Unexpectedly, the "pure desire wind", which has been out of breath in China, has become popular again in the world.
Chinese Internet celebrity makeup "exported" to Japan
White red skin, pink pouty lips, innocent big eyes, comic eyelashes, arched eyebrows...
At the hottest time, there were no less than ten people called "pure desire ceiling" by domestic netizens, Riyu Ichuan, Hanzo Forest, and Ichiri Xiaoshako...
After being questioned as an unhealthy "white and thin" aesthetic and overly catering to the male gaze, "pure desire" has become a minefield for Internet celebrities. But nowadays, it is a makeup aesthetic sought after by young girls in Japan.
Miyo Fujimura, a 23-year-old Japanese white-collar worker, tried "pure lust makeup", her cheek blush accentuated her girlish purity, and the sparkling eye shadow made her look charming. In an interview with the Nikkei Shimbun, Fujimura said that "pure desire" has caused a lot of discussion among his peers, "like a filter in a photo app."
Screenshot from Ikawa Rito @XiaoyeZzz TikTok
Japanese makeup artist Maiko Ichikura introduces the essentials of "pure lust" makeup: purple base to neutralize Asian yellow skin, and foundation to choose two shades brighter than usual to emphasize whiteness and transparency. Pink blush is applied to the tip of the nose and large particles of glitter eyeshadow are embellished around the eyes to create an innocent feeling that you have just cried. The eyebrow shape should also be transformed into a gentler arch instead of the flat eyebrows, which are more mainstream in Japan.
Shibuya 109 Department Store (Shibuya 109) is famous for its affordable fashion for girls, and is the representative of Shibuya fashion. The entertainment company behind it did a survey of young Japanese women aged 15-24 at the end of last year, and Pure Desire became the top of the "Trend Awards 2022" list of Chinese and American cosmetics and skin care rankings.
In the past, Japanese and Korean makeup styles were the object of imitation by domestic Internet celebrities and beauty bloggers. But since two years ago, the popular makeup style in China has been more and more discussed in Japan.
Image source: @Hanzo Forest Weibo
According to the Japanese beauty portal that founded the COSME Awards, one of the reasons why "pure desire" is so popular in Japan is that it is better to operate than "Chinese makeup".
"Chinese makeup" is a Chinese-style makeup that became popular in Japan in 2020, and its biggest feature is the emphasis on eye makeup and big red lips. The Japanese named this type of makeup Chiborg, which consists of China and Cyborg (cyborg), which means that this type of makeup is as delicate and gorgeous as an AI virtual human.
"Chinese Makeup" has been selected as a fashion trend for Japanese girls' high school students in the second half of 2019 and a trend forecast for 2020. Japanese fashion magazine Seventeen also produced a special issue to explain how to draw Chinese makeup. In that year, Chinese makeup replaced Korean makeup as one of the most popular makeup looks in Japan.
I have to say that we Chinese understand the philosophy of word making. In addition to the "pure lust style" that became popular in China in 2020, which is both innocent and mature and charming, the "boiled water" makeup that was brought by Ju Jingyi last year and emphasizes freshness and transparency and a slightly foggy sense has also become a topic in the Japanese makeup industry this year.
Blush wildly
European and American hot girls are also pure desire?
Not only in Japan, this kind of "pure desire" that can be obtained by sweet girls and hot girls is also popular in Europe and the United States.
On TikTok, the hashtag "Douyin Makeup" is mostly makeup instruction by young girls with Asian faces.
Long, curly fairy eyelashes, rounded and bright eyes (usually wearing beautiful pupils), plump silkworms, bright eye shadow, and white and red skin everywhere. The "Douyin makeup" video has now been viewed more than 700 million times, and it is no exaggeration to say that it is China's strongest cultural output in recent years.
In 2022, this kind of makeup trend, which has become popular on domestic social platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu, has become popular on TikTok. Gradually, with the "pure desire" and "boiled water" makeup of some celebrities in China, Japan and South Korea attending the event, more and more people paid attention. Overseas Chinese and beauty bloggers of other ethnicities have also begun to create instructional videos of these makeup styles, adapting them to their own skin color and personal characteristics.
Any kind of emerging fashion makeup is an invisible injury to the handicapped party. But it doesn't matter, beauty bloggers will tell you that the essence of pure lust is blushing. Not only on the cheeks, but also on the nose, shoulders, collarbones, and even the knuckles. All skin exposed to the sun needs a touch of pink to create a sense of vulnerability that can be broken by blowing.
Although I don't know that European and American Internet celebrities have realized the core of pure desire, anyway, they are beating the blush wildly, they have learned to understand.
Back when "sunburn makeup" became a popular trend on social media, blush stretched from the cheeks to the temples, forehead, tip of the nose and chin, and even the eyes.
The blush itself has a youthful aesthetic attribute. TikTok beauty blogger Sharon Wu explains that it's not just used on cheekbones as before, but the blush will make people look younger. "Many people like to use blush to mimic sunburn in the summer, or the look of being frozen red in winter."
And this blush mania that is popular on TikTok is more of a collection of subcultures. Different shades of pink are often used in anime to express a very cartoony, cute feeling, like the heartbeat of the protagonist when he first meets love. And this makeup technique also gives people a sense of Y2K atmosphere, like taking people back to the early 21st century.
Some content creators believe that this style is popular because it is very different from the way most people in Western countries use blush, and people wonder what it is like to apply blush to their chin or eyes.
Chinese-style makeup is often out of the loop
Domestic cosmetics go to sea
At the same time, the road to the sea of domestic cosmetics brands has gradually begun.
Japanese beauty brands such as Shiseido, Kao, Kose, etc., as well as European and American brands represented by Estée Lauder and L'Oréal, have jointly built the foundation of the Japanese beauty market. However, under the influence of the epidemic, many European and American brands have not performed well in Japan. And the enthusiasm of young Japanese people for Chinese style makeup is also boosting the sales of Chinese cosmetics brands in Japan, and Japan has become one of the top places for Chinese beauty to go overseas.
Brands such as Yiye, Hanashiko, and ZEESEA are the first domestic makeup brands to go overseas to Japan and taste the sweetness. At the same time, in addition to mainland brands, Taiwanese beauty is also very popular in Japan. On the cross-border e-commerce platform "Pinkoi", the best-selling is the Taiwanese cosmetics brand "heme".
For many years, Japan had the world's second-largest cosmetics market after the United States, and in 2019, China surpassed Japan. With the surge in sales, domestic cosmetics are becoming more and more creative.
According to the "Vientiane Tide - 2022 Giant Engine Beauty White Paper" released by the Big Math E-commerce Research Institute and Euromonitor Information Consulting, in 2021, China, the United States and Japan were the top three beauty single markets in the world, and the three markets together accounted for more than 45% of the global beauty market.
Nevertheless, domestic cosmetics brands still have great potential for development. In 2021, the per capita beauty consumption in the US market was 1050.2 yuan, the Japanese market was 819.2 yuan, and China's current per capita beauty expenditure was only 267.1 yuan.
The Economist article argues that older Japanese people, for various reasons, have mostly resisted Chinese cosmetics, but this is not the case with young Japanese. Sugai Fumihito, a teacher at the School of Tokyo at Beijing Language and Culture University, said many young people in Japan started learning Mandarin because they were interested in Chinese cosmetics.
Japanese high-end beauty magazine "BITEKI" of beauty
At present, there are about 10 million users aged 15-27 in Japan, and it is also the core user of Chinese beauty brands going overseas. Many young Japanese girls have been exposed to makeup since junior high school, but the level of consumption is not high. Domestic beauty is mostly priced at 1500-2000 yen (78-105 yuan) in Japan, which is a little more expensive than in Japan, but also has some competitiveness in Japan.
There are also beauty bloggers who recommend Chinese beauty products on Japanese social networking sites, listing "Chinese cosmetics lists that make Japanese girls excited" one by one.
Nowadays, in addition to Hua Xizi, Mao Geping, Caitang, etc. with obvious Chinese style, there are also cute girly brands represented by Hua Zhi and GIRLCULT, as well as borderless 3CE, Coraki and so on.
No matter how fine beauty bloggers distinguish between the popular makeup styles in China, Japan and South Korea, many cultural scholars agree that the youth cultures of China, Japan and South Korea are becoming more and more similar.
Resources:
The Economist: Japanese youngsters want to look like Chinese starlet
NIKKEI Asia: Chinese-style makeup catches eye of young Japanese women
Teen Vogue: The TikTok-viral heavy blush trend is everywhere now
Written by: Citrus
The source of the picture is the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author