Skin care protection in Asia is about obtaining clearer, whiter skin and treating pigmentation irregularities from as young as fifteen.

According to industry experts, UVA based products are key for treating this issue over SPF, but this has yet to resonate with consumers in the region, who have been conditioned to reach for the latter.

“Consumers are looking to SPF products based on an ingrained belief that these are the best protection against pigmentation,” Dr. Alain Khaiat tells CosmeticsDesign-Asia.com.

Anti-ageing verses anti-wrinkle

In Asia, products that promote ‘whitening properties’ are actually recognised as anti-ageing products by consumers, which international players need to get their head around.

Any brand marketing a product as an ‘anti-ager’ in the region will be viewed as offering a treatment for wrinkles – a skin issue that people are only concerned with in their 40’s.

Thus, even the major beauty players will lose out on a key market if they are not on the same page with what the consumer perceives those ‘buzz’ words to represent.

“If you want to launch a product that caters to the biggest skin concern in Asia – pigmentation, you could market it as ‘brightener’ that promotes clearer, younger skin rather than a ‘whiter’ complexion,” Khaiat advises.

Challenging the myth

Dermatologists categorise skin into six types with type I being the lightest and type VI being very dark.

Those with darker skin tend to experience different ageing effects from sun exposure than their lighter-skinned peers.

According to Columbia University dermatologist Monica Halem; “people who are a four or above have more melanin in their skin, which protects them from the sun,” but with more melanin comes a higher risk of scarring and pigmentation problems.

Sunlight triggers the production of melanin, which acts as the skin’s natural sunscreen by protecting it from harmful UV rays.

Excessive exposure to UVA, which penetrates the skin deeper than UVB can disrupt this process, leading to hyperpigmentation.

Since the advent of modern sunscreens, its efficacy has been measured by its sun protection factor, or SPF.

Sunscreens chemically absorb UV rays, sunblocks physically deflect them. Sunscreen has long blocked UVB effectively, but until recently provided less UVA protection.

On day one of in-cosmetics Asia, we will delve further into innovation around UVA protection for ethnic skin.

Michelle Yeomans, Editor at CosmeticsDesign-Asia.com

These and other innovative ingredients will be showcased during November’s in-cosmetics Asia event, which will include a Anti-Ageing / Anti-Wrinkle Product Trail, selected by CosmeticsDesign-Asia. Michelle is also speaking at the ‘Anti-wrinkle v anti-ageing’: Debunking the myth SPF based products are the best protection for Asian skin Marketing Trends Presentation at in-cosmetics Asia on 3rd November 2015, 14:00-14:45, Marketing Trends Theatre