Signals & Stats : Daily Signals

The spirit of tea

By Victoria Buchanan 02 : 03 : 2016 LVMH : Cha Ling : Cosmetics

China – Drawing on the healing properties of Pu’er tea, LVMH has launched a beauty brand inspired by Chinese herbal medicine.

Cha Ling focuses on the purifying benefits of antioxidants in tea
The range has been infused with top-grade Pu’er tea grown in the forests of Xishuangbanna

Cha Ling beauty developed by Laurent Boillot, China

Developed by Laurent Boillot, president and CEO of Guerlain, Cha Ling also has a strong environmental focus and Boillot is working with farmers who are developing an intricate system of growing, harvesting and fermenting without damaging the rare tea leaves.

‘Everything we do is not only about making the business, but also to give back to nature,’ says Boillot. The brand is working on a reforestation plan, helping to plant tea trees and other plants to ‘copy the original eco-system, which has now been devastated’. While all of the ingredients will be sourced in China, production will take place in the Guerlain lab in France.

In addition to harvesting the Pu’er tea leaves for cosmetics, the brand is also sponsoring a tea garden and will launch its own meditation programme, as well as a line of lifestyle products such as Yixing clay teapots, ceramics and candles.

The Big Picture

Frédéric Walter, creative marketing director of Givaudan, recently told LS:N Global that understanding and adopting the symbolism and ingredients of traditional medical and beauty systems will be key to cracking markets such as China and India. For more on this idea of mirror strategies, see our Ritualistic Beauty microtrend.