JEDDAH, 15 May 2006 — Skin has become the prime concern, especially of beautiful women who desire to appear more beautiful and handsome men who want to be more handsome. No wonder then that the beauty and cosmetic industry is witnessing a boom.

This was the message that a team of the Netherlands-based Make-up Studio and its partner Jeddah-based Rusumat has given. “Everyone desires to have a blemish-free look,” Ronald Romejn, a veteran artist and make-up man from Make-Up Studio, told a press conference on Tuesday. He held special training sessions for local beauticians and make-up artists for two days last week.

“These days, it’s no only face but even hands and feet care products are in great demand and their market is expanding by leaps and bounds,” said Romejn who has been a make-up man for some of the leading personalities from the world of music and films. According to him, even nail care treatment and also that of neck, elbows, back and knees are being given increasing importance for those who care for their total personality, he said, adding that cosmetics that protect all aspects of the physical appearance are making inroads from the world over to this part of the world,

Women who are in business or employment have been spending a high level of disposable income on cosmetics and beauty products.

“The cosmetics and personal care market in this part of the world, which is worth several million riyals, is attracting not only new products from the world over but also new businessmen dealing in these products locally,” Rusumat General Manager Ali Yahya Medad said. “However, the local customers do not accept whatever is available. They are more conscious about skin care and moisturizing products due to the local climatic conditions,” Rusumat General Manager Kaes Mallouke said.

“We expect good scope for our niche products,” said Jeroen Rijverdt, export manager for the Dutch company.

The make-up of the Dutch company’s Special Cosmetics is based in Wormerveer, a few kilometers from Amsterdam, where it has a 300 sq m make-up store.

“We not only offer a high quality make-up line, but also a decent support from professionals in all fields and a complete training schedule to optimize the complete lines,” Rijvordt said.

Giving a presentation, he said the company was founded in 1975 as a specialized make-up store named Back Stage. It was in this store that the brand Make-Up Studio was born as a direct demand from professional make-up artists. “We’ve eight employees working in Back Stage, who are all professional make-up artists,” he said.

Aside from beauticians and make-up artists, the company hopes to target customers from make-up schools and stores, as well as hairdressers, nail studios and those working for TV, fashion and films.

Over the years, Make-Up Studio has been introducing twice a year special limited trend colors on a special display and releasing at least twice a year new products. “The brand is continuously developing and improving,” he said. “Since new products are added twice a year a wide range of make-up products, the professionals are getting a variety of options to select from, he added.

Rijvordt said the company’s professional make-up products are well entrenched in 18 countries, mostly in Europe and the rest of the Western countries but also in Dubai, Morocco, and now in the Kingdom. “We’ve a niche market and professionalism, and we’re concentrating on product and quality excellence.

He explained that most of the product ingredients are natural. “Our use of chemicals are limited in a small measure to only a few products,” he added.

Some of the participants of the training sessions conducted by the Dutch company said that the experience was very enriching, as they learned a lot from the Dutch artist.

“We’ve come to realize how colors could be used most effectively on persons with different complexion and varied tastes for both products and colors,” one of them commented.