化妝不再是女性專利?男性成中國化妝品市場“新寵”大綱

When Jiang Cheng first tried a bit of concealer during his first year of university in China it gave him self-confidence and he was instantly hooked.

江成（音）大一的時候第一次嘗試用了點遮瑕霜之後自信了起來，他一下子就對化妝來了興趣。

Now he is among hundreds of Chinese men sharing beauty tips online and cashing in on the booming male cosmetics industry.

現在，他是中國數百個在網絡上分享化妝技巧、從蓬勃發展的男性化妝品行業“分一杯羹”的男性之一。

"I found that putting on make-up is actually quite easy," the 24-year-old said as he gently brushed his face with some foundation.

24歲的江成（音）一邊輕輕地在臉上刷粉底，一邊說：“我發現化妝其實挺容易的。”

"Women may not fully grasp the concept of male make-up. If a girl puts on my make-up, they may not be able to achieve the effect that I really want," Jiang said.

江成說：“女性不能完全領會男性化妝品的理念。如果女孩用我的化妝品，可能無法達到我真正想要的效果。”

Every weekend, Jiang spends a couple of hours in front of his iPhone at his makeshift studio in Beijing trying on the latest balms and blush for hundreds of live viewers, who can simultaneously buy the products he reviews.

每個週末，江成都會花幾個小時在他北京的臨時工作室，坐在他的蘋果手機前，面向數百名直播觀衆試用最新彩妝和腮紅，這些觀衆可實時購買他所評價的產品。

"This color is not that outrageous that men can't wear it safely even in a conservative environment," he explains to his fans.

他告訴粉絲：“這個顏色不太誇張，在保守環境下男性也可放心使用。”

Online beauty stars form an enormous industry in China, with internet celebrities known as "wang hong", or online stars, blurring the line between entertainment and e-commerce.

網上美妝明星在中國形成了龐大的產業，這些被稱爲“網紅”的網絡名人模糊了娛樂和電子商務之間的界限。

Companies like Alibaba and have launched live-streaming platforms that allow viewers to purchase on the go while watching videos. And cosmetics brands pay big money for online celebrities, almost always female, to review their new products.

阿里巴巴和京東等很多中國企業都推出了實時直播平臺，觀衆可以邊看視頻直播邊下單購物。化妝品品牌花大價錢聘請網絡名人評價它們的新品，這些網紅幾乎都是女性。

But now the market and gender norms are changing, with cosmetics no longer seen as exclusively for women and male celebrities showing that it is okay for men to dab on a bit of blush.

但是現在市場和性別標準發生了改變，化妝品不再被看做女性專屬，男性網紅向人們展示，男性也可以微微擦一點腮紅。

Jiang says a firm that manages bloggers pays him around 5,000 yuan per month to feature products from cosmetics companies.

江成說，一家管理博主的公司每個月給他大約5000元人民幣，詳細展示化妝品公司的產品。

Increasingly, foreign firms like La Mer and Aesop work with video bloggers such as "Lan Pu Lan", to promote their products to his nearly 1.4 million followers.

海藍之謎和伊索等越來越多的國際公司也開始和視頻博主合作，比如與美妝博主“蘭普蘭”合作，將產品推廣給他的140萬粉絲。

The 27-year-old spends up to 10,000 yuan a month on beauty products and says China's "Little Fresh Meat" -- a term referring to young good-looking men -- is spearheading this trend.

這位27歲的博主每月花費近萬元購買美妝產品。他說，中國的“小鮮肉”（年輕貌美的男性）正引領這一風潮。

"We're seeing more men in the media wearing make-up. This will naturally become the norm," Lan said.

他說：“我們在媒體上看到越來越多的男性化着妝。這會自然而然地成爲一種常態。”

Despite what appears to be social progress in many of the country's cosmopolitan cities, the video blogger says he still receives hate messages and criticism for appearing in smoky red eyeshadow.

雖然這一趨勢在中國很多大都市都被視爲一種社會進步，但他還是會因爲化了煙燻紅眼影收到仇恨信息和批評。

"'Why would a man look like that? Why does a man need to wear make-up?' These are some of messages I get," Lan says, adding he has been called a "sissy" and other slurs.

他說：“爲什麼男人要化成那樣？爲什麼男人需要化妝？我收到的一些信息都是這麼說的。”還有人用“娘娘腔”等侮辱性詞語稱呼他。

For Jiang, the fear of being ridiculed by his own parents stops him from picking up the make-up brush in front of them.

江成說，他擔心遭到父母的奚落，因此不敢在他們面前化妝。

"I don't want to have conflict with my parents. We don't see eye to eye, our values and concepts of life are different.

“我不想與父母發生衝突。我們的想法並不完全一致，價值觀和觀念也不一樣。”

"They are just unable to accept the daily make-up routine for a man," he says.

他說：“他們只是無法接受男人每天都化妝。”

"There will be more and more men who take more care in how they look and the demands will increase. Men in the East are more accepting," Mo says.

他說：“越來越多的男性將更加關注自己的外表，需求會隨之增加。東方男性接受度會更強。”

He opened Chetti Rouge in 2005 with few products. Now the beauty company sells a wide variety of cosmetics ranging from foundation to lipstick solely for men and has moved the entire business online.

莫飛於2005年創辦了軒諦，當時產品很少。現在這家化妝品公司出售從男士專用粉底到脣膏等各種化妝品，並將全部業務轉到線上。

"We saw potential in the market very early on," Mo told AFP, adding that the company expanded to Thailand three years ago.

他告訴法新社說：“我們很早就看到了市場潛力。”軒諦在3年前就將業務擴展到了泰國。

"It might be that men have accepted make-up. For men to browse products in shopping malls, may be for some men a little intimidating, hence the best way for them to buy is online, which is why our sales strategy is mainly on the internet."

“男性可能接受了化妝。有些男性可能害怕在購物中心選擇產品，因此對他們來說網購最適合，所以我們主要在網上銷售。”