Beyond the 'Sephora kids': why Asia's beauty boom might hit a wall: Opinion
Marketing strategist Kritika Rai, an MBA alumna of NTU’s Nanyang Business School, and Ella Carnegie-Brown, who has researched youth digital culture and Asian beauty media, wrote in a Business Times commentary that social media feeds are increasingly shaping the future of the global beauty industry.
They pointed to the rise of skincare tutorials on Douyin, highly curated routines on Xiaohongshu, childlike aesthetics in Korean and Japanese influencer culture, and tweens in Singapore, Seoul and Jakarta adopting beauty rituals once associated with adults. The writers described this as the emergence of a “cute economy”, in which softness, innocence and youthfulness are not only aesthetic preferences but powerful commercial drivers.
They argued that the appeal of cuteness is especially potent in a period of economic anxiety and digital overstimulation, as beauty products and routines are marketed as sources of comfort, reassurance and control. This has allowed brands and platforms to turn emotional needs into consumption, while encouraging younger consumers to adopt increasingly elaborate skincare and beauty habits.
However, the writers warned that the same trend could face closer public and regulatory scrutiny. They said industries such as food, tobacco and social media had previously faced a reckoning after successful commercial strategies were later questioned for their wider social effects. The beauty industry may face similar questions if it is seen to be monetising insecurity, encouraging excessive self-surveillance or normalising adult beauty standards among children and teenagers.
Read more in the full commentary below.
