BEAUTY ASIA

The 3 Eucharians arrived at Suntec City Convention Hall at 4pm on Wed MAr 01 hoping that we would not be denied entry to SpaAsia - A SPA and Beauty CONVENTION. It had specified that its for trade customers and moi must be properly attired. The impression was that its some rather formal thing with professionals pitching their wares. We had come in the hope of gathering some nuggets of good info and tips on how to market beauty products.



The claim: Quote directly from SpaAsia's website ...
"Singapore - Over S$5 million in deals were transacted at BeautyAsia 2005, the region’s most established trade show for the beauty industry. Running in its 9th year, BeautyAsia 2005 concluded its most successful exhibition yet with a total of 10,000 trade visitors over three days, an 50 per cent increase from last year. "

Alas, when we got there, the first sign of something amiss was a lady asking me how to fill in the 'VISITOR REGISTRATION' form in mandarin. 'oh well, she must be a Beauty Advisor in a neighbourhood beauty salon' we thought.

The 2nd sign, a middle aged woman dressed in orange cut the queue and went straight to the front to register.

The 3rd sign.. Okies there is no 3rd sign.. cos the moment we stepped in, we could see psuedo BAs handing out pamplets. There was a particular ger in this bathrobe like thing. (I suppose as long as its white and bears some resemblance to a lab coat - its PROFESSIONAL.)

It was a cross between Lucky Plaza and Beauty World Shopping Centre. Most of the booths were manned by Malaysian beauty companies hawking anything from 24 K Carat GOLD Infused face cream to Flower Petal Infused gel (with real flower petals floating inside the jar) The 'BAs' mostly spoke in Malaysian accented Mandarin and we received a sales pitch in Mandarin about how lin1 ba1 zu3 sai1 will cause ru3 ai2 (meaning: blockage in the lymphatic system will give rise to breast cancer) and how her bust enhancing lotion will unclog our blocked lymph nodes for a boost to the sagging bust line. *faints*

BTW, I was about a head taller than her and i could see a hint of HER cleavage peeking from her V-neck top whenever i looked down. Yes she does have a bit and has rather creamy smooth skin ah hem there, and her gold chain with a pendant disappearing into ah hem there perhaps attests to the efficacy of her lotion??

The professional hair show showcasing the latest hair cutting techique had the emcee pitching something along the line of 'heavier scissors showing the hairstylist has more jin1 liang3' (loosely translated: substance/ability/skills) and the hairstylist was cutting a wig resting on the head of a mannequinn.

Overall a total waste of time but quite entertaining in a morbid way. With a few laughs and cringes throw in.