Making beauty their business

Peng's success story has close parallels in that of Robin Niu, a celebrated skincare expert from Taiwan.

Unlike Peng who started from the Internet, Niu gained popularity in a different way. Early in 1999, he appeared in Taiwan cable channel FTV's live show, teaching the audience to make a facial mask from green gram, egg white and yogurt. It received good results and the channel's hotlines were constantly ringing all the time.

Niu soon started to write columns for fashion magazines and also published books on the subject. In 2002, he began to develop his own range of products.

Mainland fans began to notice him because popular entertainer Barbie Hsu published a beauty book The King of Beauty (Meirong Dawang) in 2004, recommending Niu's products.

In 2009, Niu's friends in Beijing invited him to create a face cream specially suited for Beijing's dry weather. Niu knew it was time to open his own company in Taipei and Shanghai.

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Last year, he launched two labels: Naruko d'lux, which has products targeting the mainland consumers, and Naruko, which is available only in Taiwan. According to him, the weather in both markets is different and hence consumers should check the region before using the product. In October, he launched another brand called "ampm", which Niu described is more "medical".

He earned 80 million yuan from his three labels during the second half of 2010.

Both Niu and Peng are worried about one common thing. When their own labels were launched, most of the consumers were their fans.

Peng feels that most of these consumers are young, and do not have much purchasing capability, while his products are mainly priced from 49 to 149 yuan.

"My original plan was to create a high-end brand. Soon, I will launch another range for higher-end consumers," he says.

Peng and Niu are not the only people making a noise in the cosmetics market.

Markup artist Kevin Chou, who rose to fame through Taiwan's live show Prep+Prime on Woman, is frequently invited for many mainland fashion events. Perry Liu, who is Barbie Hsu and Dee Hsu's stylist, has opened his own PS Styling House in Sanlitun, Beijing.

"The Chinese market has its own special environment, wherein ordinary people can become experts, and start their own cosmetic labels. But there is always a question for them: to earn money, or to love this industry whole-heartedly?" Niu says.