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The beauty of human beings consists of three parts, namely, innate beauty, beautiful clothes, and beautiful manners and temperament. This article focuses on the beauty of dress.

It is generally believed that people look beautiful when they wear fashion.

However, now many people have realized that wearing fashionable clothes does not necessarily mean that clothes are expensive. Wearing expensive clothes does not necessarily mean that people are naturally beautiful.

People dress in fashion.

Mainly refers to the color of clothes and fabrics, and the clothes are fashionable. The most important factor is that the clothes people wear are appropriate and suitable. Pay attention to people’s hobbies, and wear clothes suitable for their body shape, skin color, professional characteristics, communication habits, psychological personality and so on. Not a fashionable dress looks beautiful on anyone.

Dressing in fashion does not mean that clothes are expensive.

Many people think that they have little money, and wearing expensive clothes will not reflect fashion, nor will it be beautiful. This statement is biased. Some stars go out, go to the entertainment stage, and go to interpersonal public places, showing great fashion. Everyone thinks that the clothes and accessories they wear are very expensive and piled up with money.

Actually, not completely. There are many celebrities wearing clothes that are cheaper, not as expensive as people think. Dong Qing, a famous program host, once said that some clothes she wears are only 50 yuan or a hundred pieces.

We often see the host of the program, wearing ordinary clothes. In contrast, some people are bent on buying high-end clothes, spending thousands of dollars on a dress and hundreds or thousands of dollars on a scarf. Do outsiders think fashion is beautiful in others’ eyes? Not really.

How to make yourself look fashionable and beautiful.

01 Follow the trend appropriately. Dressing in fashion can pay attention to the current recognition of members of society. Look at what people tend to wear, and wear it with them.

For example, young people love to wear jeans and feel energetic. The elderly people also wear jeans, and they still have a sense of fashion. It is also fashionable that some jeans manufacturers deliberately make knees or trouser legs into "rotten whiskers".

Be creative and fashionable. It is fashionable to dress up as a style and style by your own vision and appreciation, and be imitated by others.

For example, a lady will buy a silk scarf for seven or eight yuan, and it is typical fashion to boldly appear in the street to attract admiration with a kind of tying method she imagines, which matches her self-demeanor and self-confidence.

How to make the combination of wearing and human body beautiful and attractive.

The charm of people, after all, is graceful, beautiful, attractive and penetrating in interpersonal relationships, but also has personality shock and warmth.

To have this comprehensive charm, people must pay attention to their appearance. Dress neatly, pay special attention to appropriateness and collocation. We should also pay attention to the beauty of language posture.

Some people only wear expensive clothes, which are famous brands. They don’t pay attention to people’s self-cultivation. They talk too much, are rude, talk too much, dance too much, etc. Not only are they not beautiful, but they are also "ugly".

Author: Guo Mei Jin Xiahui

The historical documentary "Forbidden City" takes the Forbidden City as the clue and the change as the breakthrough point. Through 12 chapters, it tells the important historical events in the 600-year history of Ming and Qing Dynasties, summarizes the gains and losses in historical development, and presents the valuable wisdom of the Chinese nation. It not only emphasizes the integrity of the Chinese nation, but also shows the characteristics of the Chinese nation different from other civilizations, leading the audience to inquire about the vicissitudes of history and pursue the cultural roots.

The documentary "Forbidden City" stands in the perspective of great history, jumping out of the red wall and green tiles to tell the historical situation related to the "Forbidden City". For example, through the comparison of Chinese and foreign civilizations, the characteristics of the Chinese nation can be expressed. The eighth episode of "The Prosperous Age" tells the story of the British envoy Magalny’s visit to China, emphasizing the mutual gifts from China and Britain-Jade Ruyi and Mauser Gun, and pointing out that "Gun and Ruyi represent their respective cultural positions" to illustrate the potential strength and etiquette civilization of the Chinese nation. For example, through the comparison of Chinese and foreign civilizations in the changing situation, we can sum up the historical lessons of the Chinese nation. The sixth episode "Afterglow" introduces the change of silver shortage caused by the exhaustion of silver mines in various countries, and points out that European countries established a rudimentary modern monetary system and financial system due to silver shortage, while the Ming Dynasty experienced economic recession due to silver shortage. This proves the serious harm of arrogance and conservative thinking and summarizes the painful historical lessons.

"As a historical documentary, how to guide the audience to fully, deeply and clearly understand history, respect history, form a sense of history, and drive contemporary people to pursue and inquire about history is a crucial creative proposition." The Forbidden City adopts a popular way to express the charm of Chinese culture. Among them, the most representative is the ingenious combination of cultural relics and history, and the wonderful contrast between historical stories and theme songs. The film is good at seeing the big from the small and showing the macro history through the details of cultural relics. For example, the second episode "Inheritance" uses the horses in Li Gonglin’s "Pasturing in Wei Yan", a cultural relic of the Palace Museum, to show the characteristics of martial arts in the early Ming Dynasty. At the same time, the film also makes the characters in the picture scroll move through modern technology. For example, the first episode of "The King" makes the ancients in "The Emperor Accumulates Victory" walk, and with passionate music and simulated street noise, it shows the bustling street scene in history. This artistic treatment obviously touched the audience, and some netizens pointed out the details of men wearing pink clothes in the picture scroll in the barrage, indicating that the expression of the dynamic picture scroll aroused the audience’s interest and concern about the living customs of the Ming Dynasty. As Wu Zhiyong, the general director of the film, said, "Cultural relics are evidence, not for display". The previous documentaries on the theme of the Forbidden City mentioned cultural relics, which seemed to show the manufacturing process or artistic value of cultural relics themselves, rather than introducing related historical stories. For example, the seventh episode of the Forbidden City, Painting and Calligraphy in the Forbidden City, introduces the creation and preservation of paintings and calligraphy.Instead of focusing on the objective world revealed by the contents of calligraphy and painting. It can be seen that the Forbidden City shows the Chinese civilization more vividly and strengthens the audience’s perceptual knowledge of the Chinese nation through the historical information carried by cultural relics.

In recent years, the number of documentaries on the theme of the Forbidden City is quite large, which can be roughly divided into three categories: grand theme category, micro theme category and specific characters category. Among them, The Forbidden City (2005) is narrated based on several grand themes, from the macro perspectives of architectural art, use function, collection of cultural relics and the evolution process from the palace to the museum, showing all aspects of palace architecture, precious cultural relics, fate of characters and palace life, and emphasizing the value of the Forbidden City as a common historical and cultural heritage of mankind. Since then, When the Louvre meets the Forbidden City (2010) and The Forbidden City 100 (2012) have been narrated around micro-themes: the former deduces the art history of the East and the West in different time and space backgrounds, and emphasizes the valuable value of the exchange between Chinese and Western civilizations; The latter, based on the practical value of the Forbidden City building, expresses the aesthetic value and cultural connotation of the palace building with creative commentary and images in the form of micro-documentary. I am repairing cultural relics in the Forbidden City (2016), New Things in the Forbidden City (2017) and I am in the Forbidden City for 600 years (2020) record the daily work of cultural relics workers in the Forbidden City. They all focus on the stories of cultural relics protectors, which not only show the spirit of craftsmen, but also show the understanding of cultural relics by cultural relics restorers-the spirit of utensils that carry the Tao with things.

Looking at the documentaries on the theme of the Forbidden City since this century, we can find that its development vein presents the following two important characteristics, that is, not only its vision has undergone a "macro-micro-macro" evolution, but its expression mode is getting younger and younger. Among them, the change of vision is from the broad perspective at the beginning, to the interpretation of specific aesthetic values and cultural connotations, to the personal perspective of cultural relics protectors, and finally, to the grand perspective of the Chinese nation. The trend of younger expression is particularly obvious in the Forbidden City 100, I am repairing cultural relics in the Forbidden City and the Forbidden City. "Forbidden City 100" is a micro-documentary with a single episode of no more than six minutes, which meets the viewing needs of young people in a fast-paced society; The dedicated spirit of the elderly restorer and the youthful vitality of his disciples in "I am repairing cultural relics in the Forbidden City" have aroused the resonance of many young audiences; The theme song at the end of the Forbidden City has greatly expanded the audience by virtue of the singer’s social influence and the genre with both ancient meaning and popular elements.

The emergence of these two characteristics is related to the change of social environment. First of all, the rapid development of social economy has given birth to multiple values and the evolution of "macro-micro" vision. At present, the rapid development of world economy and technology requires us to re-examine and establish the spirit and identity of the Chinese nation, which has given birth to the transformation of "micro-macro" vision. Secondly, the ever-changing consumer society has also widened the differences in viewing habits between young people and middle-aged and elderly people. Documentary creators need to attract young audiences with younger expressions to further realize the social value of documentaries.

Looking back on the development of documentaries on the theme of the Forbidden City, we can see that people’s understanding of Chinese civilization is also deepening: from the overall grand impression to the specific artistic value, aesthetic value and cultural concept, to the craftsman spirit and utensils spirit of cultural relics protectors, to the survival wisdom of the Chinese nation shown in The Forbidden City. This cognitive process also reflects the mental outlook and value orientation of the Chinese nation in different historical stages. For example, "Forbidden City" no longer only shows the interior of the Chinese nation, but focuses on the history of the Chinese nation in a global perspective, and lets the audience see the vicissitudes and splendor of Chinese culture with the help of younger expressions.

Specially published by Shanghai Literature and Art Review Special Fund

Source: Jiefang Daily

Wen | Yao Lan

Clean Beauty is becoming a new fashion trend.

NPD, a well-known American market research organization, announced the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the beauty industry. The data showed that the sales of beauty products dropped by 14%, but the sales of pure beauty products rose by 11% against the trend. According to Tmall data, during the period of June 18 this year, the sub-categories such as essence, mask, cleansing and makeup remover under Tmall International Pure Beauty category all increased by more than 100% year-on-year.

What is "pure beauty"? In August this year, Tmall International Beauty and COSMOHits, the beauty media, made a clear definition of the concept of "pure beauty" for the first time, including four aspects: harmless addition of ingredients, environmental friendliness and zero harm, animal friendliness and cruelty, and sustainable environmental protection and zero waste.

Since 2020, foreign big beauty groups have invested in adding more pure beauty tracks (for example, Shiseido Group acquired Drunk Elephant, a brand of pure beauty and skin care, for US$ 845 million, and Unilever acquired Tatcha for US$ 500 million), and domestic pure beauty brands also came into being.

36Kr recently came into contact with China pure beauty brand "Dewy Lab Yiyi", which was founded in 2020, aimed at the core consumer groups such as sensitive muscles, pregnant women, medical beauty crowd and new white-collar workers, focusing on cosmetic products with both "pure ingredients" and "excellent makeup effect" and advocating a romantic feeling of "self-satisfaction". It is understood that "Dewy Lab" won the "Blogger’s Choice" Award in Little Red Book 2021WILL Future Brand Award.

The picture is provided by the enterprise.

Dewy Lab launched its first new product "Morning" series in January this year, including three single products: morning dew foundation cream, morning mist powder and morning glow blush cream. After launching the brand Tmall flagship store and the official applet, the monthly sales of single products have exceeded 10,000 at present.

Amber, the founder of Dewy Lab, told 36Kr that most cosmetic formulations on the market now are mainly designed with the basic goal of "beauty", focusing on makeup effect and skin feeling, regardless of whether the ingredients are harmful to the skin. "Dewy Lab Love" started from the first series, and its products focused on makeup, trying to give consumers peace of mind protection from the part closest to the skin.

The picture is provided by the enterprise.

The standard of pure make-up advocated by "Dewy Lab" includes three aspects:

First,user friendlyThat is, it does not contain harmful and controversial chemical components such as talcum powder, plastic beads, mineral oil, nipagin ester, etc. In order to provide unique pure beauty products, the brand will not only bring the research and discovery of raw materials and formulas by Chinese scientists in universities such as Cambridge University and University of Pennsylvania back to China, so as to speed up the product iteration, but also become a strategic partner with China Inspection Department to strictly control the formula of each product.

Second,Friendly life, that is, no animal experiments, and pet-friendly, playing licking is non-toxic. At this point, "Dewy Lab" hopes to help the development of front-end toxicology testing in the future.

Third,Environment friendlyAdvocate the recyclability and degradability of product packaging materials, take carbon neutrality as the ultimate goal, and constantly optimize production methods.

It is reported that the core team of Dewy Lab is from Cambridge University, University of Pennsylvania and Nanyang Technological University, and their main research directions are pharmacology, biochemistry and chemistry, which are closely related to the makeup formula and raw materials. On the basis of referring to the European and American brand purity standards, according to the front-end research results and credible academic journals, they have formulated and constantly updated the scientific, rigorous and systematic "Dewy Lab" brand purity standards.

At present, the brand has explored the triangular structure of product research and development: 1) the team of brand scientists strictly controls the use of raw materials to ensure the safety of ingredients; 2) Joint research and development with the formula laboratory to jointly break through the bottleneck of pure formula and ensure the exclusive use of formula; 3) Each product must be tried by top makeup artists in the industry to ensure excellent makeup effect and skin feel.

Amber said that at this stage, "Dewy Lab Love" mainly relies on social media to strengthen the spread of brand value proposition. In the future, we will continue to focus on the research and development of new products, bringing consumers more product choices and a more pleasant experience.

Recently, Changhai Road Sub-district Federation of Trade Unions held the third "Changhai Cup" staff badminton competition in 2023. All units in the jurisdiction actively signed up, and nearly 110 players from 23 teams gathered together to compete.

The competition adopts men’s singles, women’s singles and team competition system, and is carried out in the form of elimination. The scene of the competition was brilliant and climaxed. Players and groups competed at different levels. Players compared tactics, patience, jumping, backhand, smash and flowing, which fully demonstrated the indomitable, courageous and passionate spirit of Changhai employees and greeted the audience with cheers.

This competition has built a platform for Changhai employees to keep fit, and also provided opportunities for exchanges and discussions. Based on the principle of "civilization, friendship, hard work and progress", after two days of fierce competition, the top three players in the competition were finally decided, and the Street Federation of Trade Unions presented awards to the winners and groups respectively.

Text/picture: Chang Hai

Editor: Zhou Mengzhen

First, education is to squat down and talk to children. Education is to turn yourself into a child and turn the child into yourself.

In the journey of education, we often ignore an important detail, that is, the importance of equal dialogue with children. Squatting down to talk to children means that we should put down our posture and communicate with them in an equal manner. Only in this way can we truly understand their inner world and establish a close and trusting relationship.

Second, education is to listen to children’s voices.

Listening is an art and a kind of respect. In education, we should give children ample space to express themselves, listen to their voices and pay attention to their needs and ideas. Only by listening can we better understand children’s puzzles and problems and give them correct guidance and support.

Third, education is to let children become protagonists.

Every child is a unique individual, and they have their own interests, dreams and specialties. In education, we should respect children’s personality and make them the protagonists of learning. By stimulating their learning interest and potential, we can help them find their own advantages and values, thus cultivating confident, independent and creative individuals.

Fourth, education is companionship, not companionship.

Companionship is the most precious gift in education. In the process of children’s growth, we need to give them enough time and attention to share their happiness and difficulties with them. However, companionship is not only physical companionship, but also spiritual companionship. We should feel the emotional needs of children with our heart, give them warmth and support, and let them feel our love and care.

Fifth, education is to give children enough time to "think".

Children’s imagination is infinite, and their thinking often exceeds our imagination. In education, we should give children enough time to think and explore freely. Children can cultivate innovative thinking and problem-solving ability through "thinking in a whimsical way", thus laying a solid foundation for future development.

Education is a great cause, which concerns the growth and future of every child. It is necessary to create a loving and caring learning environment for children, so that they can thrive on the road of growth. Let’s work together to pave a bright road for the children’s future!

The contest between domestic brands and international brands has always been a hot topic in the beauty industry.

In the past double 11, domestic brands finally won a staged victory: Polaiya won the first place in the beauty industry of Tmall and Tik Tok, and the first place in the beauty industry of JD.COM, which is the first time that domestic brands have topped the beauty list of Tmall double 11 since 2018. Earlier in October, Polaiya released the third quarter financial report, and the company’s revenue in the first three quarters reached 5.249 billion yuan, ranking first among cosmetics listed companies in China. From these perspectives, the industry pays attention to and studies Polaiya not only to find an answer for its success, but also to find the direction of the evolution of domestic beauty products.

At the same time, international brands are still aggressive. L ‘Oré al China’s double 11 Battle Report shows that it is the beauty group with the largest number of short-listed brands in the TOP list of Tmall, Tik Tok and JD.COM, and maintains a leading position in high-end beauty, high-end dermatological skin care, make-up, hair care and so on. During the 6th China International Import Expo(CIIE), many beauty giants announced the launch of new products and new skin care technologies, showing their attention to the China market.

As important industry weathervanes, double 11 Dapromotion and China International Import Expo(CIIE) represent the "offensive and defensive" strategy and evolution direction of beauty enterprises. It is difficult for us to draw any conclusions from the short-term ranking changes and new trends in enterprises, and we need to lengthen the cycle to look at it, but perhaps we can find the frontier trends of the beauty industry and the development opportunities of domestic beauty.

On the ups and downs of domestic beauty cosmetics from double 11

The performance of domestic brands is not a new topic in double 11 this year. Taking stock of previous double 11, there are many domestic brands in the beauty industry, but compared with international brands, the ranking of domestic brands is unstable, and there are many "one-round tourists". Taking the Tmall platform as an example, the domestic beauty products shortlisted in the TOP10 list have experienced the iteration of Amoy brand, local big brands and a new generation of domestic brands. Taking 2020 as the boundary, the domestic brands in the head have been greatly replaced, and only Winona has been shortlisted in the TOP10, ranking steadily and rising; Polaiya has made great efforts since last year and has become one of the representatives of new domestic products.

This year, the beauty category was affected by multiple factors, and there were not many surprises in the overall transaction performance. The domestic beauty products rose obviously and became one of the highlights. Among them, Tmall’s head beauty brand pattern has undergone a major renovation. SK-II and Shiseido fell out of the TOP10 due to the Japanese nuclear pollution incident, and Polaiya pushed a number of foreign brands to the top. From the perspective of brand types, comprehensive beauty brands occupy the mainstream, and functional skin care brands represented by Polaiya, Winona and Xiulike gradually rise.

In Tik Tok, another important position of beauty cosmetics, the brand pattern is different. Before that, some international brands didn’t enter Tik Tok, but domestic brands took advantage of the traffic bonus to win some opportunities. In the face of international big-name competition this year, domestic brands still have comparative advantages, achieving breakthroughs with high cost performance and refined channel operation. It is worth noting that the beauty instrument brand is outstanding in the beauty category in Tik Tok, which may be due to the live e-commerce gene of the platform, and the anchor can convey the complex principle, function and use experience of the beauty instrument to consumers.

The change of brand pattern is only the appearance, and behind the replacement of domestic brands, there are some phenomena worthy of attention.

On the whole, in addition to the cost-effective advantage, the rise of domestic brands is largely due to the accurate understanding of the needs of local consumers and the targeted launch of large single products. This feature is particularly evident in the category of skin care products. Domestic brands focus on consumers’ anti-aging anxiety and popular skin care concepts such as formula skin care, morning C and evening A, and barrier repair, and launch large single products that focus on maintaining stability, anti-aging and anti-wrinkle, contributing an important sales share to the brand. Winona Soothing and Repairing Freeze-dried Mask, Quaddy Essence, Kanshuhong Waist Suit, and Polaiya Early C Late A Suit have all appeared on the list of explosive items in double 11 on the e-commerce platform. Guoji Feigua’s 2022 double 11 Yuehaowu Power Saver Data Report shows that Polaiya’s early C late A combination contributed about 35% of its sales in double 11, Tik Tok in 2022 (from October 15th to November 11th, 2022).

Hot topics related to skin care on social platforms, image source: Fruit Collection "Insights into Accurate Skin Care Crowds on Social Media Platforms in 2023"

Large single products help domestic brands occupy a place in the list, but whether the brand stands stably enough and rushes high enough depends on whether the product iteration and category expansion can be carried out around the core efficacy to extend the product life cycle. Take Polaiya as an example, its core product series has been iterated for 2-3 generations, and many categories such as essence, water emulsion, cream and eye cream have been introduced. This helps the brand to enrich the sku portfolio, continuously create a "freshness" and increase the customer unit price. Before double 11, Polaiya released Ruby Cream 3.0 series, which contains three textures of lightness, moisture and lightness to meet the needs of different skin types. This product is also the best-selling product of brand Tmall flagship store in the past year. According to the official list of Tik Tok, Polaiya’s Early C Late A Essence Cream Set was shortlisted in double 11’s beauty explosion list. The price of this group member is close to 700 yuan, which greatly improves the price range of the product.

Compared with the field of skin care, the overall competitiveness of domestic brands in makeup is still not as good as that of international brands, especially in the high-end price band. The reason is that domestic cosmetics are mostly designed innovatively around "Chinese aesthetics", and the advantage lies in color-related categories, but the fashion trend of cosmetics changes rapidly, which is difficult to bring high consumer loyalty to brands. Domestic brands still need to make breakthroughs in skin feeling and makeup effect in order to break the situation dominated by international big brands and explore the high-end price. Perfect Diary, which was criticized for focusing on marketing, gradually paid more attention to the functional attributes and technical barriers of products. Before double 11, the brand released its "bionic membrane" essence lipstick, which is the research result of "integration of makeup and nourishing", focusing on the combination of red makeup effect, lip essence effect and lip membrane, to show the brand’s breakthrough in scientific research and innovation.

Another obvious feature of the great promotion is that the pattern of domestic beauty cosmetics is moving towards differentiation. Judging from the performance of domestic brands in different stages of Tmall double 11, many brands have become "dark horses" with the help of the initial promotion atmosphere, super-anchor delivery and other factors, but they often have bright short-term performance and insufficient stamina, and few of them can continue to lead in the whole cycle. Under the trend that Japanese and Korean brands are cold and consumers are disenchanted with international brands as a whole, the development of domestic brands is welcoming, but it is still necessary to continue to precipitate the normal operation ability and cultivate brand endurance on the basis of explosive power.

Generally speaking, domestic beauty cosmetics have ushered in a "reversal" moment during this double 11 by accurately understanding the needs of local consumers, constantly expanding the matrix of large items, high cost performance and refined channel operation.

More than "big items"

Relying on the explosive strategy to meet the current hot demand, domestic beauty brands have the opportunity to "go to the table" and gradually narrow the gap with international brands. However, from the results, it is difficult for domestic beauty products to obtain long-term growth momentum by relying on explosive products. Only by creating a "big single product" and developing a "big brand" can a brand resist a round of shuffling and sit at the poker table for a longer time.

It is not without trace that domestic brands represented by Polaiya and Winona have won great victories. They benefited from the rise of the component party and the efficacy party, and implemented the strategy of "big single product", but they did not rely on this strategy. As mentioned above, the three series of Polaiya Double Antibody, Ruby and Yuanli have been extended from essence to different categories. This year, Polaiya launched a new energy series for the anti-aging needs of mature muscles, and its three-piece energy set, which cost more than 1000 yuan, entered the live broadcast room in Li Jiaqi during its stay in double 11, which shows the brand’s intention to push this series. Winona, Kerfumei and other brands are also constantly expanding their category matrix and reducing their dependence on a single big item. After verifying the heat of recombinant collagen components with collagen rods, Kefumei accelerated the pace of promoting new products, supplemented the categories of emulsion and mask, and its water supply line and oil control line also launched different types of products one after another.

The richness of brand category structure, on the one hand, represents the life cycle and anti-risk ability of brand products, on the other hand, represents its coverage of different levels of consumer demand and different scenarios. The application of patented ingredients to the technical threshold such as essence and cream with higher premium ability also helps domestic brands to gradually get rid of the image of relying on low prices and explore high-end prices. According to Polaiya’s financial report, the average selling price of the company’s skin care products increased by 57.05% year-on-year, mainly due to the year-on-year sales increase of essence and cream products with higher unit price.

From the above results, we can see that domestic beauty cosmetics are taking enhancing product research and development capabilities as a strategic goal and tearing off the label of "emphasizing marketing and neglecting research and development". Local beauty companies have increased the proportion of R&D investment, and focused on components, raw materials and other links that can help enterprises build barriers. In recent two years, synthetic biology, molecular biology and other technologies have been accelerated to be applied to skin care products, and "skin care+biological components" has become a high-growth concept of beauty track, which requires enterprises to carry out collaborative research on basic research, functional raw materials and formula system. According to Zhongxin. com, there are currently 121 research and development projects on raw materials and synthetic organisms in Huaxi Bio. Double 11’s outstanding Fumei brand, its parent company Juzi Bio has four collagen medical beauty products under research, two of which are expected to be approved in 2024, becoming a new source of growth for the enterprise.

Image source: CBNData《2023 Oriental Beauty Valley Blue Book "

Another dimension that domestic brands have been examined for a long time is the ability to operate omni-channel. This batch of new domestic brands have risen online. When the traffic dividend is gradually divided up, on the one hand, brands need to treat online channels in a refined way to improve profit margins. On the other hand, they begin to respect traditional channels, return to offline and near-field e-commerce, and even enter duty-free shops to find new growth opportunities. However, with the new channels, there are new ways of playing and brand logic, as well as powerful opponents. Domestic brands still have a long way to go.

Grouping proposition

From the perspective of single brand, domestic brands initially have the right to speak in the beauty industry with big names. However, from the perspective of the group, there is still a big gap between the comprehensive strength of domestic brands and international beauty cosmetics. As mentioned at the beginning of the article, almost half of the seats in double 11’s e-commerce platform beauty list this year belong to L ‘Oré al’s brands. Although the performance of Estee Lauder Group declined in fiscal year 2023, the main brands of the same name, Estee Lauder and Hailan Mystery, are still relatively strong in the high-end price band.

"L ‘Oré als" have achieved the coverage of different categories, price bands and sub-groups by virtue of top-class, high-end, Volkswagen, cinema and other brands, and better enhanced the Group’s ability to resist risks. No matter how the external environment and consumer demand change, there are corresponding sub-brands in the group to undertake.

However, domestic beauty cosmetics have not yet owned their own "L ‘Oreal" and "Estee Lauder". Although Polaiya, Huaxi Bio and Juzi Bio take the multi-brand route, at present, their dependence on a single brand is still relatively high, or the differences between sub-brands are not obvious. Although the ingredients and focus areas of Fumei and Kelijin under Juzi Bio are different, the brand needs to further formulate differentiation strategies in order to make consumers clear about their differences. According to the data of Polaiya’s financial report, in the first three quarters of 2023, the main brand contributed about 80% to the Group’s revenue, and Caitang accounted for about 10% of the total revenue. The sub-brands such as Off&Realx and Yuefushi made little contribution, and it remains to be seen whether they can become the "N-th growth curve". At the brand’s 20th anniversary strategy conference, Polaiya said that she would innovate the strategic planning, from "troika" to "6*N strategy", and broaden the multi-category matrix of skin care, make-up, toiletries and high-efficiency categories.

In addition to self-incubation, some brands refer to L ‘Oré al’s acquisition strategy to build their own brand matrix. Take Yixian Group as an example. Since 2019, it has successively acquired cosmetics brand Odin, French high-end skin care brand Kelanli, British high-end beauty brand EVE LOM, and functional skin care brand DR.WU (business in Chinese mainland). On the one hand, it has improved the layout in the field of skin care, on the other hand, it has told high-end stories. Increasing the proportion of skin care business has indeed improved the financial situation of Yixian e-commerce. The financial report shows that Yixian e-commerce has maintained an upward trend in gross profit margin in the past four quarters, with a gross profit margin of 74.7% in the second quarter, up 11.9% year-on-year, the highest in a single quarter since listing.

In addition to the width of demand, the gap between domestic brands and international brands lies in the depth of brand value. Beauty has always been regarded as a category with great emotional value, and emotional skin care is also a hot topic on social platforms. Polaiya has recently made intensive speeches on gender equality, mental health and emotion to show the social value of the brand. On the basis of brand-level vocalization, domestic beauty cosmetics are also integrating emotional concepts into products. During the 6th China International Import Expo(CIIE), Yixian E-commerce unveiled the Shanghai Global Innovation R&D Center, and "emotional skin care" is one of its four major R&D fields in the future. EVE LOM brand bears the realization of this concept. It launched the fragrance candle of "Manor after Rain" in China International Import Expo(CIIE), and tracked and analyzed the emotional changes of users when they experienced the SPA through the AI brainwave emotional test instrument to show the brand’s emotional skin care technology.

From supplementing research and development, creating large single products, enhancing brand power in multiple dimensions and developing towards collectivization, domestic beauty cosmetics are constantly evolving. However, compared with international brands that have experienced long-term accumulation, there are still many gaps that need to be filled. At present, China consumers’ recognition of domestic products has increased, and Japanese and Korean brands have given up some market share in the cold, so domestic beauty products have ushered in new development opportunities. This year’s double 11 can be said to be the best performance of domestic beauty products. Jumping out of the promotion atmosphere and price advantage, domestic brands need to make more efforts to prove their unique value. As consumers, we may wish to give more opportunities and patience to domestic beauty cosmetics, so as to wait for the brand to hand over better answers.

Cover image source: unsplash

When it comes to the beauty industry, few people associate it with the traditional high-tech industry. But behind the beauty industry, it is indeed constantly colliding and merging with high technology. With the continuous deepening and application of high-tech such as big data and AI, the relationship between them has gradually become prominent.

Not long ago, L ‘Oré al held a cloud conference to announce the official launch of the first "BIG BANG Beauty Technology Creation Camp" in China. It is understood that this "Creation Camp" is in the form of a start-up challenge, and "Cloud invites" national technology start-ups to participate in exploring and incubating revolutionary beauty technology solutions. This is the first cross-border collision between the domestic beauty ecosystem and the science and technology ecosystem, but can beauty giants really have fun when they get involved in the field of science and technology? Why does the high-tech circle attach importance to the beauty industry?

First, it is not the "technology factor" added to beauty cosmetics, but the return to "the truth of technology"

In which direction science and technology grow, it depends on demand; How much room to grow depends on the market.

The consumer industry has always been a necessity for people’s lives, and beauty cosmetics is one of the industries with the highest innovation vitality and the most stable demand. In recent years, China’s beauty industry has developed rapidly, and the market scale has been expanding. The internationally renowned brands that settled in China in the early years and the rising local brands in recent years have, to a certain extent, shared the dividends of the overall rapid development of the industry.

As consumers become more and more mature, their preferences in product use, ingredients and brand positioning are also more subdivided. Concepts such as hydrating, moisturizing, whitening, protection, anti-aging, firming and cosmetic feeling will be more and more recognized by consumers, and subdivided products including eyes, lips, cheeks and neck will be closer to the needs of consumers. At the same time, the transformation of consumer core groups, the rise of Z generation consumption power, the awakening of men’s skin care awareness, and healthy living have all injected new strength into the domestic beauty industry market and promoted the development and improvement of the industrial chain.

According to the latest retail data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first quarter of 2019, the total retail sales of social consumer goods was 9,779 billion yuan, an increase of 8.3% year-on-year. Judging from the retail sales of cosmetics, the national retail sales of cosmetics in the first quarter of 2019 was 75.3 billion yuan, an increase of 10.9% compared with the same period last year. It can be said that the current domestic beauty market has a very broad development space. Both the consumer’s choice and the new opportunities brought by consumption upgrading have promoted the expansion of the beauty market in China.

In addition, the continuous upgrading of beauty consumption affects not only the beauty industry, but also the emerging industries associated with it when the consumer demand of users is infinitely diversified, personalized and rapidly changing and the market activity is high. You know, the vast majority of consumers are not beauty experts. They need to know more about their skin condition and product information quickly, so as to choose the products that suit them, and they should wait for them. Therefore, the future beauty industry will not only provide a single beauty product, but also provide an overall solution of product+service+experience. For example, AI skin care programs help consumers analyze skin needs and formulate skin management programs; Beauty brands regulate the balance of skin micro-ecology through biotechnology to enhance the efficacy of skin care products; Technology companies develop hand-held beauty equipment with electromagnetic pulse to help skin care products penetrate the skin better.

The beauty industry is constantly moving towards technology, digitalization and convenience, which can drive the development of new technologies such as biotechnology, agricultural technology and entertainment technology around it and broaden the industry. In recent years, the beauty market share of international brands is rising sharply, and the domestic beauty market is gradually becoming high-end. It can be seen that it will be the core trend of the beauty industry in the future to help people with professional skin care, health and beauty with scientific and technological means and concepts.

Moreover, in a sense, beauty care itself is based on scientific practice, but in the era of underdeveloped technology, it is more like "experience talk." Nowadays, after thousands of years of development, mature technical means have not only solved many "skin care mysteries", but also greatly helped more people, especially those who don’t know much about beauty care, how to conveniently put on makeup and healthy skin care. Therefore, to be more precise, it is not the "technology factor" that is added to the beauty industry, but the return of the beauty industry to the "technology truth".

It can be predicted that the beauty industry will bring broad market space and application scenarios for innovative technology, and the deep integration of technology start-ups and beauty will "explode" unlimited potential for its own development, the development of the beauty industry and the lives of consumers.

Although we know that innovative technology is promising in the beauty market, how to integrate these two "different styles" elements and open up a road of sustainable development is still very challenging for beauty companies.

Since last year, beauty KOL live broadcast has become increasingly popular. Whether it’s Li Jiaqi, the "first lipstick brother", Viya, the "one product links 80,000 orders", or tens of thousands of cosmetics KOL behind them, they are all guiding consumers’ purchasing orientation greatly. Interestingly, beauty technology seems to have little to do with beauty KOL, but in essence, it helps consumers to judge whether the product is suitable for them by explaining the product in detail and "trying it" in advance, except that beauty KOL is an anchor real person trial, and the increasingly popular virtual color test application allows consumers to match independently through technical means such as AR and AI.

After a thorough study, the analysis results detected by the senior scientific research team with the help of big data, AR and other high-tech technologies are, to a great extent, more professional and valuable reference data than many cosmetic KOL trials, but at present, the influence of cosmetic technology on consumer decision-making is not as good as that of cosmetic KOL. This has to make beauty companies think deeply. On the road of beauty technology transformation, in addition to improving the technological attributes of products, whether it is necessary to think more about transformation strategies, user connections and technological depth.

Second, beauty technology needs intensive cultivation and a global vision.

Imagine that if a company defines itself as a "beauty enterprise", its entire corporate image, products and beauty attributes will be greater than the scientific and technological attributes; However, if you define yourself as a "beauty technology enterprise", then the two attributes must be "equally divided". For example, Xiaomi, although it originated from the Internet mobile phone, has always been an innovative technology enterprise, not a mobile phone brand.

Therefore, to improve the scientific and technological content of products, we must first improve the scientific and technological content of enterprises, that is, to achieve a 360-degree comprehensive transformation in the fields of research and development, marketing, operation and management.

On January 5, 2020, at CES in Las Vegas, L ‘Oré al first demonstrated a brand-new beauty technology equipment called Perso. This AI-supported home system developed by L ‘Oré al Technology Incubator can complete the on-site formula of skin care products and make-up products through a concise four-step process, and it can become smarter with the increase of usage times over time, and truly realize the direct delivery of personalized technology to consumers.

Before Perso, L ‘Oré al also introduced the first portable skin environment detector "Small Needle Probe" without batteries, Lancome’s new generation of small black bottles, customized liquid foundation and customized essence formulator, and other high-tech and even cross-border innovative products.

In addition, L ‘Oré al also organized a C2B "Zero Cream" campaign with consumers. This activity, aimed at exploring consumers’ reverse channel innovation, adopted an innovative mode of user demand-led and technology-assisted output. It took 59 days and 1,000 consumers participated, and more than 100,000 products were sold on the same day.

At present, L ‘Oré al China has set up "3S" and "3D" directions in product frontier research and development. "3S" means Green Science, Material Science and Life Science, and "3D" means digitalization, instrumentation and Diagnosis.

It is easier to understand that technology empowers R&D, so how can technology empower production, operation and management?

In recent years, L ‘Oré al has upgraded pillar departments such as information technology, operation, finance and human resources to strategic departments, and started to carry out technological and digital transformation. Develop and apply the most suitable brand-new solutions for each business field, including 3D printing, artificial intelligence, collaborative robots, virtual reality, Internet of Things and so on.

For example, L ‘Oré al applied software robots to financial reconciliation and online shop operation, and completed a lot of repetitive work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Using artificial intelligence technology to assist the retail team in store location; Reduce inventory and shorten the overall supply chain time by 30%; A new networked production line has been developed and a new method combined with the Internet of Things platform has been implemented, which can switch from the production of one product to another in a few minutes. At present, five factories are already using this networked production line technology, and another 20 new production lines will be installed and used in factories all over the world.

L ‘Oré al has naturally put a lot of effort into the most intuitive consumer experience scene of scientific and technological attributes display. Maybelline 360-degree AI intelligent color selection, exclusive "virtual hair dyeing and color testing" by L ‘Oré al Paris Salon, and "multifunctional intelligent detection application of scalp hair quality" by Paris Karsch ….. For girls who love beauty, the advent of these intelligent technology products not only enriches their own shopping experience, but also greatly simplifies the process from selection, makeup trial to purchase, and greatly solves the problem of choosing makeup.

In addition to the digital upgrade in the external business chain, L ‘Oré al has also adopted a new way of working internally, releasing the speed and efficiency of innovation.

L ‘Oré al has previously established a global multipolar organization, namely, three global centers in France+six regional hubs (China, Japan, India, South Africa, Brazil and the United States) +21 R&D centers. Mobile office and digital applications are widely used in the company. During this epidemic, the internal IT system of L ‘Oré al supported the telecommuting of nearly 3,400 users every day, including sending and receiving emails, accessing the company’s intranet resources, and video and audio conferences. The evolution of IT team’s working style is rapid iteration and continuous delivery, and all IT services have not been affected by this special situation. In addition, terminal sales data such as online and offline retail, virtual makeup test, software robot, chat robot and retail location with artificial intelligence are all stored in L ‘Oré al China Hybrid Cloud. This platform can support more than 2200 servers, 1800T of data, and more than 400 application systems, websites and small programs running on it.

Wu Sheng, founder of Scene Lab, said: "L ‘Oré al’s transformation of beauty technology running through the whole value chain inside and outside just represents the practice of’ scientific brand’ driven by data science, process science and value science. When L ‘Oré al is committed to the innovation of beauty technology, it believes in the digital beauty of this era and accelerates the digital life of this era. This essential change requires the evolution of ideas and also calls for a larger-scale co-creation. I look forward to L ‘Oré al becoming a real’ beauty infrastructure’, empowering and achieving each other with innovators. "

The three dimensions of scientific brand mentioned here, data science represents the power of data analysis and application technology such as big data and cloud computing; Process science refers to the transformation of 360-degree full value chain and the establishment of internal and external ecological circle; Value science represents the responsibility of science and technology to be good. For example, since 2007, L ‘Oré al has been working hard to reduce the impact of cosmetics packaging on the environment, and jointly developed the first environmentally-friendly paper tubular packaging with the upstream packaging company Albéa a.

Nowadays, beauty companies are constantly exploring in the direction of science and technology, and many technology companies have also set their research direction in the field of beauty and skin care. But in any case, the benefits of "beauty+technology" can only be the vast number of consumers. At present, the beauty technology of most enterprises is still in the stage of auxiliary tools, so it is necessary to truly regard technological transformation as the "top-ranking project", let more innovative technologies flood in, integrate into the strategic transformation thinking with a more overall view, and more thoroughly open up the internal and external ecological circles, so as to provide solutions that are more in line with the immediate needs of consumers and make "beauty+technology" a road of sustainable development.

Third, the next step: build an ecological circle and make the beauty infrastructure.

As a company with a history of 100 years, L ‘Oreal, a French beauty giant, has always advocated open innovation and strong alliance with many start-up technology companies.

Cooperation as the axis, technology as the wheel.

In 2016, L ‘Oré al invested in five beauty technology companies, which have core technologies in private customization, smart manicure and Internet content marketing. In 2018, L ‘Oré al Group acquired Canadian digital supplier Modify, which integrated AR technology into beauty retail and launched black technologies such as virtual makeup test and hair color test. Then the venture capital fund BOLD was launched. The first investment target was French startup Sillages Paris, an Internet company that mainly used artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to create customized perfume. In addition, at the same time, L ‘Oré al has established open cooperation website prices with start-ups around the world. By 2018, 23 start-ups have been supported under the framework of L ‘Oré al’s cooperation with Founders Factory and Station F.

At the 2019 Paris Viva Technology Exhibition, L ‘Oré al and Alibaba Group jointly released the first mobile artificial intelligence detection application for acne-EFFACLAR SPOTSCAN in la roche-posay. Effica can help consumers who are troubled by acne skin but can’t ask for help, carry out professional skin self-test anytime and anywhere, and get personalized scientific nursing plan. Wu Hanwen, chief digital marketing officer of L ‘Oré al China, once said at the exhibition: "Open innovation will help us effectively explore the application potential of cutting-edge technology in the field of beauty."

At present, China has the most demanding and sophisticated consumer groups in the world, and the most dynamic technology and innovation ecosystem in the world, which together constitute the original intention and foundation of L ‘Oré al’s first "Beauty Technology Creation Camp".

"One battalion creates more" and "one person has thousands of faces"

L ‘Oré al’s "BIG BANG Beauty Technology Creation Camp" has opened three tracks, namely, playing with new beauty experience, leading new operation and foreseeing new production and research, focusing on three key areas of beauty technology innovation, namely, consumer experience, supply chain operation, and future products with new forms, new effects and new experiences.

"We look forward to working together with technology start-ups to achieve common transformation and transformation, create more high-tech and beautiful consumption solutions for consumers, create new growth points for the vigorous development of the beauty industry, and contribute beautiful innovation to the prosperity of the consumer market in China and even the world in the post-epidemic era." Fabry, President and CEO of L ‘Oré al China, said: "The Beauty Technology Creation Camp is also the first step for L ‘Oré al to build a beauty technology ecosystem in China, and it is our co-creation and tolerance in implementing the new strategy of ‘HUGE Good Plan. We are confident that China will surely become a leader in the new round of global beauty technology explosion. "

From the perspective of participating enterprises, the "Creation Camp" horizontally covers the key links of the beauty industry chain, and the short-listed start-up technology enterprises can get different forms of win-win cooperation and support from L ‘Oreal at different stages of development. Such as market insight, product positioning, marketing strategy, media communication, incubation budget and other all-round support. L ‘Oré al, which covers more than 130 countries and has more than 110 years of experience in beauty operation, can provide a strong enough operating platform to accelerate the incubation, commercialization and scale of innovative achievements, and provide promotion opportunities and market landing in other markets around the world based on local applications in China.

Previously, in 2014, L ‘Oré al and Canada’s artificial intelligence augmented reality technology company Modify jointly created a virtual makeup trial technology, and Modify provided professional technology. L ‘Oré al can give more than 100 years of professional experience in beauty to help Modify fine-tune each makeup trial effect, and gradually from small to large, from the initial virtual makeup trial scene, it was successfully extended to virtual hair color and skin detection. At the same time, L ‘Oré al has a local team in each country to customize the planning, so that product technology can quickly land in the local market.

From the perspective of industry and market, in the post-epidemic period in China, technological innovation is an important engine to promote consumption recovery, and then promote market and economic recovery, as well as the beauty industry. Technology start-ups are the birthplace of innovative technology and the backbone of economic recovery in the post-epidemic era. Led by L ‘Oré al, a beauty company of a magnitude, bringing these forces together to achieve common growth and transformation will not only help a new round of "big outbreak" in the beauty industry, but also contribute to the market and economic prosperity after the epidemic.

The broad voice platform and efficient operation platform can provide more commercial guidance and added value for technology start-ups, and also make the overall solution of L ‘Oré al’s products+services+experiences more mature. When more and more technology companies are deeply integrated with beauty, more potential of the beauty industry will be stimulated, and the era of "one person and thousands of faces" may not be far from us.