding that
consumers should “look for HipDot
to be in more mass retail in the
coming months.”
Production challenges due to
COVID-19 caused the HipDot team
to be creative in terms of workflow.
On one occasion, Maliek drove
to HipDot's director of product
development Paulette Menaskan's
house to see a prototype in-person.
“It was very interesting, with a
collaborator, [to meet] on the street
and pass off product,” Menaskan said.
“Classic COVID-19 meeting: outside
with masks on,” Sellinger said.
HipDot Turns to Microinfluencers for Creator Series Microinfluencer FacedByKareem will launch The HipDot Creator Series on Aug. 17. BY ALEXA TIETJEN
Tari Kandemiri, Hama Beauty's
founder.
Hama Beauty is an online platform that uses more than 500,000 data points and a patented algorithm to recommend beauty products to users.
HipDot's first Creator Series.
6
AUGUST 14, 2020
NEWS FEED
THERE HAS BEEN A notable
transformation in the variety of
marketing activity used for selling
prestige beauty online in China.
“This year, we have suddenly a
lot of livestreaming sales. So social
commerce is becoming more and
more important,” said Samuel Yan,
e-commerce commercial lead at
The NPD Group, based in Shanghai.
“WeChat Mini Programs are also
becoming an important platform for
the brands to sell through.”
Short videos, apps and customized
services are, too. So rather than
relying on Tmall and JD.com, an
increasing number of brands are
trying to lasso traffic by reaching
consumers themselves.
Digitally advanced China — a
major beauty market that deconfined
earlier than other countries during
the coronavirus pandemic — is
considered a bellwether for how
cosmetics businesses will evolve
elsewhere.
“All these innovative marketing
activities are what we saw as the
biggest change for this year,” said
Martine Ringwald, senior vice
president, business development,
beauty and luxury at The NPD Group,
based in Paris.
Still, there is a lot of room for
e-commerce’s expansion, especially
cross-border nowadays as Chinese
consumers remain stymied from
traveling too far afield and so are
unable to purchase international
brands abroad.
“Today we can say e-commerce
for prestige beauty [makes]
about 35 to 40 percent [of revenues],”
Ringwald continued.
Tmall continues outpacing JD.com
when it comes to prestige beauty
sales, according to The NPD Group,
which recently began tracking
e-commerce in China.
“[That’s] even if Tmall really
suffered during February because of
logistics issues. JD was much more
equipped to manage logistics, so JD
really did better than Tmall at that
time,” explained Ringwald.
She added that Tmall has been
actively opening different types of
stores, some of which are cross-border.
This June versus June 2019, Tmall’s
growth rate for prestige beauty was
up 90 percent, whereas JD’s advanced
74 percent, according to NPD, which
uses daily web-scraping on Tmall and
has direct access to the JD.com Union
Site for monthly data.
In June, the prestige beauty
segment’s revenues continued to
increase on the platforms, at plus 87
percent versus the same month last
year in China, mainly generated by
Tmall with $1.14 billion in revenues.
“The Chinese consumers continue
to trade up in purchasing all beauty
products, regardless of the negative
impact of COVID-19,” Yan said.
According to NPD, pre-COVID-19
the value weight of each beauty main
category was 64 percent skin care, 28
percent makeup, 6 percent fragrance
and 2 percent hair care. That
compares to 69 percent skin care, 24
percent makeup, 6 percent fragrance
and 1 percent hair care post-lockdown.
In skin care, sets and kits make
27 percent of sales, followed by face
serums with 18 percent, toners and
clarifiers with 10 percent, and eye
treatments with 9 percent.
Consumers have been honing in on
clean, clinical and sustainable brands.
Starting in May, there was a gradual
uptick in makeup, with foundation
sales generating 19 percent of the
total color-cosmetics business.
In China, Social Commerce Helps Spur Prestige Beauty SalesTmall’s prestige beauty sales grew 90 percent, whereas JD.com’s advanced 74 percent this June versus June 2019, according to The NPD Group. BY JENNIFER WEIL
LONDON — When thinking about
Shiseido's prestige offerings, one
may think of Clé de Peau Beauté or
IPSA, but actually, there is one brand,
The Ginza, sitting on the top of the
pyramid, and one won't even find
its brand information on Shiseido
Group's web site.
With a set of minimalistically
designed 90-ml. serums priced at
180,000 yen, or $1,702, and a jar of
40g face cream for 100,000 yen, or
$948, the brand, founded in 2002,
was Japanese ultra-wealthy women's
best-kept secret. Made in Japan and
only sold in Japan until recently, some
even claimed that The Ginza was
first developed exclusively for female
members of the Japanese royal family.
Shiseido did not respond to a request
to verify this information.
But because of the word-of-
mouth marketing, especially
recommendations by famous
Chinese actresses and key opinion
leaders on social commerce platform
Xiaohongshu, and reality shows such
as “Sisters Who Make Waves,” this
elusive brand has been quickly gaining
momentum in China in recent years.
The Ginza has set up official
accounts on Weibo, WeChat and
Xiaohonghshu last year and
revamped its brand web site this
April with support in four languages
— Japanese, English, simplified
Chinese and traditional Chinese — to
reach more international customers.
It has also appointed Japanese model
Ai Tominaga as its global brand muse.
With COVID-19 drying up travel
retail revenue, the brand rolled out
its online store with the site revamp
with complimentary samples and free
international shipping to China, and
teamed with China Duty Free and
opened counters in Beijing Capital
International Airport and Shanghai
Pudong International Airport to capture
China's resilient domestic spending.
The brand said online pre-orders
in Chinese duty-free shops started in
May received “a very good response by
wealthy Millennials in their 20s to 30s,”
and “the brand is planning to enter the
China market in the near future,” and
participate in the third edition of China
International Import Expo in November.
Before the lockdowns, the brand sells
predominantly via its flagship store in
Ginza, Tokyo, and duty-free stores across
Japan with 28 points of sale. Chinese
tourists are one of its biggest clients.
Developed with the concept of
“elevating your bare skin to the
height of haute couture,” the brand
said its products were “innovated to
be tailormade for every customer’s
skin,” and contain the “Perceptive
Complex” compound blend, which
includes Polyquaternium-51, Camellia
seed extract, beta-glucan, glycerin
and mineral water, to help maintain
the outer layer of the skin to keep
healthy conditions.
“I have been using its moisturizing
emulsion for a long time,” said Kim
Yin, a second-generation entrepreneur
at the Chinese garment manufacturer
Chenfeng Group. “I will always buy
some when I go to Japan. I like their
basic skin-care products, which is more
affordable, for my daily routines.”
Mia Zhang, editor in chief of Meiya,
a Chinese beauty social commerce
platform with 20 million active users,
observed that The Ginza is one of
the better-received newcomers to the
competitive prestige skin-care market
in China.
“Since it has such a big online buzz,
many will buy and try it, especially
those who live in first-tier cities. But
from what I have seen so far, because it
doesn't have a formal presence in China
yet, and its high price point, repeat
purchase rate is still low, compared to
Shiseido the main brand and Clé de
Peau Beauté, which have been in the
market for a long time,” she said.
Shiseido's Elusive Luxury Brand, The Ginza, Eyes China ExpansionAs a result of word-of-mouth marketing, wealthy Chinese Millennials are flocking to try out Shiseido's low profile yet pricy skin-care line. BY TIANWEI ZHANG
Ai Tominaga in The Ginza campaign.
Tmall.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT RACHAEL DESANTIS, BEAUTY DIRECTOR AT RDESANTIS@WWD.COM
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AUGUST 14, 2020
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REMEMBER BACK IN March
when Googling “How to make a
mask” was a popular question among
search engines? That gave way to
stories like “Where to Buy Face Masks
That are Stylish Online” and “16
Stylish Effective Fabric Face Masks,”
among a slew of others.
But as of late, fashion companies
aren’t the only ones crafting masks for
brand devotees. Skin-care and wellness
brands are following suit, many imbuing
masks with treatment benefits to
combat skin issues including acne and
irritation — aka maskne — that have
arisen from frequent mask wearing.
According to Trendalytics, masks and
maskne are top of mind for consumers.
The company reports that online
searches for face masks over the last
three months has increased about
1,000 percent and that the term maskne
is also seeing accelerated growth —
2,317.4 percent to be exact — when it
comes to average weekly searches.
“Conversations about acne have hit
a five-year record high,” said Sarah
Barnes, content marketing manager
at Trendalytics. “Searches for acne are
currently up 20 percent to last year.”
Barnes noted that when looking
at the search curve for acne, it hit a
sharp decline around the COVID-19
outbreak when people’s priorities
may have been adjusted and they
weren’t so concerned about skin care.
But then Trendalytics saw a sharp
increase. “The levels of searches
for acne are currently higher than
they’ve ever been,” she said. “The
issue of maskne is real. The acne
conversation was already popular,
and it’s just going to continue to grow
with the current cultural climate.”
That impact is starting to be seen
in sales. The NPD Group reports that
year-to-date through June 2020, anti-
acne prestige skin care has grown by 6
percent. In the mass market, Nielsen’s
measurement of grocery stores, drug
stores, mass merchandisers, select dollar
stores, select warehouse clubs and
military commissaries, shows in the 21-
week period ending July 25, acne facial
treatment sales increased by 3.7 percent.
Aestheticians and dermatologists
are witnessing the acne aftermath
of frequent mask wearing firsthand.
“Clients who have never broken out
in the lower jawline and around the
mouth area are experiencing acne,
which comes from wearing a mask,”
said Camille Fields, a Los Angeles-based
aesthetician. “Sweat and bacteria are
getting trapped between the mask and
your skin, which creates that break out.”
Fields has been donning a silver
ion mask from BioTherapeutics and
suggests them to her clients. “Silver is
very antimicrobial and antibacterial,
so this is more protective against
bacteria and viruses,” she said.
New York-based dermatologist
Dr. Rose Ingleton, who’s seen an
increase in acne, contact dermatitis
and rosacea in patients, recommends
wearing a mask with a natural fabric
that’s breathable in lightweight
cotton or silk. “I would avoid
synthetic fabrics,” Ingleton said. “Also,
it is safer to choose white fabrics as
some people have allergies to fabric
dyes in the more colorful masks.
Like BioTherapeautics, a slew of
beauty brands have pivoted from
their core business to develop masks
that won’t irritate the skin.
The Light Salon, which is based
in London, is launching its Anti-
Viral Mask in September for its
customer base and skin therapists to
wear while performing facials. “The
masks are made from lightweight,
biodegradable organic bamboo
viscose and are treated with ViralOff
virus reducing technology, a
treatment of textiles that stops viral
activity through interaction with
key proteins,” said Laura Ferguson,
cofounder of The Light Salon.
According to the brand, the
polygenie coating, which is made of
titanium dioxide and silver chloride,
has been tested against influenza A, bird flu, norovirus and SARS over the
years, and has achieved 99 percent�
Looking for Cover An end to maskne? As facial covers become a part of consumers’ everyday lives, beauty brands are looking to create options that deliver health and skin benefits. BY JAYME CYK PORTRAITS BY MICHAEL BUCKNER AND LEXIE MORELAND
Masks as seen in the streets of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Los Angeles.
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AUGUST 14, 2020
DEEP DIVE
levels of reduction.
“We have seen an increase in
blemishes and acne across our
therapists and customers, due to the
prolonged wearing of masks,” Ferguson
said. “The Anti-Viral Mask has an
antimicrobial effect, which means the
mask is self-cleaning, so less washing
prevents the growth of microorganisms,
such as bacteria and fungi. Also, the
technology does not interfere with
the skin’s natural bacteria flora, which
offers another level of protection.”
Similarly, Night, a wellness brand
that prioritizes sleep, launched a face
mask in its signature mulberry silk
textile. “We’re making fabrications
that are for long use for skin and hair,
so there’s not much of a jump from
making a pillowcase that is going to
spend all night with your face versus a
mask that’s going to spend all day,” said
the brand’s founder, Kalle Simpson.
But the brand got into the business
of face coverings by happenstance. As a
New York-based company, Night used
its resources to help supply health-care
workers in New York City with PPE
thanks to their overseas manufacturer.
Their first venture was a donation to
Memorial Sloan Kettering, but they
started to receive feedback about how
irritating the masks were on the skin.
“Very quickly, the conversation
became about how can we do this
in relation to our core business,”
Simpson said. “Silk is super
compatible with the skin, it’s
naturally hypoallergenic, and it’s
going to automatically mitigate
breakouts because it’s so gentle.”
But Simpson didn’t stop at silk. She
had access to the melt blown material
used in N95 masks and decided to
create a disposable filter that can be
added to her non-surgical silk masks. “It
protects against 95 percent of bacteria
particles. If you’re using materials like
cotton, that’s a super abrasive fabric. It’s
a fabric that can pick up dust mites and
irritants and then redeposit them into
your skin. We do not market ourselves
as hospital-grade, but health-care
workers are asking if they can wear
the silk mask underneath their normal
mask to protect their skin, and we’ve
seen good results from that.”
The brand has also partnered with
the U.S. Postal Office. According to
industry sources, Night has done $4
million in mask sales with $750,000
in silk masks since April, the bulk of
which came from their USPS deal.
Meanwhile, Slip launched its
silk face mask about a month ago
and even though they had been
prototyping the idea for awhile, they
pulled the trigger when retailers
started asking for it. “We launched
with Revolve and sold out within two
days,” said Fiona Stewart, cofounder
and chief executive officer of Slip.
“Nordstrom has taken them, Cult
Beauty, Selfridges, and Sephora in
Australia, too. Most of our major
retailers are taking them because they
see the need for the face covering.”
A silk face mask was a natural
progression for Slip. The company
employs the same fabrication as their
best-selling pillowcases and scrunchies
due to the gentle nature it has on
the skin. Each mask is outfitted with
three layers (two silk and one cotton
sandwiched in between) per CDC
recommendations. It also has an
adjustable nose wire to mold to the face
and its machine washable. “The mask
sales have gone crazy because this need
is so high,” Stewart added.
Asia, who has always accepted
masks as a cultural norm, has a slew
of innovations in the works. For
example, in South Korea, electronics
company LG developed a mask
equipped with miniature fans that
draw in fresh air. Air pressure sensors
on the mask activate the fans, which
bring in air through the filter each
time the user inhales.
Also thinking ahead is apparel
company, Cox, which is within
the Aeon group, Japan’s largest
supermarket company. They are
planning to release a mask made
with synthetic fabric that has a
cooling sensation and another
iteration that uses natural xylitol
based in the fabric. When the
ingredient reacts with sweat, it cools
the fabric temperature down. ■
1. The irritation is real. O n l i n e s e a rc h e s re l a t i n g to m a s ks a n d m a s k n e a re u p 1 , 0 0 0 p e rc e n t ove r t h e l a st t h re e m o n t h s . 2. Facial coverings are b e c o m i n g a b e a u t y c a te g o r y, w i t h b e n ef i ts t h a t l o o k to e ra d i c a te c o m m o n c o m p l a i n ts l i ke s k i n i r r i ta t i o n a n d a c n e, w h i l e p rote ct i n g a g a i n st a i r b o r n e p a t h o g e n s . 3. Emerging technologies include fa b r i c c o a t i n g s t h a t d o eve r y t h i n g f ro m c o o l t h e s k i n to k i l l b a cte r i a , d i s p o s a b l e f i l te rs a n d a i r p re s s u re s e n s o rs to re g u l a te t h e a m o u n t of a i r c o m i n g i n a n d o u t .
Key Takeaways
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MASK FORCEAn increasing number of beauty-related brands are launching face masks with built-in benefits to combat the irritation caused by frequent wearing.
Here, Beauty Inc rounds up the most innovative options on the market. — Jayme Cyk
NIGHT, $39Night’s 100 percent mulberry silk mask consists of three layers, including a filter made from the same material as an N95 surgical mask to block out dust, bacteria and allergens. For every silk mask purchased, Night donates five surgical masks to health-care workers. Disccovernight.com
RITUEL DE FILLE, $14.50In collaboration with Los Angeles-based Bomme Studio, makeup brand Rituel de Fille has created a reusable and sanitizable cloth face mask constructed from high-quality densely woven, breathable dual-ply cotton fabric made to CDC and Kaiser Permanente’s guidelines. Ritueldefille.com
SLIP, $55Slip’s machine washable mask iteration is made with three layers (two 100 percent mulberry silk and one cotton) per the CDC recommendations. The wellness brand will be donating 5 percent of sales from each face-covering in the U.S to Baby2Baby between June 18 to Sept. 18, with a minimum donation of $75,000. Slip.com
KITSCH, THREE FOR $12Kitsch Cotton Face Masks are made of three 100 percent cotton layers. Both washable and reusable, Kitsch used a sustainably sourced natural material (also used for their scrunchies) that is breathable and easy to clean. Mykitsch.com
THE LIGHT SALON, $50Launching in September, The Light Salon’s Anti-Viral Mask is said to protect against airborne diseases. In collaboration with ViralOff Polygenie Technology, a mix of titanium dioxide and silver chloride, this mask is made from organic bamboo viscose and coated with polygenie. Thelight-salon.com
EMERGINC, $20EmerginC’s Raw Cloth Mask is both reusable and biodegradable. Wanting to maintain an eco-friendly product, this face-covering includes six layers of protection and has a viscose layer made from waste wood. Emerginc.com
THE 2020 BEAUTY AWARD WINNERS WILL BE REVEALED DURING OUR VIRTUAL EVENT ON
NOVEMBER 13, 2020
FOR THE LIVE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE
CEW Beauty Award Finalists.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14TH at 12PM EDT
Join CEW & Gloss Angeles
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AUGUST 14, 2020
EYE CANDY
Nailing Negative Space¬Nowadays, going light on the nail polish isn’t just reserved for the coronavirus-fatigued consumers. Partial manicures are having a moment, and there’s never been a better time to embrace the negative space. Over the past six months, social media has seen a deluge of at-home manicure tutorials, often employing partially painted designs like cow print or geometric shapes layered on a natural nail. French manicures with colored tips have also seen an upswing. Celebrities like Hailey Bieber and Bella Hadid have been known to sport similar styles.
Alicia Torello, nail artist to Anne Hathaway, said these types of manicures have been trending for a
while, but have blown up since the coronavirus pandemic. She noted they are easy to create at home and last longer since regrowth isn’t as noticeable.
Common tools for taking a DIY approach to the trend are tape, stencils and toothpicks. Brands such as Orosa and Olive & June have streamlined application down to nail stickers. As for giving one’s nail art staying power, Torello suggests using cuticle oil frequently and reapplying a top coat every few days.
Torello looks to fashion designers, artwork and Pinterest for inspiration, but here, see a few examples of her end results. — Emily Burns
Nail artist Alicia Torello, manicurist to the likes of Anne Hathaway, leads the celeb-fronted charge on partial manicures.
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