Christine Ng’s Beauty Company, Bijinsenmon, Makes Slimming Down Easy!
Christine Ng (伍詠薇) appeared at Guardian Paragon store in Singapore to promote her highly popular Bijinsenmon slimming masks on February 18th. In an exclusive interview with JayneStars.com, Christine discussed the founding of her own beauty company and her unique line of slimming masks which were extremely popular. The ebullient actress even offered advice for women who were interested in starting their own business!
Prior to entering the entertainment circle, Christine Ng had wished to pursue a career in the beauty industry. After finding success as an actress, Christine chanced upon the idea to start her own beauty business while vacationing in Tokyo, Japan three years ago. Speaking with JayneStars, Christine revealed, “After a long day of shopping, I went to a spa. They offered me a leg mask to help soothe my aching legs. It worked magically after applying it for merely 15 minutes! Not only did it relax my legs, it also made them firmer, softer, and most importantly slimmer! I wanted to share this wonderful product with all the girls in Hong Kong! After two years of persuasion and negotiation with the Japanese slimming guru that had developed the mask, I finally launched the brand Bijinsenmon in the summer of 2010!”
Christine’s persistence paid off, as Bijinsenmon (美人專門)—which means beauty guru in Japanese—became a top selling slimming item in Hong Kong in its first year of launch. Many people take slimming pills in order to attack fat deposits within the body, while Bijinsenmon’s masks are applied externally to targeted areas such as the arm and legs. Asked how Bijinsenmon’s masks were more effective than traditional slimming pills, Christine told JayneStars.com, “Our slimming mask is more preferable than the common slimming pill in two key areas. First of all, our mask is safe. A lot of people have an allergic reaction towards slimming pills. I always advise people to consult with a doctor before taking orally ingested products. Secondly, our mask produces immediate slimming results, thanks to its water retention reduction and fat burning effect from caffeine and essence of chili.”
The success of Bijinsenmon’s slimming masks for the leg, arm, face, and belly areas have prompted Christine to expand her product line. Christine stated, “We will launch two new products this summer. They are slimming applications for daily use, supplementing the slimming masks which are mainly for weekly intensive care.” Asked what additional beauty tips Christine can share to achieve beautiful and youthful skin, she replied, “Besides finding your own perfect skin care products through trial and error, I suggest drinking plenty of water, sleeping early, and smiling a lot!”
Christine took a one year hiatus from TVB in order to launch her own beauty company and devote more time to running the daily operations. Although her celebrity status was an advantage in helping Bijinsenmon gain public awareness, it turned out that some people did not take Christine’s business venture seriously. Christine noted, “One of the obstacles in launching my own business is my background in the entertainment industry. People think that I was only treating the business as a side job and did not regard it whole-heartedly. Therefore, I have to work even harder to prove that I am really serious about it!”
Christine urged women who were interested in establishing their own business, “My best advice is: go for it! I know too many people who want to launch their own business but never succeed to do so, only because they think too much. In my opinion, there is never a perfect business plan. So go for it and fine tune your business plan in the process!” It may not be necessary to develop the perfect business plan, but a strong passion, a persistence to excel, and flexibility to adapt will likely influence the outcome.
While Christine’s beauty business experienced popularity in Hong Kong and expanded into Singapore recently, the actress will return to TVB to film upcoming heavyweight drama, War and Beauty 2 <金枝慾孽 2>, in which Christine will portray Sheren Tang’s (鄧萃雯) younger sister. Although Christine noted that she cannot reveal specific details of the story at this point, she told JayneStars.com, “War and Beauty 2 is very different from the first installment. The theme is about the dark side of the imperial family and is therefore very intense!” JayneStars.com looks forward to Christine’s return to the small screen as well as the continued success of Christine’s beauty brand, Bijinsenmon!
Note: Many thanks to Singapore’s Confirm Trading in making it possible for JayneStars.com to interview Christine Ng. This article is an original feature at JayneStars.com; please credit our site if re-posted.
Congrats to Jayne for securing this interview but it seems more like product placement than an interview proper. No test product??
Funn,
The article does focus heavily on Christine’s new slimming product; however, I thought it would be interesting for everyone to learn more about Christine’s company and slimming masks.
Hehe are you interested in trying out the masks?
Yeah! Why not? Anything beauty is for me!!
yea im interested..where to get one in malaysia??
I think you can order thru Sasa.com
So basically she took this brand into HK and now singapore..wonder how much does she needs to pay for the “franchise” payment? or it’s just a One Time cost/charge in the agreement between Christine and the product owner?
Probably profit sharing scheme
Hello! Just to clarify, Bijinsenmon is Christine’s own brand. 🙂
Who areyou Joann? Christine herself or her fan or the product Manager?
Heard tat Christine has an own brand, maybe Joann is right.
Hello!
I am from the company (Confirm Trading) and we are the sole distributor for Bijinsenmon in Singapore but my replies are my own replies from what I know. We also do sell to overseas customers 🙂
For more information about Bijinsenmon Slimming Masks, how it works and the ingredients, you can refer to here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.351277288246612.80570.128709927170017&type=1
Hope this answered your question below too!
Veejay, Fox,
As stated in the article, Christine founded her own company, Bijensenmon. However, she was not the original creator of the mask, as she chanced upon the slimming mask in Japan. However, the mask was used at a spa, thus it was likely unbranded and not widely distributed outside of the spa. She persuaded the original developer of the mask (whether through profit sharing or other acquisition arrangements are not clear) to allow Bijinsenmon to sell these masks going forward. It is not a franchise in the sense as The Body Shop, but a brand whose products can be sold through a distribution network selected by Bijinsenmon.
The above information was covered in the article, but resummarized for clarification purposes. The title of the article also states that Bijinsenmon is Christine’s beauty company. While not explicitly stated in the article, her husband also helps her administer the company.
Christine’s situation is not too different than if we were to dine at a restaurant and we came across a wonderful Thai curry sauce that triggers our entrepeneurial excitement. In this case, the sauce (like most restaurant sauces) is unbranded and not available outside of the restaurant. The chef/ restaurant owner may be the original developer of the sauce and we can persuade him to either sell the sauce recipe for a one-time lump fee or through other financial arrangement. We promise to mass produce the sauce, bottle it, sell the sauce and widely distribute it. The original sauce recipe may even be slightly tweaked in the process to fit production needs. This situation happens all the time, where the original creators sell their ideas/products to a company who has the financial resources to brand it and release to the wider market.
I like reading this kind of story. Reminds me of the one posted about Chrissy Chau. Nice to see Christine “thinking out of the box” and trying to establish her own company. I wish her nothing but success!
TVBFanatic,
Glad you enjoy reading about Christine’s founding of her beauty company. I enjoy reading about others’ entrepreneurial ideas and finding success based on their unique skills as well.
You mean of franchise?
Fox,
A franchise would be an operation such as McDonald’s, The Body Shop, Dunkin Donuts, etc. which allows anyone, such as you and I with enough money to pay a franchise fee to sell these products exclusively. The money that franchisees pay includes knowledge on how to run the operations, adhere to the franchise chain’s overall image and quality, customer service, etc. The franchisee is allowed to sell only that brand’s products and may have limited freedom on how to manage the retail store. “The recipe for retail success” is already well researched and developed and the franchisee technically pays and learns how to duplicate that recipe locally. McDonald’s headquarters spends money on research and development of their food products, advises its franchisees on retail management concepts, launches national marketing etc. Franchisees operate their local retail stores based on McDonald’s regional directions.
Christine’s Bijinsenmon beauty company is not a franchise operation based on the model of what franchise operation is. Most beauty brands are sold through regional geographic distributors (Who then manage the retail stores that such products are available at). So Christine’s company would be responsible for the R&D, production, marketing, striking agreements with distributors who will then manage where the products are sold. Christine’s company is no different than interntaional cosmetic brands such as Neutrogena, Clearasil, etc. This allows the company to focus on the product itself, while the distribution and retail management side is handled separately. Thus Christine’s company would not have to deal with independent franchisees, where she would just deal with a smaller number of distributors, making the communications and management a lot easier.
The above is just based on my business knowledge and of course I am not Christine’s company’s spokesperson. But it is quite clear that her company is not a franchise operation.
Ok, maybe I understand her company much. From wat you said in first post, I thought of franchise. And then with the second post, I think of distribution.
I do believe that certain masks have whitening effects and other essence but slimming? How did they do that?? I know there is a cream in the market where it can helps to reduce the size of your arms/thigh/ etc by burning its fat and the effect after applying the cream is really hot like sunburn but slimming?
Frankly I believe in masks and all but slap some mask for slimming? No. But doesn’t hurt to try.
Uhm, I guess it is hot. But if it is, then it isn’t good for skin anyway.
wow the mask is about RM106.40 for 4pcs.. so so so expensive..
Yes but SKII more expensive
yea if compare with SKII, that’s cheap. SKII is too expensive imo. My friend told me that SKII is expensive just because they have to pay high model’s fees to Sammi, LeeJkit, and other well known artists. That’s why their products are so expensive.
You are right Veejay, cosmetics are in a monopolistic competition with alot of competitiors with differentiated products which are near substitutes.
A big portion of the price you pay include ads and packaging to signal a superior product to the audience. Obviously other costs needs to be covered as well 🙂
yep, they are expensive just because they’ve to cover up the cost of their models…Sammi Cheng isn’t cheap to hire! lol.
Hello! If you wish to purchase Bijinsenmon Slimming Mask for Overseas users, please feel free to contact us at [email protected] 🙂 Thank you!
do they deliver to australia?
We do! 🙂 Please email us. 🙂
SKll isn’t that “high grade” to be honest. SKll is owned by Proctor and Gamble which also makes Olay and covergirl.
But some do swear by that water thing. What’s it called? That bottle of water thing.
Rice water?
The smell was stinky when I first use their Miracle Water. Smell just like pee
But what’s the product name? Apparently it works. And it is also very expensive.
Ahhh you’re using! So how is it?
Funn,
I don’t find the product very useful because my skin still look the same like before I use it even lol. I’ve changed my skin care product to Sekkisei Kose now and the price for Sekkisei is pretty much reasonable although some of their products are quite costly but their toner and mask are really good in term of producing your skin into more transculent and hydrated.
I’ve stop using SKII for several years liao.. Many of my friends who are ex-skII users also said their products r just so-so.
Funn,
If you plan hydrate your skin or even make it firmer, then try out those collagen drinks. You can try NH Colla Plus or GNC whitening collagen which has over 13000mg more than a normal collagen rate. According to the GNC staff there, the additional mg won’t goes waste in your body since a human body only requires 5000mg of collagen, the additional/extra will rebuild your other tissue/wound etc. NH Colla is around RM150-160 (a supply of 30 days) and GNC is around RM199 (now doing promotion, only costs rm152) a supply of 30 days too.
It’s the Facial Treatment Essence.. the ingredient that’s in this line is Pitera which is a type of yeast that’s suppose to make your skin softer and younger. I’ve just started using the SK ii line after my friend had raved about it. I’ve used it for about a month and half and I do feel my skin a lot different. I used to break out and had bumpy skin from acne scars but after a month of using the cleanser and essence I feel my skin is so much softer and smooth. So I think it might not hurt to try our the slimming masks Christine has. You never know what the results will be until you give it to try. There are so many beauty products out there .. you really have to try to see if it suits your skin.
Isn’t it possible that some people might still be allergic to her masks? LOL, I prefer drinking black coffee and eat chilli instead.
Pills are different but im sceptical that slimming masks will work. Why can’t people just exercise?
Agree, I prefer exercise to slim body or tone up muscles. Just sleeping by putting on slimming mask won’t do any magic hehe.
Hello! Actually, the purpose of the slimming masks are to help you burn and breakdown the fats at the specific area and reduce the water retention but just like what you girls have said…to maintain and keep it off, we definitely have to excercise. 🙂
@Joann,
I know in the market there is cream with Chili ingredient to help burn down fats and etc on body..but what do you have in the mask to burn off fat?
And after applying those chili cream your body will feel like its burning and that’s perfectly normal to burn off fat.
Have replied you in the post above. Hope it helps! 🙂
Exercise in the wrong way also harmful, do you know that? Even over exercise is also harmful. Eat chilli, black coffee are also bad way to slim down.
So have a good and healthy plan if wanna slim down.
hi exoidus, how do you get to put a picture of yourself up in your avatar?
I would like to put a pic of myself and my husband up too, LOL!
exoidus, do you have Skype?
I’m curious as to what the HK celebrities use or do to their skin to look so flawless? Do they do laser treatments, chemical peels or whitening?
Anyone know??
BB cream :P.
Wish her all the success!
She’s GREAT !!!
Congratulations, Jayne, for landing this exclusive interview! It’s great to see an actress try her hand at something different. Christine also makes a great spokesperson for her product; I can’t believe that she is 43 years old. She looks amazing and has so few lines.
Almost makes me want to try her product! 🙂