Cultural differences in cosmetics and perfumes

Sep 22, 2007 10:28 GMT  ·  By

Globalization may bring us together, but when it's about beauty, our culture, geography and even religion mark our cosmetic and aesthetic tastes.

Not all women are the same. There are important cultural differences which determine the beauty of their facial expression. Apart from its personality and fashion taste, each country imprints its own determinant characteristics when it's about consumption and making use of creams, make-up or perfumes.

The great challenge of the American women is the body care, their big oversight. They practically do not make use of body treatments as compared with the European women. Their universe of treatment and make-up is marked by a world of appearances. They limit themselves almost exclusively to the most visible areas: face, hair, hands and especially the nails.

However, in Europe, women are more addicted to exfoliants, oils and body moisturizers. The use of anticellulitis products, breast creams and foot creams is a phenomenon which is common in all Europe. The business of body treatments is flourishing in Europe.

In Eastern Europe (from Romania to Poland and Russia), women are addicted to make-up. It is very important for them to display a perfect skin and make-up aroud their eyes. They won't go out even for throwing the garbage without using make-up.

Instead, the Japanese women are obsessed with having a porcelain-like skin and they treat their skin with an ample array of bleaching products daily. No doubt, their cosmetic care is the most deliberate and sophisticated in the world. Moreover, the oriental women are those who take care most of their diet.

And what about the perfumes? While in Spain the fresh scent of citrus fruits in cologne water is a matter of national pride, the Americans prefer cinnamon and apple scents. For the Americans, the lemon scent is associated with detergents and cleaning products.

In Japan, people do not practically use perfumes. It is considered something vulgar and too aggressive. At most, they can use an essence with a light woody scent, but always very subtle. They cannot stand the Western perfumes. Why? It's all about racial biology.

The Mongoloid race is the human group with the lowest number of sweating glands, spreading a weak body scent. Humans who are part of other races have a strong and unpleasant smell for them. In fact, this is the role of a perfume: covering the natural body scent with an attractive one. The Japanese seem to really not need it.