Beautiful Africa: ‘Nuanced’ A-Beauty an emerging space ‘to watch’ - WGSN

Following in the footsteps of the K-Beauty boom that had brought Korean rituals and beauty beliefs to the masses in recent years, African beauty or A-Beauty was next on the horizon, according to WGSN.

And Clare Vaga, head of beauty at WGSN, said this was a particularly exciting movement to watch because it was very different to the likes of K-Beauty.

A-Beauty is nuanced not homogenous ​

“This is a regional beauty that’s emerging and that makes it slightly different because it’s much more nuanced; there are 54 countries that make up Africa,”​ Vaga told attendees at this week’s WGSN Beauty Live online event.

“…It’s very important that when you think about A-Beauty, you don’t think of this as a homogenous region,”​ she said.

Africa has home to a plethora of “amazing” ​beauty ingredients, she said, and there were many brands developing fantastic product concepts throughout the region.

African botanical skin care specialist 54 Thrones was one good example of a brand utilising the vast palette of African ingredients in its products whilst at the same time pivoting everything around “authentic beauty rituals of the region”, ​she said. ​There were also a number of brands working hard in the sustainability space, she said, particularly in South Africa.

“A-Beauty is the one to watch,”​ Varga said, asked where some of the most emerging promise was in the global beauty category.

Heritage and storytelling – behind the rise of J-Beauty and C-Beauty​

And interest in country-specific or region-specific beauty rituals and routines was nothing new.

Last year, Euromonitor International predicted Japan-Beauty and China-Beauty (J-Beauty and C-Beauty) were primed to steal the spotlight from powerhouse K-Beauty​, thanks to strong heritage, science and traditions in both countries.

Gabriella Beckwith, senior analyst for beauty and fashion at Euromonitor International, told CosmeticsDesign-Europe at the time that consumers were cultivating “stronger regional identities”​ and cared more about “authenticity”, ​driving engagement with these movements.​

“…It appears consumers may be turning to new hotspots such as Japanese, Chinese, Australian and Scandinavian beauty,”​ Beckwith said.

For Japan, the appeal was in its knowledge of science and technology, she said, and the country’s beauty products were often associated with “efficacy, high-quality and benefit-led features”.​ For China, she said interest surrounded its “historical roots”​ and the fact the country was home to “ancient beauty rituals and skin treatments”.​

Beckwith predicted at the time country or region-led beauty movements would likely continue.