Page 28 - Sphere No.20 (Nov 2007)

By the end of the year, there will be some 300Watsons stores
in 40 different cities in Mainland China
as a result of all these decades of women being without. Now it is the other way round, where mothers
are learning from their daughters about make-up and skincare routines.”
The editor says consumers are still lured by special offers, with brands spending heavily on advertising
campaigns and aggressive promotions. “The brands willing to invest in getting their message across always
benefit,” saysMs Cheung. “Themarket is very promotion driven. Freebies, discounts, or special promotions
go down well. People do look at the prices compared to elsewhere. Because it is still developing, the brand
loyalty is not as strong as elsewhere. Young women tend to go for the best offer, or the best promotion.”
The pioneer in the domestic beauty market is former television presenter Yue-Sai Kan, who estab-
lished her brand more than a decade ago. The main selling point of Yue-Sai cosmetics is that they are
manufactured with ingredients, tones and textures that flatter Asian skin tones. “She was the first in
China to come up with a beauty brand designed by Asians for Asians,” says Ms Cheung. “She believed
that a lot of the beauty products available on the market were designed for westerners and wanted to
have a brand that was truly for Asians and be flattering to Asian skin.”
Supermodel Du Juan was signed up to act as the face of Yue-Sai and appeal to China’s ever-
increasing legions of big-spending young women. Shanghai-born Ms Du, a drop-out at
ballet school, today shoots for major European labels such as Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint
Laurent and Roberto Cavalli. At the age of just 20, her record includes gracing the cover
of Vogue China’s launch edition, being the first Chinese to make the cover of French Vogue
and fashion shoots with legends such as Karl Lagerfeld.
PHOTOS FROM LEFT: ZHANG HEPING/IMAGINE CHINA; GETTY IMAGES; LIU JIANMIN/IMAGINE CHINA