L’Oréal Acquires Major Chinese Beauty Brand

In the early evenings after work, the locker room of Beijing’s Powerhouse gym is full of women of varying ages chatting, showering, and lathering on facial masks. One of my gym buddies, Athena Yang, an administrative assistant for Air China, swears by various creams and gels sold by Magic Holdings, China’s largest facial-mask company. Her favorite is the Magic Snail Cream Firming Hydrating Mask, which she says helps restore moisture during Beijing’s long dry winters. Sometimes she uses the Berry Brightening Facial Mask, which is supposed to lighten her skin tone to achieve the porcelain-doll complexion favored in parts of northern China.

Athena’s fondness for skin-care products is hardly unique. Although she’s never revealed her brand loyalties, the 32-year-old megastar actress Fan Bingbing has said in multiple interviews that she applies two facial masks a day—that’s 700 a year—and often comes to the set of her movies or modeling shoots wearing a facial mask to maintain her snowy, unlined complexion.