Glamacy & Chicca by Kanebo

Some of you may be familiar with a Kanebo makeup brand, Twany, which is retailed in Japanese drugstores and specialty makeup stores. Come 16 April, Twany will be replaced with a new brand, Glamacy. Glamacy is positioned as a brand for ladies in their 30s with the tagline, "Transforming adults into beauties"("大人を美人に変え"). Glamacy's makeup is designed to respond to the needs of ladies in their 30s who prefer colors that play up their natural beauty and a more refined, elegant look instead of just sporting the latest trendy shades. To reflect the brand image, the "cool modern" product packaging comes in glamorous blue-black and elegant champagne gold tones. The price range for the brand is 1260yen for their eyeshadow singles to 5040yen for an eyeshadow trio palette.

In case you're wondering about the name, it reflects the Japanese fondness for shortening and combining words to come up with new words. (For example, 'personal computer' is known as "paso-con" in Japanese.) The name "Glamacy" is a combination of "glamorous" and "supremacy".

Kanebo will also launch a new brand, Chicca, targeted at mature ladies in their 50s to 60s on 5 March. Chicca (pronounched "key-ka"), which means "cute" in Milanese, will be an ultra-exclusive high-end skincare and makeup brand which will be sold only in select department stores such as Isetan's Shinjuku branch in Tokyo and Hankyu's Osaka Umeda branch. Created by noted makeup artist Yoshikawa Yasuo, the prices range from 5250yen for its Enticing Lipstick to 10,500yen for its Ravishing Beauty Cream Foundation.