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Can Celebrities And Influencers Really Own The Beauty Scene?

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Beauty

Can Celebrities And Influencers Really Own The Beauty Scene?

More home-grown celebrities and influencers are starting skincare and beauty lines that tap their clout and ready fan base.

by Amanda Chai  /   April 12, 2021
celebrity beauty brands

Iraqi-American Huda Kattan is the founder of Huda Beauty which has 48 million followers on Instagram. Credit: Huda Beauty

One of the questions Singaporean actor Lawrence Wong gets asked the most is: “What do you use?”. Acting chops aside, the 32-year-old, best known for his role in hit television series Story Of Yanxi Palace (2018), is perhaps most admired for his complexion.

“Despite popular belief, my skin is actually pretty problematic and allergic to many products,” he tells The Straits Times. “Throughout the years, I’ve stumbled while searching for the right products for my skin and learnt more about the various ingredients in skincare.”

READ MORE: We Jumped On A ‘Face Time’ With Actor And Skincare Entrepreneur Lawrence Wong

He realised he should create his own “holy grail skincare essentials, to help others on their skincare journey and save them from the bad experiences I’ve had”. When the circuit breaker gave him time off from his packed filming schedule, he got to work.

He launched his skincare brand Grail in January with a single product – the Do-It-All sheet mask ($42 for a box of five).

celebrity beauty brands
Credit:Grail

Actor Lawrence Wong launched his skincare brand Grail in January with a single product – the Do-It-All sheet mask.

It is manufactured in Taiwan with moisture-locking technology from Japan and combines botanical ingredients such as aloe vera from Africa and banana flowers from France.

“I wanted a mask to be my first product because masking is something we all do and can be easily incorporated into anyone’s self- care routine,” says the actor, who is currently filming a series in Hainan. “As an actor, it is important to have good skin. This naturally led to my interest in skincare.”

READ MORE: 8 Skincare Products That Are Made For Warm And Humid Days

Wong is among the latest stars here to throw his hat into the ring of celebrity- and influencer- founded beauty brands. More local stars have jumped on the beauty bandwagon in recent years. For instance, Ah Boys To Men (2012) actor Joshua Tan launched skincare label Zyu with his fiancee, Zoen Tay, in end-2019.

celebrity beauty brands
Credit:Zyu Skincare

Actor Joshua Tan started skincare label Zyu with his fiancee, Zoen Tay, at the end of 2019.

After more than two years working on it, beauty influencer and make-up artist Sahur Saleim (@sahursart), 23, launched Sahur’s Art Beauty in February, teasing her line of liquid lipsticks (US$23 or S$31) to her 300,000 Instagram followers in the weeks leading up to the debut.

The brand’s page (@sahursartbeauty) now has 10,000 followers.

Smaller influencers are no less savvy. The brand byCaxs, which sells coloured contact lenses and false eyelashes, was started by influencer Cassandra Tan in 2017 and now has 14,000 followers on Instagram (@bycaxs).

Rachel Wong (@rchlwngxx), who has 197,000 followers, recently launched Nunu Club with a sheet mask ($38 for four).

They join global stars the likes of pop singer Rihanna (Fenty Beauty), model Kylie Jenner (Kylie Cosmetics) and singer-actress Selena Gomez (Rare Beauty) in a booming billion-dollar beauty industry, which has seen slowed but resilient growth despite the pandemic.

POWER OF CLOUT

Where once celebrities and influencers snag deals to be the face of beauty brands, more are seeing the appeal in being their own boss. And having clout already gives them an edge, particularly for fast-moving consumer products such as beauty merchandise that rely on brand image and word of mouth, say experts.

Associate Professor Li Xiuping of NUS Business School says: “Celebrities have accumulated enough of a fan base to start with and enjoy a desirable image as well. Fans would do what they can to support.”

“Celebrity- or influencer-owned beauty brands tend to be positioned to offer more specialised solutions.”

Singapore Management University’s associate professor of marketing Hannah Chang

Singapore Management University’s associate professor of marketing Hannah Chang says the trend has to do with an evolving beauty industry. For a long time, the beauty market was dominated by international giants, she notes, but changing and idiosyncratic consumer demands have opened the door for new players to muscle in.

Singapore Management University’s associate professor of marketing Hannah Chang says the trend has to do with an evolving beauty industry. For a long time, the beauty market was dominated by international giants, she notes, but changing and idiosyncratic consumer demands have opened the door for new players to muscle in.

“In recent years, the need for more personalised solutions and products targeting specific concerns is creating niche markets and allowing room for more innovative products. Celebrity- or influencer-owned beauty brands tend to be positioned to offer more specialised solutions.”

celebrity beauty brands
Credit:Sahur Saleim

Beauty influencer and make-up artist Sahur Saleim launched Sahur’s Art Beauty in February.

Influencers, Prof Chang adds, also “tend to be seen as more relatable, like your knowledgeable friend who shares your concerns”.

Sahur, who incorporates her own lipsticks into her regular beauty content on social media, acknowledges that her following has given her business a leg-up.

“I knew from a very young age that having a platform would give my brand a little push,” says the influencer, who has a degree in accounting and finance from the Singapore Institute of Management University of London.

READ MORE: One Brand Is Coaching Its Retail Staff To Become Fashion Influencers

She had planned to work a corporate job first and build a reputation for make-up artistry before starting her own brand. “But thanks to social media, I was able to have a platform and be renowned for my make-up work before I even thought it would be possible,” says Sahur, who started filming beauty tutorials while schooling in 2015.

The brand combines her love of make-up and art. She used to paint and studied art in secondary school.

“But thanks to social media, I was able to have a platform and be renowned for my make-up work before I even thought it would be possible.”

Beauty influencer and make-up artist Sahur Saleim

Her lipstick collection, The Kiss, is inspired by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt’s work of the same name. The five shades have names referencing the oil painting – such as 1908, the year it was painted; and Belvedere, the historic building in Vienna where it now hangs.

She has already received “thousands of orders” – mostly from women aged 20 to 44 in Singapore and the United States.

Ahead, we shine the spotlight on six celebrity- and influencer-founded beauty lines available in Singapore that have captured a slice of the pie.


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https://www.femalemag.com.sg/gallery/beauty/celebrity-influencer-founded-beauty-skincare-brands/
Can Celebrities And Influencers Really Own The Beauty Scene?
DRGL
image

Dermatologist and aesthetic clinic brands are a dime a dozen, but few make it onto global shelves. In 2009, well-known aesthetics doctor Georgia Lee made her clinic-only brand of skincare and haircare products available to the public.

She launched the rebranded DrGL at beauty retail giant Sephora in 2014 and took it overseas to Bangkok’s Siam Paragon mall in 2015. Next month, the brand will launch on Amazon EU in selected countries including Germany, France and the Netherlands – a feat given that the EU bans more than 1,300 cosmetic ingredients.

Hero products include the Skin Repair serum ($118), Cleanser Hair Anti-Hairloss Shampoo ($98) and Restore Gel Mask ($118) to heal inflammation.

DrGL
KRAVEBEAUTY
image

The minimalist skincare brand founded in 2017 has a cult following among the Instagram beauty community. South Korean founder Liah Yoo started as a beauty vlogger, racking up subscribers, which now number over a million, on her YouTube channel where she posted beauty tutorials with an educational slant.

The brand has just five products – going against the usual 10-step K-beauty routine – that tout simple, effective formulas. The Beet The Sun sunscreen (US$20) and Great Barrier Relief skin repairing serum (US$28) have become insider favourites.

KraveBeauty expanded to Singapore and Malaysia in 2019. All products can be shipped from South Korea – except for the Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser which contains Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil.

Kravebeauty
FENTY BEAUTY
image

Easily the 21st century’s biggest celebrity beauty success story, Fenty Beauty by pop star Rihanna captured the hearts of fans around the world when it launched in 2017.

It debuted with the Pro Filt’r foundation ($52) in an unparalleled range of 40 shades – it has grown to 50 – and has since become an industry leader in inclusivity. The newest addition is the Eaze Drop skin tint ($45) in 25 shades, which launched in Sephora stores on Thursday (April 1).

Last year, Rihanna, 33, added Fenty Skin to her empire, launching the skincare line here in December. Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin are owned by LVMH’s Kendo Holdings.

Fenty Beauty
HUDA BEAUTY
image

Before Huda Kattan was known as the founder of Huda Beauty, the Iraqi-American was a beauty blogger and make-up artist to stars including Nicole Richie. She shared tips and tutorials on a blog and YouTube channel that she started in 2010.

Three years later, she founded her cosmetics line, starting with false eyelashes that retailed at Sephora and then expanding to liquid lipsticks, eyeshadow palettes and complexion products. In February last year, she launched a skincare line Wishful, which is also available at Sephora.

Kattan currently has two million followers on her personal Instagram page and 48 million on the brand’s.

Huda Beauty
VICTORIA BECKHAM BEAUTY
image

Founded in September 2019, Posh Spice’s eponymous beauty line is one of the newer entrants that has won the approval of industry insiders. The 46-year-old co-founded it with former Estee Lauder employee Sarah Creal, whom she met in 2016 during a collaboration with the beauty giant.

Later that year, Beckham, who already has her own fashion label, made her first foray into skincare with the Cell Rejuvenating Priming Moisturiser (US$95) , made in partnership with skincare expert Augustinus Bader.

Her beauty line has been praised for offering quality alongside prestige. Last year, it became available to Singapore shoppers via luxury e-tailer Net-a-Porter. Bestsellers include the Smoky Eye Brick in Signature (US$56) and Lid Lustre (US$36).

Victoria Beckham Beauty
KORA ORGANICS
image

Former Victoria’s Secret angel Miranda Kerr founded Kora Organics in 2009.

Stocked at Sephora, the clean beauty brand uses only certified organic ingredients such as the noni fruit oil, a compound packed with Vitamins A and C.

The hero ingredient is in products such as Noni Night AHA Resurfacing Serum ($98) and Noni Glow Face Oil ($87).

This article first appeared in The Straits Times

Kora Organics
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MCI (P) 047/10/2021. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2022 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.