Form and Function: Indonesian Beauty Brands
BLP Beauty aims to “normalise real skin”. Image courtesy of BLP Beauty.
In recent years, beauty products have been photographed for social media feeds, screenshot to be shared for personal recommendations over WhatsApp, and included in wishlists. It is more important than ever for beauty products to not only work, but also to feature good design, and for brands to foster a sense of community with consumers.
In 2018, Fortune Business Insights reported the global skincare market to be worth about USD133.90 billion, and this is predicted to rise to over 200 billion in 2026. While the love for skincare is shared around the world, the biggest slice of the cake is in Asia Pacific, where, for example, Korean brands like Innisfree, COSRX and Dr Jart+ which tote exotic ingredients such as snail slime and 24-karat gold have become international names.
In this article, I highlight a few Indonesian beauty brands that are focused on the efficacy of their products, the appeal of their packaging and how they connect with their customers.
BLP Beauty X Avoskin Multipurpose Tinted Sunscreen, a hybrid between makeup and skincare. Image courtesy of BLP Beauty.
In a popular beauty collaboration in Indonesia in 2021, By Lizzie Parra (BLP) Beauty, created by Elizabeth Christina Parameswari, which has over 330,000 followers on Instagram teamed up with cult local skincare brand Avoskin. The result is the highly popular BLP Beauty X Avoskin Multipurpose Tinted Sunscreen, which is a liquid sheer foundation with sunscreen, which is contained within a slim PET bottle with a white cap, which reveals a pointy pump applicator when opened. Overall, the design is fuss-free and functional, and the campaign emphasised the minimalist aesthetic. The affordable price of IDR60,000 also added to the product’s appeal and a number of shades were sold out when it first launched.
Clean, minimalist campaign photo of BLP Beauty x Avoskin Multipurpose Tinted Sunscreen. Image courtesy of BLP Beauty.
BLP’s message that natural skin should be embraced is a key reason for its sustained success, and for the collaboration with Avoskin. “I met and chatted with Avoskin founder Anugrah Prakerti, and discovered that although we specialise in different things – Avoskin in skincare and BLP in makeup – we actually share a fundamental value, which is to embrace natural beauty and imperfections,” says Elizabeth or Lizzie, as she is better known. “We believe that real skin needs to be normalised.”
The make-up brand has created a community among its users, who are called BLPFam. The brand’s Instagram feed regularly features members of BLPFam, and the platform’s general message of positivity and acceptance has appealed to young women, which is evidenced by packed store openings and well-attended regular member’s meet-ups.
Dew It comes into the market with “hands-free” application and cool pastel tones. Image courtesy of Ideas Communications.
Dew It, founded by popular mompreneur Rachel Nathani-Lakhiani, is another Indonesian beauty brand that offers a small range of products in appealing minimalist packaging, and works in collaboration with other brands in the local beauty industry. Its first range included the Body Water Oil, Body Polish, and Body Silk, with a body brush created together with local beauty tool brand, Aeris Beaute, which allowed for cross-promotion to their respective audiences.
(Left) Dew It’s Heat Trio: a sun stick, a sunscreen mist, and a cooling cream. (Right) Actor Adinia Wirasti, one of the poster girls of Dew It. Images courtesy of Ideas Communications.
To distinguish itself from other brands in the market, Dew It offers products that combine eye-catching colours with hands-free application. In its newest range, the Heat Trio, which is again a series of three products, the sun stick is an applicator in blue that is applied directly to the skin, the yellow sunscreen mist bottle allows the user to spray the product directly on the skin, and the cooling cream, which has a blue body and a yellow cap to tie the range together also glides directly onto the skin. The coherent look of the three products, and the thoughtful experience of how they are to be used shows their attention to detail. This is reflected in the price, which ranges from IDR195,000 for the sun stick to IDR220,000 for the sunscreen mist.
In another branding strategy that harnesses the power of social media, the actress and fitness icon Adinia Wirasti is the face of Dew It. Photographed against a background in the same light cornflower blue as the product packaging, she embodies the brand. These photographs, used to launch the products on social media, help to market the products not only to her 492K followers on Instagram and to Dew It’s existing community of 24K followers, but also other active working women into the fold as the images are reshared and circulated.
Warm pastel tones of Gentle Hour. Image courtesy of Gentle Hour.
Gentle Hour’s first claim to fame is the cleansing balm, part of its “back to basics” skincare routine that includes a jelly cleanser, an exfoliating toner, and a hydrating toner. Co-founder Revata Pingkan Hananta says, “We’re all about fundamentals – we wanted to educate users that you need a good cleansing regime in order for other products to be absorbed by the skin.” The product range features different pastel colours – nude for balm, blue for jelly cleanser, pink for exfoliating toner, and green for hydrating toner. These soothing shades represent the times when the products are used: before and after bedtime.
Late This Night serum-infused overnight mask features a lock in its pump applicator. Image courtesy of Gentle Hour.
Its latest offering is the Late This Night overnight mask, a serum-infused mask that doubles as night moisturiser, which is again appealing in its hybridity by cutting down on the number of products, and steps, in one’s skincare regime. The cap features a lock that opens when it slides sideways, enabling the pump to deliver the product, and the design was finalised after much experimentation. “We tried and tested the packaging before the launch,” says Revata. “We initially created a tube package, but it turned out to extract more substance than needed, so we did a rethink to avoid waste. We finally settled with the pump to make it easier for users: one to two pumps for the face and neck, and you’re done for the night.” She adds, “The secure lock is also an important part of the packaging, so users don’t have to worry about leaks when they travel”.
Priced at IDR230,000, the brand is conscious that the pricing of Late This Night is slightly higher than their mass-produced counterparts, but this is again a reflection of the care that goes into the form and function of the product. The effort that they put into process is mirrored in their choice of brand ambassadors, who embody the values of Gentle Hour (32.1K followers). For example, one of them is illustrator and graphic designer Rachel Ajeng (@rachelajeng) who shares her creative journey with her 36K followers and is equally committed to educating aspiring creatives in offline workshops.
With a focus on editing both form and function, and a savvy in harnessing the power of social media through collaboration with other brands and individuals, the Indonesian beauty industry may well be on its way to establishing itself as K-beauty has.