# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Dove Real Beauty Sketches | You’re more beautiful than you think (6mins)self 

# data[].attributes.headline
self in my impression ，other people impression

# data[].attributes.subject
self in my impression ，other people impression

# data[].attributes.body
In recent years, whether it is film and television works or online advertisements, stars have brought

Goods, and even various beauty recommendations are "teaching you how to be beautiful and thin", which are relatively simple presentations of beauty. The four words "appearance anxiety" appear more and more frequently, but we really only have one kind of beauty  ?

# data[].attributes.body
Quick abstract little image made about looks anxiety

# data[].attributes.body
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/bcu/detail.action?docID=4536969&pq-origsite=primo

# data[].attributes.body
The inspiration comes from a Dove advertisement, a group of interviews describing your own appearance, and how you are seen by others. Don’t always feel that you are ugly without confidence. You should see your own beauty, and don’t think that your flaws are not beauty.

# data[].attributes.headline
Object：Self-Appearance Anxiety, Reconciliation with Oneself, Accepting All About Oneself

# data[].attributes.subject
Object：Self-Appearance Anxiety, Reconciliation with Oneself, Accepting All About Oneself

# data[].attributes.body
Disney Releases First Plus-Size Female Lead Short, 'Reflect'

The story of a plus size ballerina named Bianca who doesn't like how she looks in the mirror but enjoys dancing at the same time, she's trapped in fear and doubt, but she eventually learns to love herself through her inner strength  , to overcome everything.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Though the film was first released on the platform in September as a part of the studio's Short Circuit Experimental Films series, many social media users are now celebrating "Reflect" as a win for representation among young girls.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Disney's short film 'Reflect' features 1st plus-size main character

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Though the film was first released on the platform in September as a part of the studio's Short Circuit Experimental Films series, many social media users are now celebrating "Reflect" as a win for representation among young girls.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hillary Bradfield - CGMaster Academy Instructor

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
CGMaster Academy Online Course Instructor Hillary Bradfield - Hillary is a story artist who has worked for studios including Titmouse, DreamWorks and Nickelodeon. She worked on shows such 9th Grade Ninja, Penn Zero

# data[].attributes.body
Japanese illustrator and graphic designer. His works often target female characters and pets, with strong pink tones and unique textures.

Showing girlish beauty.

The female characters in his works have only lively dynamics, no facial features, and no standardized aesthetic body. "Without the burden of appearance, you are closer to freedom." The design concept he advocates breaks through the increasing appearance anxiety of modern and contemporary women.  with positive and lively beauty

sense.

# data[].attributes.body
The artist's intention in this group of works is to use appearance as a reference

sub, allowing viewers to rethink concepts related to identity, through analysis

Buyukunal’s work, which helps us refine our sense of identity.

In her words, she is "driven by body-related routines and social norms that have prevailed in past and present history."

Buyukunal's works such as Terrifying Beauty reflect

This effort, by borrowing from the year-over-year rising trend of plastic surgery, makes itself more beautiful relative to the traditional function of jewelry as decoration, thereby questioning certain notions of beauty and jewelry.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Burcu Büyükünal born in 1980, Ankara, Turkey is graduated from Industrial Design Department of Istanbul Technical University in 2003. She is now a part-time instructor and PhD candidate in Art History at Istanbul Technical University and runs her own studio which promotes a new concept of jewelry in Turkey.

Her work is inspired by the contemporary beauty's perception. She wants to question the conventions and societal norms relating to body. "Terrifying Beauty" and "Osternsible" are two projects challenging our personal relationships with adornment and fashion As the designer explains it : "I want my work to surprise and challenge people to inspire questioning. Suggesting something extreme, unusual, and irrational is my strategy".

"Terrifying Beauty" is a jewelry collection inspired by plastic surgery. Cosmetic surgery is now part of the mass culture and Burcu Büyükünal imagines four facial pieces to focus on this trend : "I create four pieces distorting the face in an unlikely way, contrasting the purpose of traditional jewelry".

Burcu Büyükünal also created "Osternsible" a serie of clothes. This project is for her "a conceptual work that focuses on fashion trends and perceptions of beauty. It explores body and dress as a medium to construct one's identity. It is a critical approach to understand trends in fashion and beauty and their connection to self-construction."

Both projects are research on our beauties conventions; they suggest an alternative and provocative way somehow very fetishist.

Sophie Hérolt Petitpas

www.burcubuyukunal.com

Sophie Hérolt Petitpas is a french journalist free lance found of design and lifestyle. Sophie is also passionate by astrology and its mythical and symbolic aspects. Curious and sensitive, she loved linking and describing her trend hunting with the eyes of mythology in her blog.

Sophie 's blog

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Burcu Büyükünal born in 1980, Ankara, Turkey is graduated from Industrial Design Department of Istanbul Technical University in 2003. She is now a part-time instructor and PhD candidate in Art History at Istanbul Technical University and runs her own studio which promotes a new concept

# data[].attributes.body
It tells the story of the protagonist, little princess Mi, who struggles with anxiety about her appearance.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Josh Lilley is proud to present That's not Mi!, the first exhibition at the gallery for Scottish artist Rachel Maclean (b. 1987, Edinburgh).

Over the past decade, Maclean's celebrated works of incisive commentary on modern life cloaked in costume and graphic skins have travelled the world, from the National Gallery and Tate in London to the Venice Biennale, where she was the 2017 representative for Scotland.

That's not Mi! is an unprecedented intervention of the 40-46 Riding House Street galleries and the climax of the Mimi project; upside mimi ᴉɯᴉɯ uʍop - the artists first fully animated film, debuted at Jupiter Artland in May 2021 before being recently screened at the London Film Festival in October 2021.

upside mimi ᴉɯᴉɯ uʍop is a fairy tale: it has an apple-cheeked child, and a wizened crone. It has a test, challenging the protagonist as it escalates, and it has a dramatic conclusion. Mimi, a babe, is lost in the woods. "Maybe you can save Mi," she says to the hand-mirror lying on the grass. But the mirror, like every fairy-tale antagonist, does more harm than good. It isolates her as it defines her, bullies her and tricks her, and most of all divides her in two.

Maclean mirrors and inverts throughout the exhibition, employing technology and fabrication to hit repeated notes of uneasy, uncanny perfection in a seamless, sometimes seemingly virtual space in which the viewer is implicated. Gravity pulls both ways, with each work partnered to an inverted double, perpetually upending to reveal new forms and faces- a neat shorthand for the mysterious lack of an anchoring horizon in digitally mediated life. Woven tapestries mix traditional blending of colours in an almost painterly fashion with disconcerting synthetic fibres, short-circuiting a traditional process by both modernising it and undermining it. Paintings and sculptures of the two Mimis seem flawless and endlessly repeatable, a levelling into homogeneity via digital painting and 3D printing that highlights the creepy effacement of individuality brought about by screens, our modern mirrors.

The paintings aren't, however, infinitely repeatable. There is a hand on top of the digitally printed brushstrokes, embellishing the mechanical, quietly insisting upon the individuality of highlights and the tenacity of imperfection, a new narcissism of small differences that represents freedom from the forces - social, pharmaceutical, technological - compelling women to be more critical of themselves.

Rachel Maclean has been the subject of recent solo exhibitions at venues including the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel; Kunsthalle Winterthur, Switzerland; The National Gallery and Tate Britain, London; and KWM Arts Centre, Beijing, among many others. Her work is held in numerous national and international public collections, including The British Council; Scottish National Galleries; The Arts Council Collection; Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery; The Government Art Collection; Tel Aviv Art Museum; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, and the Julia Stoschek Collection, Germany. Rachel Maclean represented Scotland at the 2017 Venice Biennale.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Josh Lilley is proud to present That's not Mi!, the first exhibition at the gallery for Scottish artist Rachel Maclean (b. 1987, Edinburgh). Over the past decade, Maclean's celebrated works of incisive commentary on modern life cloaked in costume and graphic skins have travelled the world, from the National Gallery and Tate in London to the Venice Biennale, where she was the 2017 representative for Scotland.

# data[].attributes.body
How does beauty become the source of modern people's loss of self-confidence?

Rodin once had a famous saying that everyone said badly: There is never a lack of beauty in life, but a lack of eyes to discover beauty.  However, in reality, rather than discovering beauty, we are better at discovering "unbeautiful" more often.

Including myself, how many people feel unconfident, lack confidence, or even low self-esteem because they think they are "not beautiful".  The definition of beauty is

Oval face, big eyes, high nose bridge,,,, and the work wants to convey

The most important thing is that aesthetics are not stereotyped, all we have is a different kind of beauty, big face, freckles, small belly, which become my characteristics, my logo, which makes me who I am.

# data[].attributes.body
ballet dancer girls

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The chunky limbs in Yeon Ji Kang's ballerina illustrations are delightful and feel a world apart from the ethereal and dainty dancers painted by Degas. Green ribbons wrap round the thick ankles of these blancmange-coloured characters but there's a delicacy and elegance to their actions creating a lovely juxtaposition.

The obvious and tangled markings give Yeon's figures movement adding to the theatrical tone of the series, as well as texture and warmth. Composition-wise Kang's put thought into the position and pose of her unique characters. While an interpretation of the genre, it's clear each gesticulation is informed by her ballerinas' real life counterparts.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Seoul-based illustrator Yeon Ji Kang's beautifully thick-limbed ballerinas

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The chunky limbs in Yeon Ji Kang's ballerina illustrations are delightful and feel a world apart from the ethereal and dainty dancers painted by Degas. Green ribbons wrap round the thick ankles of these blancmange-coloured characters but there's a delicacy and elegance to their actions creating a lovely juxtaposition.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Misty Lonely Shadow" Illustrated poster based on the 1967 "Giselle" ballet in the United States

# data[].attributes.subject
"Misty Lonely Shadow" Illustrated poster based on the 1967 "Giselle" ballet in the United States

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Meet Disney's FIRST PLUS-SIZE Lead Character in the Short Film 'REFLECT'

# data[].attributes.body
The purpose is to reconcile the anxiety about appearance and break the restrictions on traditional beauty

# data[].attributes.body
The video explains yourself in the eyes of others and in your eyes. The artist paints. When he sees the painting described in two texts, he did not expect that he would be so beautiful. He needs to reconcile himself and show his beauty. It is not the big eyes that are said in today's society.  Confidence is the prettiest beauty in the lip stereotype

# data[].attributes.headline
Dove（Show what is beauty in contemporary times）

# data[].attributes.subject
Dove（Show what is beauty in contemporary times）

# data[].attributes.body
The definition of beauty in the eyes of the public: This video shows the complete advertisement from the makeup to the post-shooting stage, and shows how women change their own beauty under the public's aesthetics.  The bridge of the nose.....The last poster released is no longer the one that shot women at the beginning

# data[].attributes.body
We spoke to Ash about living with vitiligo, wanting to change how he looks and why his wife was right all along

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Vitiligo & Mental Health with Ash Rathod Manup?

# data[].attributes.body
Men’s ‘appearance anxiety’ drives China’s booming beauty industry

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Entering his 30s, Andy is taking more care of his appearance. He has started investing in beauty products and spending time doing makeup before he leaves home - something he "absolutely hated" several years ago.

"I do care about what others say about my look and my body," said the single man who works as a public servant in the southwestern city of Chengdu in China.

Andy has changed hairdressers several times and often tries out different hairstyles. He is not alone; together his male colleagues discuss which facial masks work better. He also admits that the gym has become his new go-to place in his spare time while shopping for clothes has become a new hobby. His monthly spending on those products is, not surprisingly, increasing.

Credit: John Karlo Mendoza/Unsplash

Consuming power released as men's attitudes towards makeup changes

More men in China are becoming 'anxious' about their appearance which has brought about the so-called "beauty economy"

Indeed, there seem to be more men in China becoming 'anxious' about their appearance and willing to put their money where their face is. This has brought about the so-called "beauty economy" which is driven by, not women, but men.

The majority of men (60%) expressed positive attitudes towards makeup products and only 10% felt strongly against using them in 2018. Views are changing fast: three years before that, in 2015, less than a third (29%) of men approved of makeup and 31% disliked such products, according to a report by Qianzhan, one of China's leading consulting agencies.

Between the years 2016 and 2019, China's male beauty market was growing at a rate of 13.5%, twice as much as that of the rest of the world (5.8%), data from research provider Euromonitor International shows.

Idol culture drives higher beauty standards

Desire for public recognition is one of the motivations that drive Chinese men to beauty care

The desire for public recognition is one of the motivations that drive Chinese men to beauty care, said Tao Zhang, director at SCIBEA, a biotechnology company supplying non-surgical beauty products which is based in Chengdu. He has more than ten years of experience in the beauty industry which includes running a salon in the city.

Credit: Hai Phung/Unsplash

"The influence of Korean and Japanese pop culture has somehow contributed to the anxiety about looks among men in today's China," Zhang said, "the younger generation today are pursuing a higher beauty standard."

"Most of my male customers used to come only for basic services such as haircut or beard shaving, but these days I see more of them ask for skincare or even makeup."

Social media is 'selling anxiety' and targeting men

Those who suffer from 'appearance anxiety' are more likely to be single men in their 20s to 30s

"Those who suffer from 'appearance anxiety' are more likely to be single men in their 20s to 30s. There is a lack of confidence while they are pursuing a relationship, and peer pressure at work too."

Social media only intensifies such 'insecurities'. Business owners are using media to "sell the knowledge [of beauty care] and sell anxiety", said Zhang. "For example, there are more livestreams selling beauty products presented by good-looking men. This somehow reinforces viewers' anxiety about their looks, and therefore, talks them into this business."

Credit: Jordan Nix/Unsplash

Men make up more than two-thirds of makeup vloggers aged between 18 and 24 that are active on China's video-sharing platforms

Men make up more than two-thirds of the makeup vloggers aged between 18 and 24 that are active on China's most popular video-sharing platforms, including Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), Kuaishou and Bilibili, according to the KOL Makeup Short Video Marketing Report 2019 published by CAASData.

A total of 696 million RMB ($107.1 million) of makeup sales were made during a livestream hosted by Li Jiaqi, one of the most popular male makeup vloggers in China, during last year's Singles' Day, an annual shopping festival that takes place on 11 November.

Government support fuels the growth of beauty industry

The government aims to make Chengdu a global "Capital of Medical Beauty" by 2025

The growth of the "beauty economy" does not lack government support. In April 2018, the Chengdu Economic and Information Commission issued a supportive document ( Support Policies for Accelerating the Development of Medical Aesthetic Industry in Chengdu) covering innovation of enterprises, technology transfer and research and development of medical aesthetic products. This has made the city a vanguard in China to emphasise the development of medical aesthetics as a key industry, according to a report published by the Ministry of Economy and Industry.

The government also aims to make Chengdu a global "Capital of Medical Beauty" by 2025 with the goal of achieving a sales revenue of 100 billion RMB ($15.4 billion) and double that figure by 2030.

Behind the increasing interest in investing in beauty products is a growing number of men who are unhappy about their looks

While the expanding beauty market in China has changed the public's views on men wearing makeup and men are less likely to be viewed as 'feminised' if they do so, the industry does not offer a solution to the appearance anxiety in men.

The investments from the government and other institutions have also played a part in making beauty care no longer an 'exclusive' right for women. But, behind the increasing interest in investing in beauty products is a growing number of men who are unhappy about their looks.

If you enjoyed this article and want to contribute a piece to Dao, please get in touch with the team at [email protected]

WeChat is testing a "handy" new payment feature Weibo's active users reached a record high in Q2 2021

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Appearance Anxiety Drives China's Male Beauty Industry | Dao Insights

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Entering his 30s, Andy is taking more care of his appearance. He has started investing in beauty products and spending time doing makeup before he leaves home - something he "absolutely hated" several years ago.

# data[].attributes.headline
Social media is ‘selling anxiety’ and targeting men

# data[].attributes.subject
Social media is ‘selling anxiety’ and targeting men

# data[].attributes.body
“Those who suffer from ‘appearance anxiety’ are more likely to be single men in their 20s to 30s. There is a lack of confidence while they are pursuing a relationship, and peer pressure at work too.”

# data[].attributes.body
Social media has caused people to feel anxious about their appearance, and the media is used to sell beauty care knowledge and sell anxiety.  The live broadcast is to use the beauty and handsome guy effect to aggravate the audience's anxiety about appearance to a certain extent.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Aesthetics looks at the findings from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics report and asks what can be done to stop social media's influence on appearance anxiety
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics, an independent body that examines and reports on ethical issues in biology and medicine, has published a new report: Cosmetic procedures: ethical issues. ¹ The report makes a series of recommendations that aim to address areas of concern for aesthetic practice and the promotion of cosmetic procedures in the UK.

One of these recommendations is that social media companies should collaborate with each other to carry out independent research, to better understand how social media contributes to anxiety about one's appearance, and to 'act on the findings'.

Jeanette Edwards, professor of Social Anthropology from the University of Manchester, who chaired the Council's inquiry, says in the report, "There is a daily bombardment from advertising and through social media channels like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat that relentlessly promote unrealistic and often discriminatory messages on how people, especially girls and women, 'should' look." 1

While the Nuffield Council on Bioethics is still in talks with social media providers to see how they can help towards this issue, we ask: how much of an issue is this and what can the aesthetics specialty do to curb the problem?

The report

The task that the Nuffield Council on Bioethics set itself was to investigate the use and provision of invasive and non-reconstructive cosmetic procedures following the Keogh report. Through people spoken to by the council's Working Party and a review of literature, it found that there was an increasing availability of cosmetic procedures and that this could potentially pose social and communal harms. These harms included: encouraging a focus on appearance and adding to levels of appearance anxiety; shifting perceptions of what is 'normal' and reinforcing discriminatory attitudes; constructing ideals that can only be met through invasive means; and adding to the pressures on those who might like to, but cannot, meet these ideals.

Some of the council's subsequent recommendations included: a ban on offering 'walk-in' cosmetic procedures to under 18s, more data and improved testing for unproven products and procedures, and a more responsible approach from social and broadcast media platforms. 1

"There are some very good cosmetic clinics that stick within the advertising boundaries and guidelines and then there are others that will promote irresponsible offers on injectable treatments"

Aesthetic nurse prescriber Sharron Brown, who was on the Working Party panel for the committee, explains, "We looked at the ethics around cosmetic treatment, both surgical and non-surgical, and one area we looked at was the psychological impact social media has on people; the drivers that push these people down the route of appearance-related treatment."

The council spent more than a year putting together its recommendations, seeking advice and the opinions of a range of professionals. Brown adds, "We had so many people come and speak to us; women affected by the PIP implants, advertising regulators, industry professionals, people from social media companies - a wide range of groups."

Social media and appearance

Existing research has demonstrated a positive correlation between Facebook usage and body dissatisfaction. In a study by Fardouly et al. in 2015, 112 female participants aged between 17-25 years old were randomly assigned to spend 10 minutes browsing either their Facebook account, a magazine website, or an appearance-neutral control website. Afterwards, computer-based visual analogue scales (VAS) were used to measure their mood, body dissatisfaction, and appearance discrepancies, which were weight-related, as well as face, hair, and skin-related. It was found that participants who spent time on Facebook reported being in a more 'negative mood' than those who spent time on the magazine and control website. Furthermore, participants reported more facial, hair, and skin-related discrepancies after Facebook exposure than exposure to the other websites. ²

"We are well-aware of the impact social media has on people's perception of their appearance," says Brown, "When you look at celebrities on social media such as Kylie Jenner, who famously had lip fillers at the age of 16, she has millions of young followers and a lot of them are going to be pretty impressionable. Having this procedure could be seen by them as 'normal'."

Aesthetic nurse prescriber and clinic director of Aspire Clinic, Jenny O'Neill, who avidly uses social media to market her clinic, says, "The media has caused appearance anxiety for decades, from stick-thin fashion models used in advertising campaigns, to celebrities being air-brushed." She adds, "However, with the popularity of sharing one's life on social media and showing the world how great one is, social media causes a false sense of reality, which in turn exacerbates appearance anxiety."

Who's at fault?

When asked if the issue of social media and appearance is linked to the posts of certain people, groups or organisations, Brown says, "I think it is a bit of both celebrity endorsement and some aesthetic clinics being misleading with their advertising. There are some very good cosmetic clinics that stick within the advertising boundaries and guidelines ⁴ and then there are others that will promote irresponsible offers on injectable treatments.

When taking up these offers, patients are often not being properly consulted and these treatments are trivialised and made to sound the same as having your eyebrows or nails done. They should be seen as medical procedures and it should be known that there is a chance you could react to the substances being injected and there is a potential for harm."

"It is essential that clinics follow the General Medical Council (GMC) guidelines and adhere to the CAP code when marketing any products and services, and this should extend to social media practises"

However, O'Neill believes that clinics have a much smaller reach than most, often limited to their patients and business associates. She says, "The risk of communicating potentially damaging messages is much lower. I firmly believe ethical clinics wouldn't use their social media channels to push misleading messages in order to increase sales. For instance, at Aspire Clinic we aim for our messages to be educational in order to give our patients an informed choice."

She adds, "With their huge followings - sometimes in the millions - celebrities are reaching the masses, therefore the potential for causing feelings of inadequacy or people wanting to replicate their look is far higher."

The recommendation

The recommendation from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics regarding social media states: 'We recommend that the social media industry (including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and YouTube) collaborate to establish and fund an independent programme of work, in order to understand better how social media contributes to appearance anxiety, and how this can be minimised; and to take action accordingly'.

The report 'welcomes the fact' that social media companies such as Facebook and Instagram have informed them that they are beginning to include concerns about body image in the campaigning and educational work they undertake among adolescents. However, the council believes 'much more needs to be done'. 1

Resolving the issue

In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) enforces and regulates the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), which includes commercial advertising online and on social media, but it does not cover unsolicited endorsements in tweets or blogs, or images shared by social media users. 1 As well as this, the ASA only investigates claims brought to it, and does not actively police sites. 5

According to O'Neill, aesthetic clinics can play their part by ensuring that what they share on social media is ethical and responsible. She says, "It is essential that clinics follow the General Medical Council (GMC) guidelines ⁶ and adhere to the CAP code ⁷ when marketing any products and services, and this should extend to social media practises." As well as the GMC guidelines, dentists and nurses have guidelines through the General Dental Council (GDC) ⁸ and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). 9

"This report has got us thinking about not only what we do, but why we do it, who we do it to and how best we can protect the vulnerable from being exploited and not cared for in the right way"

Brown adds, "When speaking with representatives from social media companies, they said this sort of advertising is difficult to monitor and that there is nothing they can do until something has actually been posted. It's like waiting for the horse to bolt before closing the door, instead of closing the door before the horse has bolted."

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics believes that an essential element in empowering users to make choices that are right for them is access to 'high quality information'. There is much concern that vigorous marketing of cosmetic procedures by the commercial sector has led to aesthetic treatments being seen as trivial or potential risks downplayed. Therefore, the council suggests that the major providers (suppliers) of cosmetic procedures collaborate with both the relevant professional bodies, and practitioners who offer cosmetic procedures, to fund the independent development and wide dissemination of detailed information for users about both surgical and non-surgical procedures.

A representative of the council said that a meeting with Facebook and Instagram was held in the run up to the publication of the report and that they are currently organising a second one. Since the report was published, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics has also written to these companies, as well as Snapchat and Twitter, to discuss how they can work together to implement the recommendations, however they are yet to receive a response.

Summary

Brown believes that the publication of these recommendations will hopefully raise awareness of the issue amongst the medical aesthetic community and ensure they are acting responsibly on social media. She says, "This report has got us thinking about not only what we do, but why we do it, who we do it to and how best we can protect the vulnerable from being exploited and not cared for in the right way."

Assistant director of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, Katharine Wright concludes, "Our report makes a series of recommendations that highlight areas of concern for the practice and promotion of invasive cosmetic procedures in the UK. We want everyone to consider how they can contribute solutions including practitioners and commercial providers of procedures."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Aesthetics looks at the findings from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics report and asks what can be done to stop social media's influence on appearance anxiety The Nuffield Council on Bioethics, an independent body that examines and reports on ethical issues in biology and medicine, has published a new report: Cosmetic procedures: ethical issues.

# data[].attributes.headline
Prepare to show appearance anxiety in the form of illustrations

# data[].attributes.subject
Prepare to show appearance anxiety in the form of illustrations

# data[].attributes.body
Purpose: Let people see why there is appearance anxiety in today's society, which comes from public opinion on social media.

# data[].attributes.body
I want to use the elements of the eyes in the logo, because the reason for appearance anxiety is that people use their eyes to observe and draw conclusions

# data[].attributes.body
I chose green because China pronounces jiaolv as jiao green, so I would choose green. I chose purple to find information and found that purple can help treat brain diseases.

# data[].attributes.body
Made a blind box brand, the brand includes brand story, brand logo, brand ip, brand packaging.  The background story of this brand is that a girl named Mi loves dancing. The fat girl is also a beautiful dancer. She wears different styles of clothes to go out to dance every day.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Forget beauty branding for humans; Sowvital is a luxury self-care brand for plants

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sowvital wants to flourish at the intersection of beauty and botanics with sleek, frosted packaging and satisfyingly symmetrical branding.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
POP MART, founded in 2010, is an industry-leading pop culture and art toy company. With the industry's rapid growth, POP MART has set foot in more than 23 countries and regions, and has accumulated millions of fans around the world. With more than 4000 employees worldwide, POP MART has established offices in China, Singapore, Japan, Korea, the UK, etc. As of today, POP MART operates over 250 offline stores and over 1687 Robo Shops, thereby generating brand awareness and exposure among consumers.

POP MART, whose slogan and goal are "To Light up Passion and Bring Joy," has established a platform of integrated operations covering the entire industry chain of designer toys, which enables designers to focus solely on their art. The POP MART business mainly focuses on global artist development, IP operation, consumer access, pop toy culture promotion, and investment in industry-related companies. The company has recruited various designers, such as Kenny, Pucky, Ayan, Kasing Lung, and Skullpanda, and launched thousands of fan-favorites to secure many loyal and high-quality customers. Likewise, POP MART works with multiple famous brands to create pop-culture products based on classical characters that appeal to fans worldwide.

POP MART also attaches high importance to supporting the development of the designer toy market. The company held 6 successful international toy shows in Beijing and Shanghai. These exhibitions were the largest in Asia and attracted more than 100,000 visitors each time. Through such events, POP MART introduces talented artists to showcase their original art on a larger stage, promoting a new enthusiasm for the development of the designer toy industry.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
POP MART, founded in 2010, is an industry-leading pop culture and art toy company. With the industry's rapid growth, POP MART has set foot in more than 23 countries and regions, and has accumulated millions of fans around the world. With more than 4000 employees worldwide, POP MART has established offices in China, Singapore, Japan, Korea, the UK, etc.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The work of New York-based artist Yimiao Liu feels meticulous. Her drawings are beautiful and esoteric, often creating otherworldly metaphors for real-world situations. "I would describe my visual aesthetic as feminine, fluid, quiet, reserved, earthy," says Yimiao when we catch up with her. "And sometimes they're grotesque, enveloping all aspects of nature." It's true that a peek into Yimiao's portfolio feels like staring into the heart of an introvert: elaborate small details unfold on every corner at the drawing, as if noticed by a keen yet silent eye. "I have a small notebook where I write down key words of ideas and thoughts that come across my mind and sketch down rough thumbnails," Yimiao says on her process of creation. "Since my working process is very long and meditative I hold these ideas in my mind, thinking about them over and over, sometimes new thoughts emerge and go into the piece and others filter themselves out."

Her paintings are much the same too, displaying what Yimaio describes as " visceral emotions that are somehow built a bit like a short story, or a monologue," rather than simply a collection of several ideas. Her references and inspiration comes from the world around her, most noticeably the natural organic imagery of flora and fauna "of all sorts," she says. Yet, in Yimiao's work nature becomes slightly distorted into the uncanny, as if recognisable but still out of reach. "One of my latest drawings, A Pounding Heart, was about being in the world, being extremely sensitive, while wilfully being vulnerable and trusting it," she explains. "It is a kind of devotion to the process we are in but that can also lead to kinds of desperation that can manifest in acts of destruction."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Inside "the feminine and fluid" world of artist Yimiao Liu

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The work of New York-based artist Yimiao Liu feels meticulous. Her drawings are beautiful and esoteric, often creating otherworldly metaphors for real-world situations. "I would describe my visual aesthetic as feminine, fluid, quiet, reserved, earthy," says Yimiao when we catch up with her. "And sometimes they're grotesque, enveloping all aspects of nature."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Pop Mart toys displayed at a store in Shanghai (Shutterstock)

Pop Mart, a Chinese retail toy brand famous for its 'blind box' concept, launched with a toy store in 2010 by founder Wang Ning. What was just single store in a Beijing mall has since blossomed into a highly successful brand that could be on the cusp of making it big internationally.

But this journey hasn't been a bed of roses for the brand. The now-public company has seen its share price plunge over 87% compared to its peak (HK$99.40) in February 2021. On Thursday, October 20, its share price reached another historical low to HK$12.06.

So how has a beloved brand come to this point?

When Pop Mart released interim reports that showed unaudited gross profit margin drop from 63% to 58%, Chinese media attributed it to the global supply chain disruption due to the pandemic, which also caused a 15% increase in raw materials and a 10% rise in salaries.

But, in China, this decline in profit is not the only trouble for the brand. Firstly, young Chinese consumers are getting tired of blind boxes and hungry marketing tricks, so the trend of overconsumption has cooled down. Secondly, the China Consumer Association criticised KFC and Pop Mart's collaboration in mystery boxes, causing food waste. One person is said to spend over 10,000 yuan (over US$1,500) on 106 meals to collect the Dimoo rare toy set.

Chinese media analysed the sales slump of brick-and-mortar stores because of the lockdown during the pandemic. But a sharp fall of sales was also recorded on its top online channel Tmall-35% drop YOY in June. To Chinese Gen Zs, the figurines' repurchase rate will continue to drop if the toy brand loses its freshness and novelty.

Molly used to be the greatest IP figure for Pop Mart and was practically a money-printing machine for the brand in the past few years. Pop Mart sets Molly as a fashion icon but without any backstory. Molly contributed over 40% of revenues in 2018, but this rate has decreased to 11.5% in 2021.

In late 2020, MediaCom published a whitepaper that predicted "Chinese consumers would spend more money on play and more time consuming and creating playful content". Because of lockdown and travel restrictions, the Chinese market witnessed a surge of virtual play content and strong growth in adult consumers for brands like Lego, but toys like Pop Mart seemed to have lost its charm.

began to explore a new way of making money and getting out of its blind box plight as the collectables craze in China cooled down. In 2022, it opened its first overseas store in London, and it hopes to open new markets in the West. In late August, the interim results of Pop Mart show that the revenue from markets outside mainland China reached 157 million yuan (US$ 23 million), about 6.6% of its total revenue, growing 161.7% YoY.

So will the sun also rise in overseas markets for Pop Mart? How should the brand readjust its strategies? And how should it relook the toy and play category in China? Campaign turned this question to branding experts.

Saw Gin Toh (杜素盈)
Head of strategy consulting
Dentsu Creative China

There is opportunity for Pop Mart to move into the virtual play, NFT/metaverse/cartoon animation territories to ignite new interest on their offering. I am suggesting Pop Mart move into this territory to capture a fair share of growth for themselves in the virtual world. For example, Lego toys get into gaming, animation, movies, IP collaboration in merchandise in order to capture new growth market.

Not all brands will be saved by international markets because every country is also going through tough economic times with high inflation and cost of living. Brands going overseas also need to assess the market potential before entry, and if people have higher disposable income or are willing to spend. In a tough economic environment, people are looking for high value and returns. In our report 'The Future of Play', we mentioned 'novelty' as a key motivation for play and this motivation may be an opportunity for Pop Mart to consider limited edition or high-value creation to meet this purpose where consumers buy with the purpose to resell. Or perhaps do more unexpected IP or brand collaborations.

More and more, brands and products may need to rely on the virtual world to overcome the physical world restrictions-via the metaverse or virtual reality.

Lily Wen
Associate partner
Prophet

Pop Mart has done a good job in marketing-driving interest, engagement and conversion, but it has not seemed to manage the brand as a strategic asset for sustainable growth. The result of this is product design that is 'reactive' rather than 'leading' and the value consumers see in 'one more set' becomes marginal.

A few things Pop Mart could consider on brand strategy and future growth moves:

Define a clear purpose to guide both product design and marketing: Why does Pop Mart exist? What is the core benefit relevant for consumers' life? And what impact does it create beyond 'simply fun', for individuals, community, society and environment?

Develop clear logic and navigation in product portfolio and retail: What role does each IP play in Pop Mart's world? Does each series have distinct value proposition?

One must-have on Pop Mart's path to international markets is Web3 strategy and moves. Pop Mart has great potential to create immersive experiences by bringing the physical set to a new dimension, and tapping into the NFT ecosystem.

Bryce Whitwam
Senior advisor, Target Social
Co-host, ShanghaiZhan Podcast

Pop Mart became a massive success because of its ability to develop beautifully designed and collectible characters, delivered through the surprise element of a blind box. Following the trend, blind boxes suddenly sprouted up everywhere-not just toys, snack foods, fast food restaurants, but even jewellery and luxury items. Blind boxes got so big they started to call it the 'blind box economy' (盲盒经济), and soon, Chinese people became tired of them.

People also grew weary of the Pop Mart cast of characters, including the adorable Molly. Besides her design quality and aesthetics, Molly didn't have a solid emotional back story to keep people engaged long enough in the toy.

Pop Mart can no longer rely on the blind box and needs to use its unique vending machine distribution model to bring new toys to the market. I would follow the Lego IP model but partner with famous anime comic stories with solid and enduring characters that could keep consumers emotionally engaged over time.

Pop Mart could also consider creating different playing scenarios for its existing lines, either in the physical space or the metaverse. In the physical area, doll houses, for example, have become a thing for young women on the social platform RED (小红书). Pop Mart could create doll house sets for your home or office cubical space.

Not every Chinese brand abroad will find better opportunities, but I'm confident Pop Mart will do well. Chinese pop culture brands that can ride the K-Pop/bubble-tea Asian hipster wave will undoubtedly find their target audience abroad. Go to any Miniso (名创优品) store in America, and you'll find it packed with shoppers, and the average wait time at the San Diego Haidilao (海底捞) hot pot restaurant is 30 minutes to an hour. To be cool with Western GenZ these days, you have to look good on TikTok.

Like many product categories, the lockdowns have impacted the toy industry's core retail channels because fewer people have been going to the retail stores, forcing toy brands to become more innovative on digital commerce platforms. When things settle down and shoppers return to the stores, I suspect the market will return because collectible toys will remain highly desirable. But they'll have to return with newer lines of toys and innovative ways for consumers to engage with them.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Brand Health Check: How can Pop Mart continue to stay relevant? | Analysis | Campaign Asia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Pop Mart, a Chinese retail toy brand famous for its 'blind box' concept, launched with a toy store in 2010 by founder Wang Ning. What was just single store in a Beijing mall has since blossomed into a highly successful brand that could be on the cusp of making it big internationally.