Tag Archives: organic beauty

Retail notes from Tokyo: [Store Profile] Sincere Garden in Omotesando

I arrived in Tokyo four days ago. It is my first visit since 2007 and I am happy to state that I love the city as much as ever! Time is flying and I have already crossed off quite a few items on my rather long list of places and stores that I wanted to see. However, there is still so much to do! Tomorrow CosmeTokyo trade show begins and at the end of next week I am going to Gifu province for a couple of days and a few days after that I’m off to Taipei; so every day counts!

Today I spent the day in Omotesando neighbourhood near Harajuku; one of the  centers of Tokyo’s famously shrill teen culture. Besides visiting the Ota Memorial Museum of Art (wonderful ukiyo-e [traditional Japanese wood block prints], a visit is highly recommended!), I wanted to check out Sincere Garden, a beauty salon which, according to Google/Google Translate, is one of the few Tokyo stockists of Japanese organic brand Quon.

Sincere Garden (5)

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Natural Cosmetics Conference 2014: [Show Report] Day Two

The second part of my article about the Natural Cosmetics Conference here in Berlin: again, be warned: this is a long text! Continue reading

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Filed under Berlin, cosmeticsbusiness.com, Industry News, Retail, Show Reports, Trends

Natural Cosmetics Conference 2014: [Show Report] Day One

Last week the annual Naturkosmetik Branchenkongress (Natural Cosmetics Conference) took place in Berlin: two days of stimulating presentations, interesting people and so many new ideas, inspirations and things to research that my head is still spinning.

This year the conference was all about trends and changes: how the organic beauty market is changing and how it might look in five or ten years. Topics included customer journeys, the way that consumers are changing the retail market (social media, peer reviews, shit-storms…) and how they are starting to influence what brands are doing, the role of e-commerce and how this is changing C&T distribution and how authenticity and transparency are amongst the most important factors in successful brand management.

I will be splitting this article into two separate posts – Day One and Day Two – which should improve the readability. It is still a long text though. You have been warned! Continue reading

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Filed under Berlin, cosmeticsbusiness.com, Industry News, Retail, Show Reports, Trade Shows

Retail notes from Zurich: Changemaker – Holy Cow!

Last week I spent another few days in Zurich. Whilst walking around the city center I came across two very cool places. Both locations caught my attention not just because of their attractive merchandise, but also because of the unusual retail concept. Continue reading

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Organic beauty in Europe 2014: ECM article

A few months ago I researched and wrote a feature on the organic beauty market in Europe. Great fun it was; unfortunately I had to stick to my 3000 word limit  – I could have written twice as much! – but even so I think the article turned out well. Here it is. As always, please respect the copyright (ECM Magazine, April 2014, HPCi Media)!

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Beauty International 2014: [Show Report]

Last week I was in Düsseldorf to visit Beauty International, Germany’s most important trade show for salon C&T. Beauty International 2014 was as busy – and as interesting – as last year’s show. Besides the usual big German exhibitors like Babor, Dr. Grandel or Alessandro International I noticed a number of organic beauty brands, including Annané and Aiomyth from Switzerland, Amala from Germany and Zinobel Organic Boost from Denmark.

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Vivaness 2014: [Show Report]

Today is the last day of Vivaness, the biggest European trade show for organic cosmetics. I was in Nuremberg this week to attend the show and had a good time – interesting people, good conversations and some great new niche brands. Vivaness is always inspiring.

Amongst the big German exhibitors were Logocos with Logona, Sante and Heliotrop, Dr. Hauschka and Kneipp, Lavera, Santaverde and Primavera as well as smaller German labels like Benecos, Nonique, Demeter-certified Martina Gebhardt, Speick and Luvos.There were also some interesting international companies – my favourites here include Natura Siberica from Russia and Mádara from Latvia, both of which attended the show last year.

However much I love the products of some of these companies, the best thing about trade shows is the chance to discover new and exciting international brands. Here are some of the companies that I particularly liked – most of them were first-time exhibitors at Vivaness and almost all of them are not (yet) available in Germany. Continue reading

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Mintel article: Wheadon

And here is the article on perfumery store Wheadon which I wrote for Mintel’s BPC back in January – enjoy but please respect the copyright!! Wheadon article

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Filed under Berlin, Mintel, Retail, Store Profiles

Mintel article: Saint Charles Pharmacy Berlin

Here’s the article I wrote about Saint Charles Apotheke for Mintel’s BPC website: Saint Charles Berlin. Enjoy! My April feature will be on niche perfumery store Belle Rebelle in Charlottenburg.

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Store Profile: Wheadon – Organic C&T in Berlin

I recently visited Wheadon, a perfumery in Steinstrasse 17 in Mitte, just off Rosenthaler Strasse. Owner Nicole Wheadon opened her store last June. Continue reading

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