Fairer, but not ghostly white

It’s not mere lip service when Pond’s claims its reformulated White Beauty line aimed for the greater mass market is “almost as good” as its top-selling and pricier line called Flawless White.

Pond’s, according to brand manager Jacqe Yuengtian, dominates the Philippine market in the skin-whitening category that it naturally wants to maintain its stronghold on the segment, thus the relaunch of the White Beauty range.

Whitening actives

White Beauty is reformulated with “200 percent more whitening actives,” says Yuengtian, making it nearly at par with the “mass-tige” line, Flawless White. It’s designed and tested on Asian women.

Whitening is a huge market in Asia, such that Pond’s continues to pour money into research and development in this category. Pond’s spends 250 million euros a year on skin care R&D, especially given the market’s changing needs. Now, women want more natural lightness to their complexion. They want to be fairer, but not ghostly white.

White Beauty seems designed to reel in a younger market or first-time skin-whitening users, with product subcategories of specialized skin-whitening needs.

There’s Pinkish White, a name that sounds rather facetious, but reflects exactly what the market wants. It claims to deliver a natural pinkish glow, with a powdery matte finish from its whitening cream. Pond’s prides itself for creating products that not only work, but also give users a pleasant sensory experience.

Specialized range

There’s also White Beauty Detox, aimed for those with dark pigmentations, to lessen blemishes and lighten acne scars. The ultra-light formula of White Beauty Naturals, meanwhile, is designed for humid weather. It has camellia extract, a natural antioxidant.

At the recent launch, Pond’s also unveiled Clear Balance, a specialized range of facial washes addressing specific needs. The common denominator: clay. Clay is scientifically proven to rid skin of impurities and excess oil.

For pimple- and acne-prone skin, there’s Clear Solutions Anti-Bacterial Scrub with Herbal Clay, which contains extract from the neem plant. Blackheads-prone skin has the Clear Solutions No Blackheads Deep Cleansing facial scrub with Volcanic Clay to draw out deep-seated dirt that clogs pores, producing blackheads.

If having tighter pores is the goal, there’s Clear Balance Smooth Pores with Glacial Clay facial foam, which gives a skin-tightening and cooling effect, minimizing the appearance of pores. The Clear Balance Skin Mattifying facial foam with Mineral Clay aims to address the bane of a lot of women:  shiny face. The clay in this formula absorbs excess sebum without overdrying the skin.

The new developments in the Pond’s line are just a preview of the big changes in the coming months, says Yuengtian. In short, the best is yet to come.