Clinique targets Asian consumers with enhanced skincare line

The new Turnaround Concentrate Extra Radiance Renewer is hailed as “the next generation of exfoliation technology”

ASIA PACIFIC. Clinique has unveiled a new and improved version of its bestselling Turnaround Concentrate Visible Skin Renewer, hailing it as “the next generation of exfoliation technology”.

Developed exclusively for Asian skins, the new Turnaround Concentrate Extra Radiance Renewer has been upgraded with an advanced formula that claims to provide more effective and visible results in a faster period of time. Skin is also more luminous and radiant, according to Clinique.

The latest iteration of the Turnaround Concentrate was revealed last month in a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, where members of the press – including The Moodie Report – from across Asia Pacific gathered to learn about the new product.

Like its predecessor, the new product further underlines the value of exfoliation and its connection to healthy cell renewal. Salicylic acid remains the serum’s signature ingredient, and the same velvety texture is retained based on consumer demand.

Asian skin is unique, explained Clinique Vice President of Global Treatment Product Development Debbie D’Aquino. While Asian skin is less susceptible to lines and wrinkles and has a higher resistance to daily UV exposure, it is more prone to damage, stress and dullness.

Citing a multi-country brand equity study conducted by Clinique, D’Aquino revealed that dullness ranks third in skin concerns among Chinese and Korean women, and fourth among the Japanese. “Dullness is a universal concern, and the key to radiant skin is exfoliation,” she stressed.

As skin cells do not shed evenly or consistently, patches of dullness appear on skin. The Turnaround Concentrate Extra Radiance Renewer works to equalize this cell shedding process via a three-pronged approach.

The new Turnaround Concentrate product was unveiled last month in a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand

Clinique Vice President of Global Treatment Product Development Debbie D’Aquino (left) discusses the importance of exfoliation in a special presentation, following which she fields questions from press hailing from across Asia Pacific

The Bangkok event was attended by key representatives from Clinique and brand owner Estée Lauder Companies: (Back row, L-R) Clinique Global Communications’ Ginger Tiong, Clinique Asia Pacific Vice President & General Manager Paul Slavin, Clinique Global Communications’ Wajma Basharyar; (Front row, L-R) Clinique General Manager Thailand Nunthawan Laosinchai, Clinique Global Communications Senior Vice President CeCe Coffin, Estée Lauder Companies Asia Pacific President Fabrice Weber, ELCA (Thailand) Ltd Managing Director Ampornpim Vajrabhaya, Estée Lauder Companies Asia Pacific Senior Vice President Mark Loomis, Clinique Vice President of Global Treatment Product Development Debbie D’Aquino, and Clinique Senior Public Communications Manager Thailand Nattada Arwatchanajitt

Addressing the three tiers of epidermal cell activity

Turnaround Concentrate Extra Radiance Renewer – pictured in our Moodie Magnifier below – enhances the skin’s natural maturation process by integrating three key stages in skin cell renewal: cell division, maturation and desquamation (skin peeling). Factors such as pollution, lifestyle habits and chronological aging can interfere with these activities and their benefits to the skin, causing skin to look dull, uneven and coarse.

Clinique has identified the key ingredients to maintain these activities in balance.

Cell Division is the process by which a new layer of skin is made every 24 hours. Since exfoliation sloughs off dead cells on the surface of the skin, cell division is needed to replace those cells.

For this stage, energy enhancers such as Saccharomyces Lysate Extract help encourage natural cell division by providing cells with the energy needed for this process.

In the Maturation stage, skin cells become more specialized, allowing them to better perform their biological functions to maintain healthy, radiant skin.

New to the formula, Padina Pavonica – an ingredient derived from Mediterranean brown algae – activates the skin enzyme Transglutaminase, regulating cellular maturation and strengthening the skin’s epidermal layer.

At the same time, Salvia Sclarea (Clary) Extract Ferment aids in regulating and normalizing the differentiation process by enhancing the maturation of the epidermal cells.

Desquamation is the shedding of the top layer of dead skin cells which allows new, healthy cells to appear.

Lactobionic Acid, also new to the formula, is a natural ingredient that helps normalize exfoliation without irritation. This gentle hydroxy acid is said to bind water to the skin for a softer feel.

Chestnut Extract signals a “˜false alarm’ in the skin that encourages cell renewal, loosening dead surface skin cells without stressing the skin.

Salicylic Acid – a key ingredient in the Turnaround franchise – helps release the bonds that hold surface skin cells together. Encapsulated in a liposome, it is attracted to the skin’s driest patches so skin smoothing benefits occur where it is needed most.

Acetyl Glucosamine regulates cell turnover and eliminates dead surface skin cells to give skin a clear, radiant appearance.

Additionally, a targeted cocktail of antioxidants and moisture-binding ingredients helps to protect skin from free radical damage and maintain the surface barrier without being disrupted.

Clinical results have shown that the Turnaround Concentrate Extra Radiance Renewer delivers results twice as fast as the previous Turnaround Concentrate formula. Improvements in skin tone and smoothness were seen in four weeks instead of eight, and skin translucency is immediately improved by 74%, according to Clinique.

Clinique suggests layering the serum onto the skin twice daily after the appropriate 3-Step Clarifying Lotion, followed by a moisturizer with SPF or a sun protector such as City Block. It is said to be fragrance- and oil-free, as well as non-acnegenic.

Success of the Turnaround Concentrate in Asia

“It is the second most loyalty-building product in our portfolio – consumers who buy into the Turnaround Concentrate buy it again and again and again,” says Clinique Asia Pacific Vice President and General Manager Paul Slavin

Asia Pacific accounts for 52% of global sales of the Visible Skin Renewer, underlining the importance of the Turnaround franchise for the brand in the region, Clinique Asia Pacific Vice President and General Manager Paul Slavin told The Moodie Report. Out of Clinique’s 13 domestic markets in Asia Pacific, Japan is the largest, followed by Korea and then Hong Kong and China.

“It is the second most loyalty-building product in our portfolio [the first being the Moisture Surge] – consumers who buy into the Turnaround Concentrate buy it again and again and again,” Slavin said. “So for us it is vitally important to get this one right.”

In the past few years Asia has grown into a crucial launch pad for Clinique, with a number of products being developed specially for Asia and subsequently exported to the rest of the world. One of these is Even Better Clinical, which started off as an exclusive launch to Asian consumers. It has since been re-tweaked and rolled out in Europe and America, and it will soon be upgraded and relaunched in Asia next year, Slavin said.

Several products have also been developed and/or updated based on critical feedback from Clinique’s Asian customer base. In fact, the Turnaround Concentrate, originally a cream, was reformulated into a serum due to demand from Asian users of the range.

The region is home to four of Clinique’s research & development centres, which focus on Asian skin. The brand has also opened five travel retail counters in China as part of its strategy to enhance brand equity through the channel.

Clinique sees travel retail as a key platform for introducing new products and improve consumer perception of the brand. For example, in the first five months following the exclusive travel retail launch of Clinique’s Age Defense BB Cream – developed in response to the BB cream phenomenon in Korea and later throughout the rest of Asia – consumers have been reportedly asking for the product in the brand’s downtown department store counters. The demand spurred Clinique to roll it out in the domestic Asian markets in May 2011, and since then the product has become one of the brand’s top ten bestselling skus, according to Slavin.

The Turnaround Concentrate Extra Radiance Renewer will launch in Asia – excluding China – in October 2011 and the EMA and Americas regions in November.