Asia's first on-line cosmetic shop aims to rival make-up mecca in Lockhart Road

The place to go shopping for cosmetics in Hong Kong is Lockhart Road in Causeway Bay. The fact that it is one of the most exhaust-ridden streets in the territory poses no discouragement to the ardent female cosmetics buyers, who flock there for the unparalleled selection.

It's all there: French luxury brands and full-service counter help at Sogo and Seibu; earthy, trade-not-aid lotions and soaps from the Body Shop; discounted brand names for half the retail price at Sa Sa; small, impulse-friendly portions of the latest lip and nail colours at Red Earth; and barrels of shampoos spilling on to the sidewalks in front of countless smaller shops.

Ian Smith, managing director of looks.com, calls this stretch of Lockhart Road 'Cosmetics Alley'. But if Mr Smith has anything to do with it, his Internet cosmetics retailer will help bring down the area's predominance by luring women in Hong Kong and the rest of Asia to buy make-up on-line instead.

Set to launch in early December, looks.com appears to be the first Asian cosmetics retailer to open up for business on the Internet.

That is about six months after US sites, such as eve.com, cosmeticconnection.com, and ibeauty.com, started targeting mascara-dependent Web surfers in the Western hemisphere, though it is in tandem with the many others following suit - including a US$50 million bet by industry giant Procter & Gamble, called reflect.com.

Looks.com will carry about 10 boutique brands, in addition to its own basic in-house line of lip, eye and nail colour, according to Mr Smith. The site will include editorial content, free e-mail accounts and eventually streaming video how-to's. Shipping will be done from a warehouse near Chek Lap Kok airport.

Make-up and cosmetics are far from a frivolous business. Mr Smith estimates that Asians spend $30 billion each year on the stuff, half of it for skin care. And unlike many of today's starry-eyed Internet entrepreneurs who hope to someday make money from on-line advertising or e-commerce partnerships, Mr Smith expects to be profitable in just over a year, from the sale of goods.