Focus: In Asia, nascent men's make-up market starts drawing big brands
20/12/2018 24:30
(Repeats item first published late Wednesday with no changes to
text)
By Haejin Choi, Sarah White and Sam Nussey
SEOUL/PARIS/TOKYO, Dec 19 (Reuters) - From an eye shadow
that opens with the flick of a thumb, Zippo-style, to a
barely-there foundation in subtle blue-grey packaging: men's
make-up is getting a makeover as manufacturers bid to take it
more mainstream.
France's Chanel and Japan's Pola Orbis 4927.T are among
firms launching new ranges to exploit signs of rising demand for
cosmetics among men, especially in Asia, betting the tide is
finally turning in a segment that has long underwhelmed.
Beyond showbusiness circles or the limited realm of beauty
bloggers, the brands have other clients - such as
image-conscious executives - in their sights, as they emphasise
the undetectable aspects of some products.
"Giving off a sense of cleanliness is becoming a kind of
business skill," said Akira Gogo, president of Pola Orbis
subsidiary Acro, which launched a men's make-up range in
September that includes foundation in 15 different skin tones
given names like "Crispin" or "Joaquin".
With some previous experiments in this field flopping, and
dominant players such as France's L'Oreal OREP.PA on the
fence, it's a gamble the companies are reticent to hype up too
much.
"We don't expect to see sales suddenly jump - we're trying
to create a new culture," Gogo added.
But an increasingly receptive audience in markets such as
South Korea - where wildly popular "K-pop" boy bands and their
cute, flawless looks have helped redefine ideas of the comely
male - points to growing potential for this niche.
That is partly down to consumers such as Lee Ho-June, a
28-year-old who runs his own company as a fashion designer. He
says he draws the line at a full face of make-up, unlike some
acquaintances who paint their eyebrows, but has got used to
using tinted moisturisers like BB creams - and visiting beauty
stores with growing men's counters.
"For me as a guy, it had been embarrassing and awkward to
walk into a cosmetics shop," Ho-June said, as he browsed with a
female friend in downtown Seoul. "Now I enter a shop without
hesitation."
Asia's male grooming market is still a relative minnow,
accounting for under a fifth of the $49.5 billion industry
globally in 2017, according to data from market research firm
Euromonitor.
Yet while business in other regions revolves around shaving
products and deodorants, Asia already punches above its weight
in men's skincare, accounting for more than 60 percent of
worldwide sales in one of the industry's fastest-growing
segments.
MEN'S NEEDS
Most cosmetics makers have made, at most, only tentative
steps into men's make-up.
L'Oreal, which featured a male model for the first time in a
2016 advertising campaign for a foundation, makes BB creams for
men. So does Estee Lauder EL.N , under its male Lab Series
brand, which recently also launched a colour-correcting
moisturiser meant to mimic the effect of a photo filter.
But the U.S. company's Tom Ford ranges are among the only
world-famous names in male make-up. Some others, including a
line attempted in 2008 by French couturier Jean Paul Gaultier,
were discontinued.
Tom Ford Beauty, which sells lipstick hues with names like
"Alistair" and "Scott", and men's mud masks for $60, declined to
comment on its sales progress since entering the space in 2012.
Neither Chanel nor Acro disclosed how much they'd invested
in the launches.
But the new entrants, with products priced at up to $75 for
a foundation in Chanel's case, are banking that men will become
more exacting as they develop beauty regimens, seeking out
specific textures to cover their larger pores, for instance.
Chanel, known for its No.5 perfume and fashion ranges,
included matt lip balms and eyebrow pencils in shades such as
grey in its new men's make-up line called "Boy".
"We are convinced that targeting men's specific needs will
lead the industry to real innovation in application techniques,
in new products with multiple uses, and new formats," Chanel
said in emailed comments.
Its range had already attracted some interest at a Chanel
store in Seoul in November, though male customers were scarce.
"It can be a great gift for men," said Oh Min-Ji, 29, who
said she shared some of her make-up with her younger brother but
had found the idea of giving him women's products "awkward".
Acro has sought to make the products accessible to men by
putting the accent on their application.
Chunky foundation bars can be applied with motions similar
to using an electric razor, while the shape of others recall an
e-cigarette than can be easily carried in a jacket pocket.
KOREA FIRST, CHINA KEY
In South Korea, spending per head on men's skincare - seen
as a small leap away from using concealers and make-up - already
beats other countries hands down, with consumers splurging more
than 10 times more than their U.S. or French peers, according to
Euromonitor.
"The pressure to look youthful is very, very strong in South
Korea. In jobs, you have to look like a 20-year-old - but have
20 years' experience," said Michael Nolte, creative director of
cosmetics trend forecasting company BeautyStreams. "It's a
cultural thing too, boyish good looks are in."
That brings opportunities, but also some hurdles, for the
brands in a fiercely innovative and competitive local cosmetics
market where non-male specific make-up is already becoming
popular with men.
In the eight months to August, South Korea's biggest online
shopping site Gmarket recorded a 130 percent jump from a year
earlier in the sale of cosmetics to male customers, including
mascara and lip tint.
Chanel brought out its "Boy" range in South Korea in
September, and plans to land it in Asian, U.S. and British
stores in 2019. Acro has initially focused on stores and online
sales in Japan, but sees South Korea and Thailand as potential
entry points to the broader Asia market, which it plans to enter
next year.
A key test for contenders in men's make-up would be to
eventually crack China.
Its overall beauty market was worth an estimated 39 billion
euros ($44.35 billion) in 2018 and is expected to more than
double by 2030, according to L'Oreal forecasts. Signs of
interest from male shoppers are already appearing.
JD.com, China's No. 2 e-commerce company, said the number of
male consumers buying make-up in the first 17 days of a special
sale period in June this year had jumped 61 percent from a year
earlier. Popular skincare brands included LVMH's LVMH.PA Dior
and Procter & Gamble's PG.N Japanese label SK-II.
"It's really starting to change," said Shanghai-based
TreeTree Wu, 26, a male cosmetics blogger with almost 270,000
followers on Chinese microblogging platform Sina Weibo, and
avowed fan of Fenty Beauty, a brand launched by singer Rihanna
alongside LVMH.
"It's not just male stars but lots of young men are using
make-up," he added. "Regular ordinary people, students and
others, who might at least be painting their eyebrows."
($1 = 111.8900 yen)
($1 = 1,115.5400 won)
($1 = 0.8793 euros)
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GRAPHIC-Global men's skincare market https://tmsnrt.rs/2QZtalo
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(Additional reporting by Haejin Choi, Yijin Kim and Daeun Yi in
Seoul and Adam Jourdan in Shanghai; Writing by Sarah White;
Editing by Alex Richardson)
((sarah.white1@thomsonreuters.com; + 33 (0) 1 49 49 56 85;))