2 . In the past, the imported makeups(化妆品)shelves in Japan’s department stores were usually dominated(主导)by South Korean makeups. As “Chiborg boom”—Chinese-style makeup becomes popular on social media, Chinese makeups start to make inroads in Japan.

The term “Chiborg” is a Japanese-made word, which is a combination of “China” and “cyborg”, referring to a Chinese beauty so perfect and inhuman that looks like a cyborg. In the eyes of Japanese young women, “Chiborg” usually uses bright colors reminding China’s classical Peking Opera, with a focus on eyes and lips to create a sharp and chiseled(轮廓分明的)look. While Japanese-style makeup always centers around cute and innocent features, Chinese-style makeup gives an appearance that is more elegant, cool and mature.

“Chiborg” began to attract the attention of Japanese young women around 2019, when abundant information on Chinese-style makeup has been circulating on Twitter and Instagram. It spread even more after tutorial videos of Chinese-style makeup were being posted on You-Tube.

Emilin, a Japanese girl who shares information on fashion on YouTube, posted a video on “Chiborg” and harvested more than 2 million views in January this year.

Another blogger called “Shikanoma” explained the unique charm(魅力)of “Chiborg.” “Chinese-style makeup expresses the inner strength and confidence of a person and it feels new. I think the concept of a ‘cool woman’ is becoming widespread in Japan nowadays. I also desire to be a strong-willed woman,” she said.

According to Yueko Nishihara, research planner at Japanese makeup and cosmetics portal site @cosme, nowadays Japanese women tend to emphasize the emotional value of makeups, such as “I am happy to have it” or “It is fun to use”.

Furthermore, Chinese makeups are gradually shaking off the stereotype of cheap, low-quality products, said Saya Hayashi, CEO of Japan Functional Cosmetic Laboratory Co. Ltd. “A few years ago, it was thought that Chinese makeups were mainly aimed at middle and low-income groups, but in the last year or two, there has been an increase in high-price, high-quality makeups, attracting office ladies and high-income customers,” she said.

3 . You’ve heard of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday—they’re major shopping days. Now there’s another shopping day, and it’s called Secondhand Sunday, which is the brainchild of Poshmark, a social commerce marketplace that enables users to buy and sell clothing online, mostly used.

Poshmark asked global research firm Morning Consult to assess the secondhand market. It found over 90% of American adults say they would be willing to receive a secondhand or resold gift this season, but that only 34% are likely to buy them for others. This suggests a massive opportunity to close the gap—a task that Poshmark has undertaken with enthusiasm. Thus, Secondhand Sunday was born.

Poshmark is a platform on which individual sellers run their own shops and make extra cash. Secondhand Sunday has become a hit among them. While sellers have varying motivations for doing business, most are driven by the belief that buying secondhand items is important for the environment.

One such seller is Ashley Wheeler. Her husband worked as a truck driver at a landfill (垃圾填埋) site. They were both shocked at the amount of secondhand items that were getting dumped (倾倒), just because they were considered old or useless. Even when her husband asked to bring home items that still had value, he was rejected, because companies had paid the landfill site to deal with their garbage.

Wheeler said, “For us, that was a wake-up call. We realized it wasn’t just about us bringing our pre-owned items back into the market but finding other used items that companies were ready to deal with and help recycle back into use. That’s when we started to learn about Goodwill Outlets and other similar stores, where we source a majority of items. She now buys cast-off items from Goodwill’s “last chance” bins and resells them on Secondhand Sunday.

Amber McCasland, vice-president of Global Brand and Communications, said, “Secondhand Sunday is our first joint effort to change how people shop and gift during the holidays. The hope is that, instead of running out to buy new items as gifts, people will realize that it’s acceptable and even preferable to source used items instead.”