Fresh Sake Bath

I have been using Fresh products for years (mentioning the wonders it has done for my hair here) and am so excited to share my newest Fresh product obsession: Sake Bath.  The soak eases body tensions and detoxifies while the scent calms - achieving all the perfect elements of a hot bath.  Fresh is known for using natural ingredients in its products such as sugar, milk, soy and rice.  And did you know the company is part of the LVMH group?   Find it here and let me know how it worked for you.


Photo credit:  Fresh

Luxury 360 - The fun of Beauty Part 2

In my last post: LUXURY 360 - THE FUN OF BEAUTY PART 1, I showcased the "fun-ness" of Chanel's Color Creativity video and the reasons luxury brands are instilling more creativity into beauty from a branding and sales perspective.  

Today I want to share a really interesting except from the L2 Think Tank Digital IQ Index supplement, "Beauty in China" to further illustrate the reason beauty is a key focus and growth area for luxury brands:

• Young women in China currently spend 10-15% of annual income on beauty products
• Trading up; the prestige beauty segment is outpacing the mass category in terms of growth
• China is the largest online beauty market in the world with 17% of beauty bought online (compared to 4-6% in 'mature' markets) 

What trends are you seeing in the luxury beauty market?

Luxury 360 - The fun of Beauty Part 1

I swear the beauty industry keeps getting more interesting.  Take these still shots above from the Color Creativity video featured on Chanel's beauty webpage here.  The reinterpretation of the iconic design of Chanel beauty products is...well, fun!  

It makes sense that Chanel and other luxury brands are similarly increasing their point-of-view (and often investment) in beauty to entice consumers in new and innovative ways:

• Beauty can be a huge revenue generator to brands (as it is for Chanel and Dior) and has higher margins than fashion. 
• Beauty as entry-level priced products allows everyone to become part of a luxury brand's often aspirational world.
• Once a consumer has been introduced to a luxury brand through beauty, a brand can then cross and up-sell to higher price point items.  
• Apart from fragrance, which is a highly fragmented market with low brand loyalty, make up and skincare are high on brand loyalty.  Think about it.  Once you find a concealer, blush or even a mascara that works for you, you repeat buy.       

So much more to say on this topic but I thought I would split it into two posts.  More beauty insights to come in the next post, LUXURY 360 - THE FUN OF BEAUTY PART 2.

Paris Fashion Week: Menswear A/W'13

Lanvin

Dries Van Noten

Louis Vuitton

Givenchy

A glimpse of my favourite looks from the final installment of the A/W'13 European menswear shows coming from Paris Fashion Week.  Three distinctive trends stood out: leather, print (especially PJ-print for men which I actually love since it was my favourite trend of 2012 for women), and again oversized trousers as seen in the London shows here.  All the shows played on volume this season which is definitely a more casual change from the easy-to-look-good-in tailored look.  European men's shows are now over but women's shows are just around the corner.  Excited to see what's next.


Photo credit: GQ