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Jakarta Post

Beauty, not just skin deep

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder but it’s a life defining quest for others

Ashlea Masters (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sun, February 17, 2013

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Beauty, not just skin deep

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span class="inline inline-left">Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder but it’s a life defining quest for others.

In the Western world, the emphasis of beauty is firmly on the pursuit of perfectly tanned or sun-kissed skin, despite the risk of cancer and permanent skin cell damage.

In Asia, including Indonesia, many women are on a quest for fair skin, opting for whitening creams to lighten their skin as they believe fair skin to be more beautiful.

In their quest, some women have started spending a lot on the latest beauty products and treatments.

Bank employee Elli could not afford to spend big on cosmetics but went to a beauty clinic for treatments.

 “I meet a lot of people through my job so I want to look good. I feel good and beautiful when I wear makeup,” said the 29-year-old.

With her limited budget, just like many other women, her beauty secrets — the ever-present whitening creams — come from the shelves of department stores and supermarkets.

“Most of the exfoliators or face creams you buy at the supermarket have it [whitening effect], so you use it. It’s different from what you get overseas but of course I want my skin to look nice too,” said Elli, who spends around Rp 250,000 (US$25.87) a month on skin and hair products.

Housewife Eka from Jakarta is a regular at a leading skincare clinic, not to mention her weekly trip to the beauty salon, spending some Rp 1 million a month on massages, facials, manicures and more.

“I want to look nice for my husband but I also feel nice when I get the treatments,” she says. “It sounds like I spend a lot but I don’t mind, that’s what I do.”

Even when accounting for inflation, improved economic conditions in the country means that per capita, disposable income has almost doubled since 2007 and income has jumped up 18 percent since 2011. With that said, there is little wonder why Indonesian consumers are hitting the stores with full force and full wallets, according to a survey by Credit Suisse.

Director of cosmetic treatment stores Beauty Couture, Yeny Maria, said that when she started the business 12 years ago, compared to other Asian countries, not many Indonesian women were using cosmetics. The company now operates 28 stores.

The trend only really started to grow around 2008, said Yeny, who believes that if women were to only use basic products daily, it should be a light sunscreen and powder with false lashes and eyeliner just to make a statement.

She even believed that Indonesian women only started to take more notice of their appearance after the age of 20.

“Sometimes we even see university students who don’t use makeup at all, but in other countries like Singapore, they start to use makeup at a very young age,” says Yeny.

Cosmetic mogul Martha Tilaar, the founder of the Martha Tilaar Group, said the current market trend shows a demand for scientifically-tested safe and natural products, but some women still want “natural whitening products and color trends”.

She said a strong beauty ritual had been instilled in her from a very young age by her mother, who taught her to follow holistic beauty regiments, from the outside in.

Every 10 days, she would have a facial and a body massage at her salon to improve blood circulation and reduce cellulite.

Martha also believes in regular exercise and positive thinking as complements to any person’s beauty routine, saying that, “your inner beauty will show on your face”.

Despite the rising popularity of whitening products, the pursuit of lighter skin is being phased out, according to L’Oreal Indonesia Communications Head Melanie Kridaman, who said the company’s vision for Indonesia was moving toward increasing health and beauty awareness.

“Raising awareness on dangers or UV radiation will require new solutions to protect against UV and control pigmentation,” she says.

Melanie contributed the beauty quest and the extra care given to physical appearances to both men and women’s aspirations to express their individual personalities to the fullest.

“The first thing you see in a person is his or her physical appearance. Hence, there is certainly a view that taking care of our appearance is correlated to feeling good about ourselves.”

The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.

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