Although the relationship with beauty cannot be defined the same way in the two countries - it is all about pleasure and sensuality in Brazil, while China focuses on control and safety - several common features actually bring these two countries’ consumer profiles closer.

According to the study, the cosmetic market in China is growing fast and offers more and more sophisticated products, analyzes Laure Friscourt, Head of Consumer & Beauty Division at Ifop. It is to be noted that anti-aging products are widely represented, with 60 per cent to 70 per cent, and that the local, more and more premium Chinese brands are strongly developing. In addition, women mainly seek naturalness and guaranteed safety as a result of the high impact of pollution.

Brazilian women expect these same benefits from cosmetics, in a country which possesses the largest wealth of natural raw materials and cosmetic actives. Brazil is unique in its approach of body hygiene and beauty. It is characterized by a great ethnic diversity, and it is also the country where the hair is king. Just like in China, it is a market that counts more and more premium brands and whose consumers expect to get a lot of advice.

In Brazil, beauty lies in the way people seek both wellness and/or social integration, while it still often has to do with achieving a status of one’s own in China, while finding an ‘internal health-external beauty’ balance.

Six types of profiles identified

The study identifies six women profiles in both countries, ranging from over-committed women, who are quite numerous in Brazil and would do anything to achieve perfection, to the health-natural group, which gathers 21% of Chinese women. Then, in the middle of the mapping can be found two interesting profiles of women with a relationship with beauty that has not matured yet, in particular for 25% of the Chinese.

Source: Ifop (click to enlarge)

The belly as a source of dissatisfaction

The women were surveyed on the body parts they are the most satisfied and dissatisfied with, and those on which they are the most willing to invest. The results unveil the areas to be studied by cosmetics brands.

And it comes as no surprise that the first clear result is the importance of the hair in Brazil, and of the eyes in China. Yet, when Brazilian women are asked which body part they are willing to invest more on, 58% of them answer their bellies. Then 40% mention their hair, followed by the lower part of their bodies (bottom and legs). By contrast, Chinese women declare they are willing to invest more on the upper part of their bodies: 70% of them mention their faces, 30% their chest, neck and shoulders.

This contrasting approach can be explained by the different lifestyles and cultures, but again, it also conceals a common preoccupation. Indeed, even if they say they are not ready to invest more on this area of their bodies ‘yet’, most Chinese women also admit they are not satisfied with their bellies.

A study of Russian and French women conducted in April 2013 by Ifop revealed identical preoccupations. The belly was mentioned as a main concern by 52% of French women, and by 40% of Russian women.