In recent times Australian celebrities have launched beauty brands on an international stage. Examples include Miranda Kerr with KORA, Jess Hart with Luma, Zoe Foster Blake with Go-To, and so on. Is this trend helping the Australian beauty market by raising awareness world wide? Or is it a hindrance by taking away consumer spend from the professional industry?
This was the second question posed to our esteemed panel of guests at the tenth Professional Beauty Industry Roundtable, focused on Australian Made Beauty, at the Nude Lounge in The Glebe Hotel.
Our thought leaders ‒ Maria Cocciolone from Inskin Cosmedics, Nicola Le Lievre from In Therapy, Mark Durkin from asap skin products, Belinda Merlino from The Skin Clinic, Carley Stewart from asap skin products, Andrew Taverna from Artav Australia, Dr Donna Lee-Marcal from Dermatonics, Lynn Hetherington-Briggs from Advanced Skin & Body ‒ agreed that the exposure helped grow the identity of Australian brands, and that it was beneficial to the whole industry.
Belinda Merlino from The Skin Clinic said manufacturers needed to have a vested interest in skin health in general and that should be the principle of anyone making a skincare line, celebrity or not.
Nicola Le Lievre from In Therapy said it was important to educate and let consumers know what the difference was between consumer beauty products and professional skincare.
Carley Stewart from asap skin products said anything that was putting Australia into the spotlight was helping us as a country and as an industry.
Andrew Taverna from Artav Australia said the exposure it helped Australia receive was beneficial, but you had to look at the motivations behind it.
Mark Durkin from asap skin products said the “appearance industry pie” was going to continue to get bigger and bigger, and the slice grew bigger for everyone as the industry grew bigger.
Maria Cocciolone from Inskin Cosmedics said if it put Australia out there internationally, then that was good, so long as it was genuinely Australian made.
Donna Lee-Marcal from Dermatonics said if it was a celebrity that was very involved in the process and who were going to keep it in Australia, that was fabulous for the entire industry and for Australia.
Lynn Hetherington-Briggs from Advanced Skin & Body said it didn’t take spend away from clinicians as they attracted the serious clientele, not the people who were searching for a dream.
Watch the video below for the full discussion.
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