The beauty business in the Kingdom is growing rapidly as incomes are rising and the middle-class is growing, industry insiders told the Post yesterday.

In the first three months of this year, the Kingdom imported cosmetic products worth $9.9 million, an increase of 130 per cent compared with the same period last year, import data from the Ministry of Commerce showed.

Meanwhile, interest in beauty treatments is increasing as well, said Sim Sovanratana, a US-trained cosmetician and director of EL Skin & Wellness Center in Phnom Penh.

“While wealthy families and a middle-class are emerging, the beauty sector is booming as well,” she said.  

Since its start in 2002 as the second professional training institute in Phnom Penh, much has changed for the Christina Beauty School, which now has four branches in Phnom Penh.

“At that time, many people were just earning enough to survive and beauty was a luxury rarely considered,” Sun Heang, director of the Christina Beauty School, told the Post.

“[Today,] there might be thousand salons and beauty centres in Phnom Penh,” she added. “[The business] is flourishing like a mushroom.”  

According to industry insiders, young Cambodians open to Korean culture and lifestyle are a main driver for the development of the industry.

Ly Kimseang, the general manager of the Cambodian Beauty School, the Kingdom’s first professional training institute, said young Cambodians are very interested in beauty, especially girls.

“[Thus], men are gradually thinking more about their appearance and [are] spending their money for a better look,” she said.

Skilful people who offer good services can be very successful in the salon business, she added.  

According to the National Institute of Statistics, about 74 per cent of Cambodia’s population was younger than 34 years old in 2011 and incomes were growing.