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.”
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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).
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.”
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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.
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.”
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.
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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.
