When cosmetics groups’ executives survey the Asian market, it is the South Korean woman’s beauty regime that gets them excited, writes Scheherazade Daneshkhu. 当化妆品集团的高管调研亚洲市场时，韩国女性的美容护理程序令他们兴奋。

She spends 30-40 minutes at night on skincare, using 10-11 products. That compares with the typical French woman who uses only three products in three to 10 minutes a night. 韩国女性每晚花费30至40分钟护肤，使用10至11款产品。相比之下，法国女性通常只使用3种产品，每晚只花费3至10分钟护肤。

The Korean beauty ritual has parallels among other Asian women, so the potential to sell multiple products is higher in Asia than in other regions. 亚洲其他国家女性的美容习惯与韩国女性类似，因此比起别的地区，组合销售多款产品在亚洲具有更大的潜力。

With so many creams and serums layered on the face, their weight and texture has to be lighter than those produced for other parts of the world, says Nicolas Hieronimus, head of L’Oréal’s luxury cosmetics division. 欧莱雅(L’Oréal)高档化妆品部总裁叶鸿慕(Nicolas Hieronimus)表示，由于亚洲女性要在脸上涂抹多款乳霜和精华素，产品的重量和质感必须轻于为世界其他地区生产的产品。

Some 50 per cent of L’Oréal’s Lancôme Asian sales are for products developed specifically for the region. 欧莱雅兰蔻(Lancôme)品牌在亚洲的销售额约有50%来自于专为该地区研制的产品。

Some categories – such as whitening creams – do not exist in France, says L’Oréal. 欧莱雅表示，某些品类——如美白霜——在法国根本不存在。

“There is no single model for beauty,” the Paris-based company said of the controversial products, which most of the large international cosmetics groups, including Estée Lauder and Clarins, also sell. 谈到这些有争议的产品时，总部位于巴黎的欧莱雅表示：“美丽不是只有一种模式。”雅诗兰黛(Estée Lauder)和娇韵诗(Clarins)等大型跨国化妆品集团大多也销售美白霜。

Whitening creams have a penetration rate of 46 per cent among women in China, 78 per cent among urban women in India and only 5 per cent in the US. 美白霜在中国女性中的普及率为46%，在印度城市女性中的普及率为78%，而在美国的普及率仅为5%。

L’Oréal says this is because dark spots are the first signs of ageing in Asia, unlike for Caucasian women, who suffer more from wrinkles instead. “There is a genuine demand for whitening products which we respond to by offering products whose function is to eliminate hyper-pigmentation and to even and brighten the skin tone,” said L’Oréal. 欧莱雅表示，这是因为色斑是亚洲女性衰老的先兆，而白人女性则更多受皱纹困扰。欧莱雅称：“对美白产品的需求确实存在，我们对此的回应是提供能够消除色素沉着、同时均匀和亮白肤色的产品。”

Asian women much prefer skincare to the other two beauty categories of fragrances and make-up. 比起香水和化妆品，亚洲女性明显更青睐护肤品。

Skincare accounts for 63 per cent of the beauty market in Asia, compared with 32 per cent in the US. 护肤品占亚洲美容市场份额的63%，在美国这一比例仅为32%。

For cosmetics groups, that represents an opportunity to develop the market for fragrances and make-up, mainly through advertising. 这为化妆品集团带来拓展香水和化妆品市场的机会，它们主要通过广告来做到这一点。

“China will be a three-category market like the rest of the world in years to come,” forecasts Mr Hieronimus. 叶鸿慕预计：“在未来数年内，中国将与世界其他地区一样，成为三类产品并存的市场。”