大S Says, “Buy This…!” – Cosmetic Views from a Chinese University Student

The following article was written by enoVate team member and Shanghai Ocean University student, Sunnie Qin.

People are always curious about the lives of celebrities. How do they live? What do they eat? What products are they using? Because of their reputation, people are always watching their every move. Over the past few years, Chinese celebrity paparazzi shots have been popular. People learn to dress from the stars. Especially for the university students, they try to spend the least money but want to wear the most fashionable clothes. And they are especially concerned about celebrity’s favorite things and what they recommend.

The 大S Phenomenon

Gradually, for many students, the original name of cosmetics are slowly replaced by the “大S Recommended XX product”, or “Teacher Kevin (Kevin老师 －Taiwanese Make-up Artist) recommended XX product” and so on. Many University students begin to trust these celebrities and purchase products that they advertise. Stars like 大S, or Teacher Kevin became the best advertisements for these products, while the students of these networks become the largest shopping group for these recommended products. But, why are celebrity recommended cosmetics so popular right now? Do college students really need these products? Let’s examine.

The Pursuit of Fashion

Much of this marketing phenomenon can be traced to the Taiwanese celebrity, 大S. To put it plainly, she published a beauty book, which students read as THE Chinese cosmetics handbook. In 大S’s childhood, she tried all kinds of cosmetics. This gives her credibility as someone who has been there and done that. This book has a lot of popular products, such as The Body Shop’s Tea Essence to Kiehl’s Cucumber Water Lotion, etc.,

Before reading this book, most girls use the ordinary brands such as Maybelline and L’Oreal . After reading, they move on to more fashionable or trendy products, such as Benefit, M.A.C, Shisedo and so on. And these celebrity recommended products are often trendy and stylish. As long as the students have the ability, they are willing to try all.

Another example showing this strong celebrity influence is from the Taiwan TV Show, “女人我最大”. A few months after the “Magic Stick” appeared in “女人我最大” (where the hair can be fixed but the hair style won’t be changed) many university girls frenzied to purchase this item. The passion and the pursuit of fashion is reflected from buying these “大S” or “女人我最大”  brands. A company with a 大S-like testimonial is similar to the Oprah product bump in the United States.

Cost Effectiveness

It is undeniable that the recommended products by the star have higher quality and price points. And the recommended products are the things always ignored in our daily life. But if the price is reasonable, and the effectiveness is shown to be very high, it has a better chance to become popular for university students. Many university students have no income, and their main source of income comes from their parents, thus it’s particularly important for them to budget their money as much as possible and purchase a product with high quality.

Making The Cosmetics Connection

It is understood that many college students do not know what type of products are suitable for their skin type; do I have dry, mixed, neutral, or oily skin? Many students blindly follow the trend of purchasing”大 S recommended” product. In fact, students’ demands for cosmetics are relatively simple, they don’t have anti-wrinkle and other big skin problems. As long as brands provide better make-up guidance and offer a reasonable price for students, we are willing to buy in the stores and at the sales counters. After all, shopping for cosmetics on Taobao can be quite a risk.