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considering that most of the recentinternational beauty trends have originatedin Korea.

Colour care brand Berrisom presentedone of its Asian bestsellers, the Oops! MyLip Tint range, which was launched in2014. These are temporary liquid lip tattooswhich last for approximately 24 hours.Berrisom is a long standing CosmoprofAsia exhibitor – Hong Kong and China aretwo of the company’s biggest Asian markets– but the brand is also available in Japanand Taiwan, and in the Southeast Asiancountries Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam andThailand. Another interesting Berrisomproduct was Silver Ash, a men’s styling

Global appetite for fun, high-tech and novel beauty products from Asian brands has never been higher. Annemarie Kruse presents highlights from the 2015 edition of Asia’s biggest beauty event

cosmoprof asiaevent report

Asia Pacific’s biggest beauty trade show,Cosmoprof Asia, celebrated its 20thanniversary in 2015 with a recordperformance. From 11-13 November,2,504 exhibitors from 46 countriespresented their brands and products, up 6%,while total exhibition space grew 3% toover 84,000sqm. Visitor numbers climbed5.5% to a total of 63,241 attendees from119 countries. The majority of visitorscame from outside the Hong Kong areawhich marks an increase of 7% comparedwith the previous year.

As always, Cosmoprof Asia was dividedinto six sectors: Cosmetics & Toiletries,Natural Health, Hair Salon, Beauty Salon,Nail & Accessories and Pack & OEM. TheSpot on Beauty section, an area of3,700sqm dedicated to personal care, spaand wellness products, returned in 2015, asdid charity initiative Boutique. Boutiqueoffered visitors the opportunity to purchasetravel-sized products from participatingbeauty brands, with proceeds going toHong Kong-based NGO The Women’sFoundation. Spot on Beauty also featured anew exhibition area this year: DiscoverTrends showcased 29 innovative brands andcompanies from nine countries, focusingon some of the fastest growing sectors inthe international C&T industry: men’s care,baby care and natural and organic beauty.

There were 22 country and grouppavilions at Cosmoprof Asia and thecountries of honour were Italy and the US.

K-BEAUTY RULESWith a total of 212 exhibitors, Korea wasone of the biggest participators atCosmoprof Asia – not a big surprise

cream recently launched in Japan and soonto be introduced in Korea as well. SilverAsh is a temporary hair colourant creamwhich turns black hair silver.

Skin care brand Lady & Skin, also fromKorea, was founded in 2008. The company’sproducts are mostly sold online and in dutyfree stores and its main target group isChinese consumers. At Cosmoprof Asia,Lady & Skin showcased its latest launch,Blooming White Oxybright OvernightMask. This is a classic sleeping pack – analready established Korean beauty trend thatis only now reaching the European C&Tmarkets – which is formulated withbotanical extracts and has a foamy, bubbling texture.

Fellow exhibitor MdoC, on the otherhand, is going squarely for the maledemographic. Men’s cosmetics is one of thestrongest growth sectors in Asia at themoment and MdoC is offering over 40skin care skus for men, including an HDprimer, powder, BB cream, sheet masks anda wide range of whitening and anti-ageingserums, toners, lotions and essences.

Korean beauty brand Caolion’s porepacks are cult products across Asia. At the

Pushingbeauty’sboundaries

Korean colour care brand Berrisom was a big hitat Cosmoprof Asia, presenting products likemen’s hair colourant cream Silver Ash, while Jeju-based brands, such as Blossom Jeju, leverage theisland’s strong reputation for nature and beauty

trade show, Caolion introduced its latestlaunch, the duo cleansers Hot Deep PackFoam and Cool Relax Pack Foam. HotDeep is a self-heating product, while CoolRelax cools the skin down.

And no Korean C&T trade showpresence would be complete without aleast a few Jeju manufacturers. The island ofJeju is a popular holiday destination forKorean and Asian visitors alike; Jeju standsfor clean ingredients, a holistic lifestyle andthe highest-quality organic products.

Blossom Jeju is a premium skin carebrand founded in 2013. The company’sdistribution is very selective indeed; inSeoul, Blossom Jeju is available at severaloutlets of Korean perfumery chain Belportand in various high end Koreandepartment stores. Blossom Jeju’s latestlaunch is a two-part mask – one of the bigface mask trends at the moment. A smallpouch contains pure camellia oil which ismassaged into the face first. Afterwards thesheet mask is applied to the face. There arethree mask variants: Marine Collagen, Soy+and Vitamin+.

Another interesting Jeju label was Jejuon,a niche brand manufactured by KoreanBeauty Industry Development Institute.Jejuon was a first-time exhibitor atCosmoprof and presented its range of facemasks and skin care formulated with Jeju-grown curcuma (one of the trendingsuperfoods in Europe at the moment) incombination with regionally sourcedingredients, such as horse oil.

TAIWAN’S MASK MAKERS Taiwan is another Asian country famous for its sheet mask brands, which have anexcellent reputation throughout Asia. Thebiggest Taiwanese face mask brands includeMy Beauty Diary, Sexy Look andLovemore.

Face mask manufacturer Annie’s Way alsohas a large distribution in Taiwan andabroad. The company was one of theexhibitors in the Spot on Beauty sectionand presented its latest mask launch, thethree-sku Secret Garden black face maskrange. However, Annie’s Way also offers arange of other mask textures – and this isan interesting trend in Asian face masks atthe moment. While sheet masks are still theclassic (and traditional) face mask format,manufacturers are now launching newformats: rubber masks (DIY powder maskswhich are mixed with water to create arubber-like texture) are really hot at themoment, as are splash masks that areapplied in the shower, and cream maskssold in little containers or sachets. Jellymasks are also popular and this is one ofAnnie’s Way’s specialities: the company

offers a range of differently coloured thickgel masks which are packaged in jars.

Boutique company MasKingdom fromTaipei was also at the show. It wasmanufacturer TenArt Biotech’s secondCosmoprof Asia visit. MasKingdomspecialises in high end sheet masks madewith locally-sourced ingredients. AtCosmoprof Asia, it showcased its newlaunches: black-and-white Lace Masks forthe eyes, lips and chest area, as well asOctober 2015’s six-sku Biocellulose Mask extension of the best sellingAboriginal range.

Cosmeceutical brand Dr. Wu also had abig stand at Cosmoprof Asia. The premiumskin care brand was founded in 2003 andhas managed to build up a stellar reputationacross Asia. In 2014, the company wasacquired by a subsidiary of luxury retailgroup LVMH so further internationalexpansion seems likely. Dr. Wu’s portfoliocomprises ten ranges, which include thebest selling Mandelik Renewal range, theHyalucomplex Hydrating line, the VitaminC + Whitening range and the AgeversalYouth Repairing line.

JAPAN: OPPORTUNITIES ABROAD Although Japan’s C&T manufacturersmight not be as famous as their Koreancounterparts for constant productinnovations, Japanese cosmetics have anexcellent reputation across Asia with anextensive distribution to match.

Japanese manufacturer Naturelab owns

event reportcosmoprof asia

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A majority ofCosmoprof Asiaexhibitors in 2015were Asian, likeJapan’s Tunemakersbrand (below), butthere was also astrong Westernpresence (Russia’sNatura Siberica ispictured right)

several well-known beauty brands,primarily in the hair care and body carecategories. The company’s Moist Diane,Oilim and Medel shampoo ranges have aparticularly wide distribution in Asia. AtCosmoprof Asia, Naturelab presented itsentire product portfolio, including men’scare range Maro. Maro is only available inJapan at the moment but Naturelab iscurrently preparing the brand fordistribution in further international markets– another indicator of how strongly men’sC&T is growing in Asia at the moment.

Fellow Japanese company Tunemakers isa niche brand specialising in single-ingredient serums that can be mixed withother skin and body care products.Tunemakers’ range includes over 24different serums, including two types ofceramide and two varieties of hyaluronicacid, honey extract, liquorice extract,elastin, retinol, EGF, egg shell membrane,placenta, snail, AHA, amino acid powderand number of vitamin serums. Thecompany was a first-time exhibitor atCosmoprof Asia in a bid to finddistributors for other Asian markets.

WEST LOOKS EAST Although Asian countries accounted forthe majority of Cosmoprof Asia exhibitors,Western countries are traditionallywell-represented, especially in theCosmetics & Toiletries, Beauty Salon andHair Salon sections of the show.Companies like Alteya Organics fromBulgaria, colour cosmetics brand Flormarfrom Turkey or beauty brand NaturaSiberica from Russia are very popularacross Asia. And Cosmoprof Hong Kong isa key event for these manufacturers – as itis for countries like Germany, Switzerlandand France who have particularly strongsalon beauty brands.

With a total of 107 exhibitors, Italy wasone of the largest European participants atthe trade fair. However, with the exception

pavilion with its 46 exhibitors was still veryimpressive. The line-up included thebiggest names in international salon skinand body care, such as Marbert, Rosa Graf,Klapp Cosmetics, Jean d’Arcel, CharlotteMeentzen, Janssen, professional make-upbrand Kryolan, Schwan-Stabilo (one of thebiggest manufacturers in cosmetics pencils,liners and sticks), personal caremanufacturer Mann & Schröder andGerman beauty manufacturer Artdeco’sICB Cosmetics.

The UK was represented with some 30companies, including bath and body carebrand Heyland & Whittle, Heathcote &Ivory and Bomb Cosmetics, as well astrendy spa brand Cowshed.

A more unusual UK beauty brand wasinsect-repellent brand Alfresco. Launched in1996, the brand’s products are formulatedwithout chemical insect repellents; instead ablend of 22 essential oils is said to drivemosquitoes and insects away. A companyrepresentative said that the brand’s productsare especially popular in humidsub-tropical Hong Kong. At the trade showAlfresco presented its latest launch, a body wash, shampoo and conditioner allscented with the same spicy florientalessential oil blend.

THE FULL PACKAGEAs usual, the packaging section atCosmoprof Asia 2015 was dominated byAsian companies, particularly China, HongKong, Taiwan and Korea.

Among the exhibitors was BaotaiPackaging from Shangyu City in China.Baotai produces containers for creams andlotions, and at this year’s show it presentedits latest premium ornamental bottle rangesincluding the Diamond Round Series.

Yuen Myng Industrial from Taiwan wasat Cosmoprof Asia for the third time. Thecompany specialises in brushes andapplicators for liquid make-up products,

cosmoprof asiaevent report

of big retail brands like L’Erbolario andBottega Verde – both of which attendedthe show – most Italian exhibitors atCosmoprof Asia were medium-sized salon brands.

L’Erbolario was at Cosmoprof Asia forthe second time. It is one of thebest-known Italian beauty brands in Asia;the company says that Asian marketsaccount for 51% of the brand’s totalinternational exports. At the show thecompany introduced several new launches,including the certified organic skin carerange Goji and two new body care rangesfor Christmas 2015: Frescaessenza and Indian Jasmine.

Bema Cosmetici is from Northern Italy;the company retails a number of beautybrands including salon brand Naturys,organic range Bema Bio, BioEco Natura (abrand for supermarkets) and BioEc, whichis sold in pharmacies. At Cosmoprof AsiaBema presented its latest launch fromsummer 2015: the skin-brightening BemaWhite range.

France was present with a total of 108exhibitors. Among these were salonheavyweights like Ingrid Millet, Académieand Laboratoires Filorga. Another keyexhibitor in the French pavilion was theCosmetic Valley Association with a numberof individual companies. But there werealso several French mass market brands,including Le Petit Olivier, one of thecountry’s best-known personal care brands.

Organic bee beauty brand Abellie ismanufactured by apiculturist Famille Mary.Products are formulated with differentbee-derived ingredients, such as honey,propolis, royal jelly and pollen. The brandretails in a total of 15 countries, includingHong Kong, Korea and Taiwan; Taiwan isits biggest market. The Crème NutritionIntense is one of Abellie’s internationalbestsellers and in Asia the Crème Jade isthe most popular product.

Switzerland was also present atCosmoprof Asia with a number of Swissbeauty companies. Swiss C&T brands aretremendously popular in Asia; often thesebrands are manufactured in Switzerlandexclusively for the Asian markets, likeSuisse Programme and La Colline, two ofthe most high-profile and expensive Asianskin care brands.

Salon brand Swissline, on the otherhand, has a genuinely Swiss heritage. Thebrand is produced by Dermalab and has awide distribution in Switzerland and acrossEurope. However, Swissline is also popularin Hong Kong where the brand’s productshave been available for 25 years.

Germany was one of the smallerEuropean countries but the German

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such as lip glosses, mascaras and lip butters.At the show it introduced its latest productinnovation, a twist-up balm pack.

And Hana from Korea is one of thebiggest manufacturers of airless packagingdispensers for lotions and creams. At itsbooth the company showed some of thepackaging designs it has developed forhigh-profile clients, such as luxury skincare brands Declaré, Juvena and La Prairie.

SPECIAL EVENTSAs it was Cosmoprof Asia’s 20thanniversary, show organisers UBM andBologna Fiere pulled out all the stops; onthe first evening the exclusive Red Partyhonoured Cosmoprof Asia’s most loyalexhibitors and business partners. There wasalso a special fragrance performance byParis-based design agency Centdegres. Incooperation with fragrance manufacturerFirmenich, Centdegres created four unisexfragrances exclusively for visitors andexhibitors at Cosmoprof Asia 2015. And, asalways, the trade show was accompanied bya comprehensive programme ofworkshops, seminars, lectures and specialevents including the 8th Cosmoprof AsiaSpa Conference, the International NailDays and the Spot on Beauty Forum.

Because Cosmoprof Asia has grown somuch in recent years, the organisers arelaunching a new concept for the 2016show: Cosmetics & Toiletries, BeautySalon, Hair Salon and Nail & Accessorieswill remain in the Hong KongConvention & Exhibition Centre. Pack &OEM, on the other hand, will move toAsiaworld Expo, a venue directlyconnected to Hong Kong InternationalAirport and Hong Kong City Centre. Thefair dates are 15-17 November 2016 forAsiaworld Expo and 16-18 November2016 for the Convention Centre, allowingvisitors an additional day to take in bothparts of the trade show.

Cosmoprof Asia wasdivided into sixsectors: Cosmetics &Toiletries, NaturalHealth, Hair Salon,Beauty Salon, Nail &Accessories and Pack& OEM