Why multi-tasking beauty products are ruling the vanity tables

SINGAPORE - The Singapore F1 might have ended last weekend, but life for most people here continues on the fast track. The time-poor lifestyles of urbanites have given rise to modern-day conveniences such as pre-prepared food, food-delivery apps such as Deliveroo and foodpanda and, of course, the explosion of e-commerce. Next up: Beauty products that aim to help busy women shave off precious time from their packed schedules without compromising on looking good.

The consultancy arm of trend-spotting agency WGSN predicted that the trend of “25/7 beauty” will dominate this year, in a collaborative project with QVC, the American home-shopping network, where the former curated beauty products to be sold on QVC that aim to help women save more time.

“Beauty rich but time poor, yes we are! Any product that can make us save some time is a winner at QVC — from ‘strobing’ face creams, overnight peels to the ultimate concealers. The more we can achieve in less time is a winner in our eyes,” said Sandra Vallow, director of beauty buying at QVC, to WGSN Insider.

Closer to home, a host of new brands and products being launched this year proves that this is a trend that is about to take over our vanity tables and bathroom shelves. Multi-label beauty retailer Sephora started retailing beauty brands Per-fekt Beauty, IT Cosmetics, Cover Fx and Nudestix in the middle of this year — all were founded with the purpose of delivering smart, quick-to-use makeup to women on-the-go.

“I’d realised a while back that most women I know don’t like to spend too much time applying makeup,” said Richard Anderson, president, founder and creator of Per-fekt Beauty. “Women are the ultimate multitaskers and they just don’t have much time in the day to spend on their beauty regimen. (And these days) a lot of women don’t want to look like they are obviously wearing make-up. They just want to look healthy, natural and gorgeous, like a better version of themselves.”

To this end, Anderson created the brand’s first and best-selling offering with the Skin Perfection Gel when Per-fekt Beauty was founded 11 years ago. Touted as the forerunner of the BB cream, this tinted, gel-mousse primer incorporates a Smart Color Gel Technology that glides smoothly onto the skin to mimic the look of real skin, while antioxidants such as alpha lipoic acid and vitamins A and E lend protective and anti-ageing skincare benefits if you wish to skip your moisturiser. Anderson estimates an annual revenue within the United States of between US$5 and US$7 million (S$6.8 and S$9.5 million, respectively) for the 13-product line-up in his brand, recording strong year-on-year growth.

Nudestix was founded in 2014 by two Canadian teenage sisters Ally and Taylor Frankel, together with their mother Jenny, who had spent decades as a product developer at MAC and a co-founder at Cover FX. The inspiration for the brand came from Jenny’s observation that her teenage daughters had a very different attitude towards make-up from hers and were not responding to the way that make-up brands in the market are pitching their products. The brand features a product line-up comprising entirely of multi-purpose pencils or crayons housed in a sleek black tin with a mirror on the lid, so as to emphasise how easy it is for women to apply Nudestix make-up with just their fingers while on the move.

“We would rather spend an extra 10 minutes in bed than spend it applying make-up, and we found make-up stressful because all we wanted was to look authentic and natural,” said Taylor Frankel. “So it was really important that everything we launch is multi-functional, and that we really love and use ourselves.”

The swipe-and-go premise — and advertising campaigns featuring the two young founders instead of models — seems to have struck a chord with the young millennials that the brand reaches out to on social media (its official Instagram account currently has 56,300 followers). The two-year-old brand has plans to expand into other Asian countries next year.

Hair-care brands are hot on the heels of the make-up category in launching time-saving tress-savers. Take John Frieda’s Frizz Ease 10 Day Tamer Pre-Wash Treatment, which promises to keep unruly hair frizz-free for up to five washes, and Percy & Reed Perfectly Perfecting Wonder Overnight Recovery, which works like a leave-in, overnight mask for dry, damaged or over-processed hair.

Meanwhile, Dyson’s much-hyped Supersonic hairdryer, launched last month, uses new state-of-the-art technology and the brand’s patented Air Multiplier technology to ensure perfectly even temperature control, a faster, more-targeted airflow and reduced operational volume. At a whopping S$599, it is a big ticket, luxury item, but the brand is banking on busy professional women to fork out the cash for its ability to cut short a part of the daily beauty regimen that takes up a significant amount of time.

While many women have begun embracing multitasking beauty, it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, opined Rick Yang, celebrity make-up artist and co-founder of FAC3INC, a make-up and hair collaborative. “I definitely think that cosmetics have evolved a lot and multi-purpose products appeal most to (frequent travellers), beauty junkies as well as makeup artists. While there is definitely a market for them, I feel that specific products developed for specific needs will not die out,” he said, pointing out that some dual-purpose make-up formulas may not deliver the level of benefits or finish that more discerning make-up users expect.

But if you belong to the fuss-free camp looking to streamline your beauty routine, there has never been a better time for you to give your vanity shelf an overhaul.