It should be noted that MAC’s original target market were the professional make-up artists before it expanded to offer the products to its customers from all walks of life. The Estee Lauder Companies bought the majority of shares in MAC in 1994 and then 4 years later, obtained full ownership of MAC. Today, MAC offers a full range of cosmetics products, skincare and other beauty related services.

One of its latest initiatives which were launched earlier in 2011 was the Wonder Woman makeup collection which is a collaboration effort between Warner Bros. Consumer Products and MAC. This will see the new range of products hitting the stores early in 2012 which will offer the likes of blush, eye shadows, mineral powder, nail polish, lipstick, mascara and lip gloss among others.

The company is actively involved with assisting and the discovery of new makeup artists and one of its initiatives include the MAC Pro Program. Other programs that MAC is involved in are the MAC Cruelty-Free beauty program which practices the prohibition of animal testing and ingredients suppliers for makeup products. The MAC Kids Helping Kids was used to sell greeting cards which are produced by kids with HIV/AIDS. The MAC Aids Fund is a funding program that provide direct services for AIDS victims and those related to them. Funding for this are from various channels where under the MAC Viva Glam campaign, all proceeds of Viva Glam products will be channeled into this fund. The Back 2 MAC Recycling program is an initiative which encourages recycling efforts. Customers who return 6 empty MAC containers can exchange them for a free lipglass, lipstick or eyeshadow.

The Japanese branch of a major cosmetics brand Max Factor would then acquire the rights to this and then launched their Max Factor Key with Pitera and then continued to expand it to Max Factor SK-II. The brand then suffered a major setback after Max Factor went through a few stages of changes in ownership and it was only when A G Lafley was given the task to overhaul the declining business of P & G in Japan. He repositioned the Max Factor brand and decided to push the SK-II cream. This was a huge success and in 5 years, it would become the top premium cosmetics brand in Japan which have been previously held by Shiseido. Today, SK-II is known around the world as Max Factor SK-II or simply as SK-II depending on the market it is being sold in.

The SK-II product is a popular choice among women because of the fact that it produces results which makes the skin appear lighter and fairer. Hence, they are able to charge a premium price for its products. However, the company is careful to ensure that its customers are aware of how to apply the cream and its implications although there has not been any reports of side effects. It must be noted that skin care suitability varies from each individual which means that it might not be suitable for all skin types. Thus, it is common that SK-II are sold on counters where beauty advisers are ever ready to explain the directions and how to use the cream as well as whether the particular skin type is suitable.

Starting off with a modest 10 brown-colour based lipstick choices, the Bobbi Brown brand was introduced to the market of simple, flattering and wearable makeup through Bobbi Brown Essentials in 1991. Basically, the Bobbi Brown range then were known to offer the natural look for women which was catching up with the demands of the consumers. The company would eventually in 1995 be acquired by Estee Lauder Companies, a major global cosmetics group.

It would then continue to develop the brand to become a major global brand where it now offers a full range of cosmetics, fragrance and skincare in a variety of range. Bobbi Brown today is one of the most recognized and demanded cosmetics brand around which is being used by individuals, working people as well as celebrities around the world.

Bobbi Brown, the owner is also a very active beautician where she has appeared in television programmes, magazines as well as on the web where she is currently NBC Today Show’s Beauty Editor. On top of that, she is also the Contributing Beauty and Lifestyle Editor of the internationally popular Health magazine. The beauty expert has been appearing alongside the likes of Martha Stewart, Oprah and others where her testimony as the lifestyle and beauty expert is good marketing enough to establish the brand among women today.

Apart from that, Bobbi Brown is also involved with many beauty related campaigns like the Pretty Powerful campaign which is launched to create awareness among women that they are beautiful without makeup although using the right makeup would be ‘pretty powerful’. The campaign was a huge success which featured ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos of participants.

The name Shiseido actually means ‘Praise the virtues of the earth which nurtures new life and brings forth significant values’ and was the pioneer in the developing of the softening lotion known as Eudermine, an ingredient which is still very much in use today by the company and its products. In Japan where white face powder was very common among the women during that time, Shiseido would head out to introduce a 7 colour face powder product called Rainbow Face Powder in 1917. From a humble beginning, today, Shiseido has more than 25,000 outlets.

It would then expand its business to Taiwan, Singapore and then to Hong Kong in 1957 and by 1965, Shiseido Cosmetics America would be formed. 3 years after that, Shiseido would be established in Europe. It was also the first company to use non-animal sources to produce the sodium hyaluraonate. Today it carries the Elixir Superieu, Aqua Lable skincare, Uno for men, Cle de Peau makeup and many other brands.

One of the flagship products from Shiseido is the ‘Bio-Performance’ range where its eye cream is known to be one of the most popular lines in this segment. The cream is known for its ability in preventing dark circles and fine lines around the eyes. The anti-aging cream also includes the Bio-Performance Advanced Super Revitalizer and the Advanced Super Restoring Cream products respectively. This is the product which benefited from the sodium hyaluronate which was used and pioneered by Shiseido. Its other notable and popular products include ‘Benefiance’ which was made for the mature and drier skins while the company also produce the ‘Skincare’ range targeted for all skin types in most age groups.

The company started when a French chemist, Eugene Schueller developed the Aureale formula which is a type of hair dye. He then distributed it to hairdressers in around Paris at that time and then 2 years later registered his own company called “Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux” which will eventually grow by leaps and bounds into L’Oréal today. The company worked mainly in research and development and from 3 chemists in 1920 the company would grow into 100 30 years later and today have more than 2,000 chemists working with them.

Historicall, L’Oréal is known to have started in hair color segment where it would then expand into other related areas like beauty and cleansing. Today, it is home to more than 500 cosmetics related brands around the world as well as thousands of individual brands. They operate 5 research and development (R &D) plants with 2 being placed in its home France in Aulnay and Chevilly, one in New Jersey in the United States, one in Kawasaki in Japan and one in China. Another one is expected to be built in Berkely Heights, also in New Jersey in the United States.

Apart from its major brand of cosmetics, L’Oréal also controls the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of many other brands like Lancome, Redken, Garnier, Maybeline, CCB, Kerastase and Kiehl’s, the company also owns the environmental friendly brand The Body Show, which it acquired for £652 million in 2005. Where this is concerned, L’Oréal is involved with many marketing campaigns and events which are beauty related where it has used various spokespersons and ambassadors who are celebrities in their advertisements. The tagline for L’Oréal is ‘Because we are worth it’ and they have recently launched their new L’Oréal Kids product line which are body products for children.

Tan Sr Zeti comes from Johor Bahru, the southern state of Malaysia to parents Royal Professor Ungku Aziz, one of the most prominent academicians in Malaysia and her mother is Sharifah Azah Mohamed Alsagoff. She studied in Assunta High School in Petaling Jaya where she then continued her Form 6 at St. John’s Institution in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. She would then finish her Bachelors in Economics at the oldest university in Malaysia, Universiti Malaya.

After that, she continued her postgraduate education at the prestigious Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she completed her PhD in Monetary and International Economics before charting her career back in Malaysia. She worked at the South-East Asia Central Bank Training and Research Centre before appointed by Bank Negara Malaysia as the Deputy Manager of the Economics Department. She was then posted to London as the Chief Representative for the central bank before returning to Kuala Lumpur where she became the Chief Economist and the Head of its Economics Department. Her move up became more prominent when she became the Assistant Governor of Bank Negara in 1995, where she was in charge of economics, reserve management, foreign and money market operations and exchange control.

As the country’s top banker, she has been involved in various policy making and such where she was also named as the best central bank chief of the world by Global Finance Magazine while being involved in the special task force that examine reforms for the market system of the world by UN. During the 2010 Ma’al Hijrah celebrations, she was awarded with the “Tokoh Ma’al Hijrah 1432H”.

She would then become the first Malaysian woman to be the Medical Officer in the Maternal and Child Health Department before becoming the State Maternal and Child Health Officer, also the first woman to do so. Since then she has written countless articles on family medicine and the socioeconomic factors in the areas of maternal health in the country.

In 1981, when Dr Mahathir became the prime minister, Tun Siti Hasmah became the First Lady of Malaysia where she would then continue working towards improving women’s health and wellbeing. She led various medical associations where she would be actively involved primarily in health of women and family planning around the country. As the First Lady, she was well-known for her genuinely and sincere caring personality where she was treated with utmost respect wherever she goes.

Apart from that, she was also very much involved in the promoting of rural women in Malaysia where she was part of the 6 members of the Core-Group Initiators of the First Ladies that represented the Asia-Pacific region at the First Ladies Summit for the Economic Advancement of Rural Women in Geneva. Although Dr Mahathir is no longer the Prime Miniter, Tun Siti Hasmah is still a highly respected woman in Malaysia where she still holds an important place among Malaysians and the people around the region.

Rafidah was accused of corruption in 2006 in issuance of the AP (Approve Permits) issue for the import of foreign vehicles into Malaysia, allegations which she had denied ever since. The former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, of whom Rafidah said to treat like ‘her father’ even criticized the government for retaining her as the Minister then. It seems that it was already written then when Rafidah was dropped from the cabinet by the then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi 2 years later where she now holds only the MP post.

Despite the accusations which were neither validated or verified, Rafidah remains as one of the most prominent leaders of Malaysia for her ability to have a loud and strong voice for women in the administration which are predominantly men and to date, there has not been any women politician who could exude such confidence and strength from either side of the political divide.

In 10 years, the brand would expand to other countries like Brunei, Singapore and Thailand where it would have a network of 300 stores and stockists including Malaysia. The total asset of the company was valued at RM6.37 million where she would manage it with her daughter Erni Dekritawati Yuliana Buhari.

As an entrepreneur, she was recognized by the Johor state when she was conferred the “Wanita Nadi Negara’ award and in managing such a large business empire, she became one of the best success stories of Malaysian women today. She is still being held in the highest regards among Malaysians today for her ability to come out of poverty and become one of the most successful business entrepreneurs of Malaysia. However, tragedy was to befall her when she was brutally murdered when her body and 3 others were discovered said to be over some dispute of a land sale.

But do you know who is behind bringing such campaigns to you through the shopping experience while making sure that you know what is going out in the world today? That would none other than Datin Mina Cheah-Foong, the Managing director of Rampai Niaga Sdn Bhd which manages the beauty chain. In fact, Datin Mina is keen to use the Body Shop chain as the platform to promote such issues because it is not often that businesses are able to do that.

She call the Body Shop brand as ‘weapons of mass instructions’ since they have stores in every state in Peninsular Malaysia except in Perlis. What better ways to reach out to the Malaysian public and women but through what they need and then educating them?The company holds the franchise for the Body Shop and the fact that it is privately owned company makes it easier for them to push the cause to the Malaysian public. One might perceive that the messages of environmental friendliness and such would be globally initiated but Datin Mina has ensured that the Malaysian issues are also looked into.

The Body Shop had in 2006 worked with the MNS (Malaysian Nature Society) in promoting and raising awareness to gazette the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex in Perak which was known to be older than the likes of the Amazon and Congo basins where it has one of the richest biodiversity areas globally. Apart from that, Datin Mina was also  regarded as one of the pioneers of the ‘No Plastic Bag’ efforts when they launched the ‘Kick the Bag Habit’ initiative.