Ambrosia Services

Firms find new niches in booming beauty industry

By Reuters
Tuesday September 12, 07:30 PM

By Anna Willard

PARIS (Reuters) - Pocket eyelash curlers, tealeaf face cream, exotic handbag size perfume sticks and organic stretch mark cream for new mums are among the latest trends in cosmetics on display this week at an international fair.

Busy modern lifestyles, air pollution and a desire to look and smell glamorous mean an increasing number of people are going to spas and looking for cosmetics offering something more than a moisturise or a colour change.

One corner of the exhibition hall is devoted to "beaudiversity". Tables display red and black beans and brown marula nuts from southern Africa that can be ground up for use in anti-ageing creams or massage oil.

These are part of a push by many companies to use organic products that can be sold with a fair trade label.

Consumers are reassured by natural products, says Jean-Francois Molina, marketing director at Solabia group, a French company that imports banana flowers and passion fruit from Brazil for turning into vitamin-rich potions.

"There is a big interest in the nutri-cosmetic element. What is good for my health is also good for my skin," he said.

In perfume the trend is for the smells of times gone by. Crazylibellule and the poppies is a young French company of just three employees. In only its second season, it already exports its perfume sticks to Spain, Italy and South Korea.

It has a gourmand range with fragrances such as "vanilla lemon pie". But its bestsellers include patchouli and jasmine.

"They are old perfumes that have come back into fashion," said product manager Agnes Ducrocq.

One of the largest growth industries in cosmetics is for men's products. In France, sales grew 20 percent last year.

"It's not taboo any more for men," said Xavier Damar, director of Edouard and Co. which imports the Australian brand Vitaman.

"The growth is in face products, manicure and massage. They want massages but they are more and more concerned with their overall well being."

Mothers and babies also make an interesting market. Erbaviva is a U.S. company offering organic stretch mark cream, jasmine and grapefruit deodorant and mommy-to-be bath milk.
And what about the kids?

"It's whatever the latest film or TV show is," said Cathy Rolland, brand manager at Spanish company Air Val which sells children's cosmetics.

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posted by Cheryl Levesque @ 1:49 PM