Day Four: Beauty Editors & E-Fluencers

Today is the Teint Miracle/Michelle Phan event at the five-story event space across from The Opposite House, our hotel. The first sesson is for “e-fluencers,” as the top beauty bloggers and vloggers here are called. America’s clearly not the only place with a thriving beauty blogosphere. The second session is for the beauty editors. The e-fluencers are an enthusiastic bunch. They jump around, photographing and videotaping everything: the space, Michelle, themselves, each other. Their style is quirkier too. The beauty editors are more laid back demeanor and fashion wise. I meet the beauty directors from Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar (a guy!), Good Housekeeping and several magazines unique to China, such as Trends Health. Michelle, no surprise, feels more at home with the e-fluencers.



Michelle does a Q&A in front of the audience with Michelle Kwok, a former colleague of mine from New York who is now the assistant general manager of Lancome China. Michelle P. then recreates the “China girl” looks from the video she shot earlier in the week. The whole group moves downstairs for the Teint Miracle unveiling and Michelle demos the product on a model. Afterwards, there are group interviews and one-on-one time with different TV stations and the Chinese versions of YouTube—Tudou and Youku. Funnily enough, both online channels feature bootleg versions of Michelle’s videos. Tudou somehow has more than 700 Michelle videos available, one grainier than the next, even though Michelle’s only made 100 or so videos total. (YouTube is blocked by the Chinese government, as are Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.)



Everyone here is very young. It’s not like New York or Paris where you have career beauty editors and executives well into their second and third decades of work. The fashion/beauty/media industries only exploded here in the past decade, so it’s not surprising everyone is younger. Still, I can’t help feeling like I’m in an Asian version of that science fiction story Logan’s Run, where no one is over the age of 30. But at the same time, it’s exciting. I feel like I’m really witnessing something while it’s happening. Sandy Linter, the amazing makeup artist, and I trade emails. She’s been following the trip via the blog entries and she pegs it: “The Youthquake all over again.”



The Youthquake she’s referring to took place in the 1960s in New York and London and led to so many changes, both political and cultural. It will be interesting to see where China’s Youthquake leads.



It’s a long, long day. We take a 20-minute break then meet in the lobby for the drive to dinner. We have a fun meal with the Lancome China team in a private room at a traditional Chinese restaurant near the Forbidden City. Keeping my vow to try everything, I have the braised jellyfish, a sake-like red wine sweetened with dried plums, and warm, sweet walnut milk. Then it’s back to the hotel, where once again I fall asleep the second my head hits the pillow.



Photos: Michelle and the Lancome team, the e-fluencers, the event space, watching the Teint Miracle demo, Julia & Michelle, gothy attendees, Jerome and the beauty director of Vogue China, me and the beauty director of Harper's Bazaar China, outside the event space at night.

Day Three: Modern Art and China's It Girls

Our first two days here, we saw the sleek, clean, luxury side of Beijing. Today, we get the grittier side. Graffiti, litter and a back alley where the photo studio for Rey Fashion Magazine is located. To call the studio grim is a compliment, but the youthful Rey team compensates with their energy. The photographer and his assistants set up portable heaters and the electricity goes on and off. I realize how spoiled we are in New York. Our shiny, light-filled photo studios have coffee bars, smoothie menus, catered meals and something I had taken for granted—21st Century plumbing. There's potential here for some smart entrepreneur!



The hairdresser pulls Michelle’s thick locks into a high ponytail, the stylist puts her in a shimmery nude top and she applies her own makeup. She wants to use Le Crayon Khol in Blanc, her beloved white eyeliner pencil that she uses for a number of tricks, but she’s surprised to learn it’s not sold in China. The magazine is doing a step-by-step makeup story with her. This is a popular feature in all the Chinese fashion magazines and it’s like a printed version of a YouTube tutorial. Michelle poses in front of a white backdrop for the photographer, who for some reason is called Mr. Q. Everyone except Michelle is wearing a coat because the studio is…FREEZING! This will be a theme for the rest of the trip. The Beijingese seem to regard indoor heating the same way Parisians regard air conditioning. With great indifference.



The baby-faced Mr. Q snaps a few pictures then reviews them on an iPad. (They love Apple products here.) Avril Lavigne blasts from the sound system. The three constants on every shoot we participate in here? Avril, Ugg books and Elnett hairspray. The Chinese fashionistas we encounter love young female pop stars. Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and Avril, Avril, Avril. They can’t get enough. Lunch is a spread of dumplings, mysterious but delicious stuffed doughy things and warm soy milk.



The afternoon is spent touring the 798 arts district. This might be the coolest part of our trip. 798 is a series of factory buildings converted to galleries, boutiques and restaurants, similar to New York’s SoHo back in the ‘80s. It’s bright, sunny and bitterly cold outside as we walk around. Somehow, two girls recognize Michelle behind her big sunglasses and squeal with delight. They pose for a few pictures then we head to a restaurant called Switch to meet the five finalists of the Lancome Chinese It Girl contest. Something gets lost in translation so we’re not entirely sure what the competition involved, but the girls are very nice and pepper Michelle with questions about her beauty routine, videos and personal life. Each of the girls presents Michelle with a gift.



Michelle has to pick one winner and she feels terrible about this. “I can’t pick all of them?” Our hosts shake their heads. "No."



A winner is declared and we head to the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) to view “Moon in Glass” by artist Ling Jian. The exhibit features a series of round portraits of young Chinese women with exaggerated features, almost alien like, some of them crying. They're really beautiful and haunting. Primary-colored circular mirrors are interspersed with the paintings. You can contemplate yourself contemplating the paintings.



We’re a bit exhausted, so dinner is a mellow affair at Bei, one of the restaurants in the basement of Opposite House. We finish and drag over to rehearsals for tomorrow’s Teint Miracle launch event. The space, across from the hotel, looks like a construction site, but Jerome insists everything is on schedule. He shows us where Michelle’s “apartment” will be located and walks Michelle through her presentation. In 12 hours, we’ll meet China’s top beauty editors and bloggers. We’re looking forward to it.



Photos: A Rey editor, Rey magazine, on set, in the dressing room, Michelle with the Rey team, lunch, the 798 district, a fan finds Michelle, the It Girl finalists, the Moon in Glass exhibit.