hat is the price of
looking good? About
$200 a month,
according to a survey.
It is how much the
average Singapore woman spends on
beauty products and services, from
haircuts to visits to the aesthetics
doctor, making her the biggest spender
in the region.
Coming in a close second are
women from Hong Kong, who spend
HK$1,200 (S$189) a month, followed
by mainland Chinese women, with a
monthly beauty spend of 800 yuan
(S$151).
Market research company Frost &
Sullivan polled 300 women aged 20 to
49 who make the national average
monthly household income of about
$7,000.
Women in Thailand, Taiwan and
Australia whose pay was equivalent to
their respective national averages were
also polled for the survey commissioned
by pharmaceutical company Allergan.
While there is no past data for
comparison, the survey suggests the
Singapore girl is increasingly willing to
splurge on something she might have
once considered a luxury.
Ms Rhenu Buller, global
vice-president of Frost & Sullivan’s
pharmaceuticals and biotechnology
team, points to the growing number of
career women here who delay having
families.
“It leads to them having disposable
income to spend on themselves.”
Looking good, she says, is perceived
as having an important role in
“securing the deal” on both the
professional and personal fronts.
The 2010 Singapore Nielsen Media
Index and Consumer Insights study
sheds some light on where the money
could be going.
It found women in Singapore spent
an average of $76.13 per month on
skincare products and another $69.50
on other cosmetics and beauty
products.
Meanwhile, sales of high-end
cosmetics jumped by 35 per cent from
$260 million in 2008 to $350 million
last year, according to figures from the
Singapore Association of Perfumes and
Cosmetics Distributors.
Aesthetics procedures are also
becoming more mainstream, with more
than 60 per cent of the 300 women in
the Allergan survey reporting they had
visited a clinic for such services.
Today, more than ever, there is
something for every whim and budget
to fend off the ravages of time and
nature.
The cosmetics industry is booming,
with at least 50 new brands arriving on
the shelves in the last three years.
One of the biggest players was
multi-label beauty hall Sephora, which
opened in late 2008. It brought 30 new
labels such as cult American make-up
brand Too Faced and the British beauty
label Soap & Glory.
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Not to be outdone, personal care
stores Watsons and Guardian have
beefed up their selection of hard-to-find
drugstore brands from Taiwan, Japan
and Korea.
Grooming services, too, have
evolved. The one-stop beauty salons are
sharing space with chains that specialise
in niche services.
For instance, Spa Esprit which started
off as a spa has branched out to include
waxing chain Strip and brow-grooming
chain Browhaus.
AFFORDABLE NIPS & TUCKS
Perhaps the most striking trend in
recent years is how clinical aesthetic
services have moved into the realm of
the affordable and ordinary.
Aesthetic procedures like botox and
fillers are in such demand that the
Singapore Medical Council moved to
limit the type of treatments general
practitioners can perform after a series
of complaints about botched jobs.
Figures from the Singapore Society of
Aesthetic Medicine show there are
about 40 full-time aesthetics clinics in
Singapore, run by general practitioners,
dermatologists or plastic surgeons. This
is double the number of plastic
surgeons in 2007.
Dr Kenneth Lee, medical director of
The Sloane Clinic chain, notes many
patients are well-versed and talk openly
about what they want.
“This may explain why about
70 per cent of our patients now
come from word-of-mouth
recommendations, compared to about
40 per cent five years ago, when
patients tend to keep their visits a
secret,” he said.
They come from all walks of life,
from professionals to housewives and
students.
But while women can well afford the
luxury of beauty these days, few may be
thinking about how much it actually
costs them.
Dr Cornelia Chee, consultant
psychiatrist and director of the
Women’s Emotional Health Service at
the National University Hospital’s
Department of Psychological Medicine,
says one reason for the obsession with
beauty is “the culture of glorifying
youth”.
She says: “This is why, for some
women, looking young for as long as
possible does become a preoccupation.”
Some women could be exhibiting
traits of perfectionism or have
self-esteem or body image issues, she
adds. They focus on their beauty
regimens as a way of dealing with their
dissatisfaction with their faces and
bodies.
Dr Brian Yeo, a consultant
psychiatrist at Mount Elizabeth Medical
Centre, says a good way to judge if a
person is becoming obsessed is when
her actions begin to affect her life.
He advises counselling for such cases.
“For example, if she is persistently
late because she cannot leave home
without wearing make-up; or if she goes
into debt from buying beauty products
or going for treatments, then she has
crossed the line into dysfunction.”
With this sober warning, Urban
speaks to four beauty junkies to find out
how far they will go for beauty.
[email protected]
KAREN NG, 39, PERSONAL
STYLIST
vain
SKINCARE
SNOB
HOW
CAN YOU GET?
Urban talks to women
who go to the extreme
when it comes to
looking good
Ms Karen Ng, a fixture in
Singapore’s social scene,
always shows up in the latest
looks from luxury brands such
as Chanel and Givenchy.
The same expensive tastes apply
to her skincare regimen.
The 39-year-old swears by potions from luxe
brands such as La Mer, La Prairie and SK-II,
spending $1,500 to top up her supply every
month.
“Beauty is something I will not compromise
on. I will do the best for my face as this is an
investment,” says Ms Ng, whose job involves
dressing celebrities and socialites for events.
“I want to be assured that the skincare I use
is of good quality, so I pay for the brands.”
She once spent about $10,000 on a facial
machine that claimed to use ion technology to
purge the skin of impurities. She used that for
about a year before realising that “I am blessed
with good skin and all I need is to upkeep my
skin with a proper regimen”.
This entails a 20-minute routine twice a day,
where she cleanses with Clinique facial soap
before slathering on La Prairie’s Skin Caviar
Luxe Cream. Her eye area is kept hydrated with
La Mer’s The Eye Concentrate.
She also has about 10 other face and eye
serums as well as spot lighteners from brands
such as By Terry and Lancome.
The devil in her “minimalist” regimen is in
the details.
A $1,200, 100ml jar of La Prairie cream lasts
her only about six weeks because she is “not
stingy” with the amount she slaps on. Usually,
a jar of this size would last at least four months.
A certified facial therapist, she also uses the
facial massage techniques she picked up from
the course on herself “to promote absorption
and circulation”. She massages her face for at
least 10 minutes, morning and night.
She also exfoliates her skin with a La Prairie
scrub once a week, and uses face and eye sheet
masks from La Mer and SK-II three to four
times a week.
Explaining her diligent grooming, Ms Ng,
who is single, says: “Just like how I tell my
clients that the right appearance will open
many doors, my looks help me overcome my
insecurities.
“For example, when I feel down, I look at
the confident front that I am projecting and I
can tell myself, ‘Heck, I’m not going to be
crushed by what other people say’.”
Besides skincare, she also visits Passion Hair
Salon about five to eight times a month to get
her hair and make-up done for events,
spending about $550 per session.
“Looks are a whole package. Whether I wear
a gown or a sleek pantsuit, my hair and
make-up have to match my clothing.”
The battle with Father Time will only get
tougher as she grows older and she has no
qualms about going under the knife if need be.
“I am a believer in aesthetics procedures. I
am fine for now because being meticulous with
skincare helps delay the signs of ageing,” says
Ms Ng, who goes for intense pulsed light
treatment once a year to tighten the skin
around her eyes.
“If I see my skin start to sag, I will definitely
go to the best doctor to get some help.”
Beauty spending: About $1,500 a month on
skincare products, which include moisturisers
and sheet masks. Her annual intense pulsed
light treatment costs about $1,500.
Must-have items
1 La Mer The Eye Concentrate, $295
It moisturises and nourishes the area
around my eyes, which gets dry easily as
the skin is very thin. It is also a good base
for eye make-up.
2 La Prairie Skin Caviar Luxe Cream,
$1,220
This cream makes my skin supple and it
contains light diffusers to make my face
look brighter.
3 Clinique Facial Soap, $26
This cleanser gets rid of all the dirt and
impurities in my skin for a squeaky-clean
feeling.
Must-have items
1 ZA Perfection Concealer, $13.90
This is a multi-purpose concealer that
covers spots, blemishes and dark eye
rings.
2 Bobbi Brown Long-wear Gel
Eyeliner, $40
With this smudge-proof gel liner, I can
line my eyes extremely close to my lashes
to make my lashes look fuller.
3 Maybelline Volum’ Express Hyper
Curl Mascara, $18.90
Eyeliner does only half the job of
“opening” my eyes. I need mascara to
complete the look.
MAKE-UP
MANIAC
Photographer ASHLEIGH SIM; Special thanks to Passion Hair Salon for the use of its premises
MS LIVIA GOH, 27,
PART-TIME STUDENT
AND ADMINISTRATIVE
EXECUTIVE
At the ripe old age of 27, Ms Livia Goh knows
her days of pulling off the “kawaii” doe-eyed
Japanese look are numbered.
Which is why, with youth still on her side,
the part-time student has no qualms about
spending up to two hours to turn herself into a
clone of the famous Harajuku girls in Tokyo.
Lush false lashes, coloured contact lenses
and light brown hair are just some of the
trademarks of these teens.
“Not everybody can pull off the cute look
but I’m small-sized, so I have an advantage,”
says the 1.56m-tall Ms Goh.
“I want to be able to look at my
photographs in 20 years and say that I once
looked really cute.”
About three times a week, she wakes up at
7am and spends about two hours just to paint
on her kawaii face.
So adept is she that when she holidayed in
Taiwan last month, the people she met
thought she was Japanese.
But she has been known to be one to two
hours late for appointments because of her
make-up obsession.
Her defence: “If I look bad, I’d rather not go
out.”
She once got up at 3am just so that she
could doll up in time for a morning flight to
Taiwan. On another trip, she left her make-up
kit at home and dashed to a drugstore to stock
up on beauty essentials the minute she arrived
at her destination.
Her eyes get the VIP treatment in her
routine: She spends up to 45 painstaking
minutes perfecting them before moving on to
the rest of her face.
“They are the first things people look at,”
she explains.
She applies a sticker to each eyelid to create
more defined double eyelids, draws a wingtip
on each eye using eyeliner to make them look
wider, then finishes off with false eyelashes.
She is not short-sighted, but pops in
coloured contact lenses – she has three pairs in
brown, grey and green – for the full doe-eyed
effect.
But she rejects the “beauty fanatic” label.
“I may be vain but I’m not obsessed
because I don’t constantly touch up my
make-up once I am out.”
She takes pains to look her best, especially
when meeting someone for the first time, as
feedback to her going bare-faced has not been
encouraging.
Previous boyfriends have commented that
she looks tired, while her colleagues joked that
she “looks like a ghost”.
But there is a pragmatic side to her vanity –
she says she wears make-up only when
necessary.
For example, she goes without make-up
when attending night classes – she is doing a
part-time bachelor’s degree in communication
at SIM University.
“I’m there to study. There are also no cute
guys for me to impress, so I don’t have to
bother,” she quips.
Beauty spending: About $50 a month on
make-up from drugstore brands like ZA,
Silkygirl, Kate and Integrate. She also spends
about $100 a month to trim and colour her
hair at the salon. She spends about $150 every
three months on Laneige skincare products.
Every six months, when she goes to Taiwan
for a vacation, she will pay about $100 for a full
set of nail art, which lasts two months.
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MS RACHEL KUM, 26, MISS SINGAPORE
UNIVERSE 2009
PERFUME
ADDICT
Must-have items
1 ZA Plumper Lips
Lipstick, $13.90
I must always wear
lipstick as I feel bare
without it.
2 Aqualabel Perfect
Protect Milk SPF 50,
$28.90
Sunscreen is the most
important part of your
skincare regimen as it
protects your skin from
sun damage and skin
cancer.
3 Juicy Couture
perfume, $126
Smelling this reminds
me of happy times and
lifts my mood.
Photographer ASHLEIGH SIM; Hair EVANDE LOH, from Shunji Matsuo Hair Studio; Make-up TAN SIEW CHEE, from ZA
MS YANNY LI, 24, BEAUTY BRAND EXECUTIVE
Some people have security blankets. Ms Yanny Li has
security perfume.
The brand executive with a beauty company cannot
leave home without a full-sized bottle of Juicy Couture
perfume.
“I feel very insecure if I have a small bottle because it
may run out,” she says.
The 24-year-old spritzes herself on her neck, wrists,
ankles and behind her kneecaps about four times a day.
If she forgets her perfume, she will either drive home
to get it or buy a new bottle, which costs $126.
She has gone through about 10 bottles of the scent
since she started using it in January last year.
Her obsession does not stop at perfumes. She also lugs
around an array of hair products that weigh up to 4kg.
These include dry shampoo, hair perfume, styling cream,
hair rollers and a pair of straightening tongs.
This is on top of spending at least 11/2 hours to primp
and preen for work in the morning.
These items, she says, are necessary for touch-ups.
A quick spritz of hair fragrance is essential after lunch
to keep odours at bay and the tongs and styling products
keep her hair in place for a night out after work.
Other beauty aids she stashes in her bag include a lash
curler, compact powder foundation, eyeshadow palettes,
eyeliners and a few tubes of lipstick and lipgloss.
She also has emergency fix-its such as Hollywood
Tape, breath spray, a stain remover and feminine wash.
The key reason for her vanity is that she works in the
beauty industry, where she is expected to look her best.
She adds: “Looking good makes me feel good and I
take pride in my appearance.”
She does not travel light either.
She packs full-sized bottles of all her skincare and
bodycare products even for short getaways in case they
run out.
Her preoccupation with grooming means she is often
late for appointments. She manages to make it to work
by 9am daily only because she wakes up at 6am to get
ready.
“I’d rather be late than unprepared. Going out is like
being on Chatroulette, you never know who you might
meet,” she says, referring to the website that links two
users via webcam randomly.
Beauty spending: About $300 a month on beauty
products and grooming such as manicures and
pedicures. She also spends about $200 every two to three
months on trims and colour touch-ups at the hair salon.
Placenta, snail extract, stem cells.
These may sound like what goes into a witch’s brew
but to Ms Rachel Kum, the ingredients may just take her
one step closer to the mythical elixir of youth.
They are among the anti-ageing compounds she plans
to use in her upcoming skincare line.
Her Rachel K Cosmetics line has already hit stores – a
pressed face powder and a colour control cream went on
sale at 30 Watsons stores last month.
Ms Kum began working on her beauty line last July
after her beauty queen reign ended. Together with three
business partners, she has invested $100,000 in her
Rachel K beauty brand.
She has taken other unconventional routes in her
quest for beauty.
Last November, she flew to Frankfurt for an aesthetics
procedure called Fresh Cell Therapy, which is not
approved in Singapore.
During this treatment, stem cells from a sheep’s foetus
are injected into the patient, which supposedly help
rejuvenate the body, improve one’s complexion and
reduce the appearance of wrinkles.
It is not accepted by the medical profession as it is not
backed up by scientific evidence, but Ms Kum is unfazed.
She decided to give it a go after seeing how a friend’s
mother looked visibly younger post-treatment.
She reasons: “In 2009, President Barack Obama lifted
the ban on stem cell
research in the United
States, which shows
that there is a lot of
Must-have items
potential in stem cell
1 Rachel K Mineral CC
therapy.”
Cream, $35
She is a fan of other
It is my moisturiser,
aesthetics procedures
sunblock and
too.
foundation all in one.
For instance, she
2 Rachel K Mineral CC
undergoes Thermage
Pressed Powder, $38
treatments, where
I use this for touch-ups
radiofrequency waves
throughout the day to
are directed at the skin
to tighten and contour
keep my skin oil-free
it, about twice a year.
and photo-ready.
She also has Botox
3 Sloane Inc 24K Gold
jabs
every three to four
Skin Primer, $158
months to slim and
I use this as a make-up
contour her jawline.
base to prep my skin so
Each session costs
that my make-up can
under $1,000.
go on smoothly and
Then there is the
last.
Deep Red facial at The
Sloane Clinic once a
month.
The $200,
60-minute session includes a microdermabrasion scrub,
cleansing using sonic waves and LED red light therapy,
which is said to boost cell metabolism for radiant skin.
To detractors who say her beauty is not natural, she
replies: “There is no need for me to justify anything as I
am happy with myself.”
Being in the business of beauty, she is mindful of how
much looks matter.
“I have to live up to my image because I am in the
cosmetics line. I am the face of my brand.”
Her complex regimen, she says, actually saves her time
in the long run.
“The results from treatments like live cell therapy are
supposed to last for eight to 10 years, so I don’t have to
spend time maintaining my looks,” she says.
“I go for these treatments so that my daily skincare
and make-up routine can be kept to just 15 to 20
minutes. Since my skin is in good condition, I don’t have
to pile on the products.”
It sounds like a lot of hard work, but she insists she is
doing “the minimum that is necessary”.
“I don’t want to do too much now, or else I will have
so much more to maintain as I get older.”
BEAUTY
LAB RAT
Photographer DESMOND LIM; Special thanks to The Sloane Clinic for the use of its premises
Beauty spending: She spends about $200 on a facial
every month at The Sloane Clinic. She goes for Thermage
treatments twice a year, which cost from $5,000 per
session. Botox jabs every three months cost her under
$1,000 per session.
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