Francais

I was at the Beauty Expo in Dubai this week, and it was a learning experience for reasons that I wasn’t expecting.

Firstly, there is a certain degree of expertise, beauty, and flair that #MadeinFrance cosmetics have about them that other countries cannot replicate.

When I buy a French skincare product, it is second to none in texture, smell, and packaging. This characteristic applies across the board, from a $5 French pharmacy brand to US$ 500 face creams.

Note that, I’m ignoring product efficacy here. It is that user experience of making one feel as if they are applying skincare from a unicorn’s pot of gold. French skincare has an invaluable, virtually impossible-to-replicate competitive advantage. 

At home I noticed most of my current skincare regime is Japanese, American, and Indian and lacks the je ne suis quoi element that French brands effortlessly ooze.

South Korea vs. Poland

Secondly, the manufacturing and R&D excellence of South Korea is incredible, but Poland is catching-up. South Korea has a volume and cost advantage over Poland and is the epicentre of K-beauty. However, in five years Poland will become the proverbial fly in the ointment for South Korea.  

My final observation relates to Japan and the absence of multiple Japanese companies. 

I think the Japanese consistently and persistently underestimate the value of what they do. For the Japanese, an export market is only available for prominent players (e.g., Kanebo, Shiseido, et al.).

Honestly, nothing could be further from the truth. 

South Korean brands may be quicker to market than Japan, but if I want ground-breaking technology and cutting edge skincare as a consumer and a brand owner, I look to Japan. 

Japan has a history of producing the finest, innovative skincare and cosmetics – see the image below of Shiseido’s first range of powders in 1917.

All things being equal, J Beauty should be the most significant beauty trend to have emerged in the past decade. But it’s not.  K Beauty’s emergence as the dominant SE Asian trend is a testament to Korea’s innovative spirit and business savvy. It is a loss to all of us that Japan has failed to raise its game.

Finally

We are nowhere close to pre-pandemic levels of attendance of exhibitors and buyers, but I have it on good authority that this exhibition has been the best of its kind this year.