Because they’re worth it

Forty years after the Cultural Revolution, a Beauty Revolution is taking place in China. Hannah Fletcher reports on how the country’s cosmetics industry is booming

It is 6.30am and Cui Weiwei is going to wash her face. She takes her pink plastic basin and walks the few hundred yards from her university dormitory to the nearest washroom. “My skin’s not as white at the moment as I would like,” the young Chinese student says, scrunching her nose in distaste. “So first I use a skin-whitening cleanser.” She scrubs vigorously with flat palms, dragging her skin up and down with each stroke and with little regard for the small, circular strokes that are the beauty mantra of so many Western women. Then she applies toner, moisturiser, eye cream and, finally, a layer of foundation — one shade lighter than her true skin colour.
These details are the lifeblood of the L’Oréal China Research Centre in Shanghai.Established in September 2005, the centre is dedicated to researching Chinese skin and hair — from the diameter of a single hair follicle and the precise gestures a Chinese woman uses when washing to the development of make-up, face and haircare products formulated for one of the fastest-growing markets in the world. Chinese women spend an average of 10 to 15 per cent of their salary on cosmetics and skincare. Multiply that by a target market of about 117 million urban women between the ages of 20 and 44 and there is 85 billion yuan (£5.6 billion) a year to be earned.