W

ith the grand array of beauty products on offer, do consumers have any say in what kind of "beauty" they want?

"For me, being content with yourself is the key to feeling beautiful," said Tia Harahap, a middle-aged woman.

"There's nothing wrong with wrinkles. There's nothing wrong with aging," she added. "Taking care of our body and going along with natural processes makes me more content than injecting myself with anti-aging serums."

And so amid the choice of imported skin maintenance products, Tia chose local ancient recipes for beauty, products from a local producer in Bali that she now distributes in Jakarta.

Her choice is coconut for moisturizing, lime for antibacterial face masks and traditional lulur to keep her skin looking radiant - with all the wrinkles that have appeared on it.

"I'm not really doing all those treatments often. Just the basics," she added.

For Tia, her light-brown skin is just as beautiful as the fair skin of a magazine model. And recently, such approaches in aid of redefining beauty have sprouted up here and there.

In 2004, toiletries producer Dove launched its Campaign for Real Beauty. Through a survey involving 3,200 women aged 18 to 64 from 10 different countries, it unveiled the findings of its Real Truth About Beauty: A Global Report.

The report reveals that women want to see the idea of beauty expanded - beyond the fair and youthful skin, beyond the Barbie image and beyond the idea of beauty as dictated by the Western world.

Barbie's producer Mattel has also recently launched its black Barbie dolls with "fuller lips, a wider nose and a more pronounced cheek bones". In a way, it is a redefinition of Barbie's black friend Christie launched in 1960, which was said to be just "a white doll painted brown".

Brigitte, a German women's magazine, has gone to the extent of banning professional models to give space for "real women" in its efforts to redefine beauty.

Following the changing perception of beauty, cosmetic producers are following suit, albeit slowly.

"We understand that there's no one-size-fits-all product," L'Oreal Indonesia president director Jean-Christophe Letellier said.

"Therefore, the latest development in our research is to come up with different products for the needs of consumers in different regions.

"Even in Asia, the needs of those in South Asia differ than those in East or Southeast Asia," he added.