Vietnam’s cosmetic retail market rakes in US $1.78 billion per year and is expected to hit US $2.35 billion by the end of 2018. That’s one of the fastest compound annual growth rates on the planet. Currently, 90% of Vietnam’s cosmetic market share is dominated by multinationals including companies from South Korea, Europe, Japan, Thailand, and the US, although a number of natural beauty brands from Vietnam are slowly beginning to make their mark on the industry.
The growth of natural beauty brands from Vietnam hasn’t been smooth. The deputy chair of the Vietnam Essential Oils, Aromatherapy, and Cosmetics Association recently complained that consumers still see local brands as lower quality, with worse branding and packaging than international rivals. That’s despite the fact that the quality of domestic products are in the same class as imported goods.
Added to that in 2016, news emerged of high levels of toxic chemicals in made-in-Vietnam personal care products. However, that scandal’s disruption of the local cosmetics market caused a consumer shift towards the use of 100% organic products which a select number of brands in Vietnam are capitalizing on. With that in mind, here are seven of Vietcetera’s favorite natural beauty brands from Vietnam.
1. Nau Nau
This 4-year-old beauty brand was founded by perfume expert Huynh Hai Yen. Nau Nau draws inspiration from the “scents of life,” offering a wide range of beauty and skincare products made from natural ingredients like olive oil, beeswax, peanut butter, and flowers like Turkish rose, lily of the valley, and lavender of Provence. Among the brand’s signature products are their Zodiac perfumes—each representing one of the 12 astrological signs—essential oils and a seasonal collection of hydrating lip balms. Apart from formulated products, Nau Nau has also opened a DIY Studio where customers can create their own skincare and perfume formulations.
2. Skinna
In 2007, Christine Ho’s grandmother introduced her to some secret beauty tips she’d gathered from Hue’s royal lineage that use natural ingredients like eggs, and curcuma as a mask to exfoliate the skin. Her resulting healthy, glowing skin so impressed Christine that she decided to further her studies with a focus on cosmetology and organic skincare formulation. Six years later, Christine Ho and her husband returned to Vietnam to launch their brainchild, Skinna, concentrating on skincare products made with 70 – 95% organic ingredients.
The brand now has a long list of qualified products for different skin conditions which includes cleansing, serum, body creams, lip care, and makeup. To convey the brand’s story and focus on quality and care, Skinna has a well-established series of blog posts about health, beauty, and the importance of natural ingredients in cosmetics.
3. Herpas
Herpas‘s owner, Ha Truc Le once shared with us that the brand’s mission is to encourage Vietnamese people to use Vietnamese products. In order to break the mold of conventional beauty merchandise, Truc spent three years studying the healing properties of plant-based ingredients in skincare which later became the concept for her innovative product lines. For example, Herpas use olive oil in their Facial Oil which is an antioxidant helping to reduce ageing and stress. For their Skin Recovery Cream, Herpas use eleven kinds of herbs, Vitamin C from blueberries and different essential oils, which help to hydrate the skin and reduce the effects of ageing.
With impressive formulas and Insta-worthy packaging, Herpas is a millennial brand worth watching.
4. A Banker’s Secret
Although Quynh, the founder of The Banker’s Secret, has a background in banking and finance (as you might have guessed from the name), her true passion lies in wellness and beauty. Initially, Quynh’s hobby was making scented soap as gifts for family and friends whose encouragement gave her the motivation to quit her day job and become a professional creator of fine soaps, eventually launching The Banker’s Secret in 2012. After five years, A Banker’s Secret has expanded into a wide range of product categories including pomade, cream oil, essential oil, and scrubs and masks specially crafted for both sensitive and oily skin.
All Banker’s Secret products are pH balanced, which reduces the risk of skin conditions like dermatitis, eczema, and rosacea. Take a peek at their standout items like their hand creams, rosehip seed oil, and ginger shine scrub.
5. The Herbal Cup
The Herbal Cup was founded in 2013 with the mission of bringing the best natural ingredients to their customers. Their vision was to create beauty and skincare products made from 100% locally-grown ingredients such as Gac fruit oil, tea tree leaves, centella, tomato, and sesame. This rapidly expanding natural beauty brand from Vietnam produce body lotions, scrubs, masks, cleansing gels, and lipsticks. If you’re feeling a bit stressed, check out their specialized signature products like the pine and orange oil wax, which they claim improves sleep.
An additional service offered by The Herbal Cup is a free skin care consultation to ensure you select the most effective products for your skin.
6. Green Garden
Green Garden, established in 2013, is a manufacturer of handmade soaps. They implement a special 100% cold process system hailing from Marseille, France. Green Garden produces gentle and creamy soap cubes with ingredients like olive oil, palm, and soda, all of which are rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and nutrients. Sourcing local ingredients like coffee, cocoa, turmeric, and matcha allow this brand to handcraft truly exclusive and natural products. The benefits of Green Garden soaps includes the reduction of itchiness, dryness, and skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, and acne. Other recommended items include the Ben Tre coconut oil, mascara, and lip balm.
7. Stone Hill
Stone Hill products are based on the properties of cocoa. That means they contain a high amount of antioxidants which help to hydrate, prevent the effects of free radicals, and slow the effects of aging. To guarantee they are using pure, authentic ingredients, Stone Hill cultivates cocoa on their own organic farm in Dong Nai Province.
Stone Hill cocoa beans are harvested and then undergo a manual fermentation process to create quality cocoa butter before it’s mixed with additional ingredients to create various products like facial scrubs, moisturizers, body butter, and their trademark soap. The benefits gained from each type of soap depend on the particular ingredients used in each unique recipe. If you want to exfoliate the skin, opt for the vash soap, made with coffee and chamomile. If you want to reduce acne, we recommend trying the meadow soap with green tea, aloe vera, and peppermint.
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