Joyce Cheng, daughter of late Hong Kong icon Lydia Shum, on how the city’s attitude towards beauty, body positivity and mental health is changing for the better – interview
- Joyce Cheng – Canto-pop singer, actress and daughter of comedian Lydia Shum – was just named ambassador for Benefit’s Love Your Brows campaign emphasising self-love
- A plus-sized woman who’s collaborated with brands like Dolce & Gabbana and The Body Shop, Cheng is passionate about body positivity and empowering women
Recently named ambassador for Benefit’s Love Your Brows campaign, singer and actress Joyce Cheng, aka the daughter of late Hong Kong comedian Lydia Shum Din-ha, is really starting to make her presence known.
To date, she’s collaborated with numerous brands – from Uber Eats and American Eagle Outfitters to The Body Shop and Dolce & Gabbana – but Benefit’s recent one, which emphasises self-love, illustrates her influence as a public figure and her passion for two causes in particular: body positivity and mental health.
In a place where rigid beauty standards and stigma around candid mental health discussions still linger, Cheng’s presence in the beauty industry puts her at the forefront of change as it starts to open up to different ideas of what healthy looks like.
We interviewed Cheng to get a grasp of how exactly this gradual shift of perspective in Hong Kong is happening.
Congratulations on becoming the latest Benefit ambassador! Why do you think the brand chose you?
I’m very happy to work with Benefit, and I think maybe one of the reasons why they chose me to be one of their new ambassadors is because they feel like I have a very bold personality and I’m not afraid to speak my mind, stand up for what I believe in, to embrace my flaws, and even learn to love them and enhance them.
How do you feel Benefit represents the beauty industry as a whole?
What sets Benefit cosmetics apart from other cosmetics brands is that it has been a bold, empowering brand right from the very beginning. It was founded by a pair of twin sisters. Their very first product was a lip and blush tint made for an exotic dancer as a nipple tint. How bold is that? How forward thinking is that? Personally, I feel like they’ve become very successful because very early on, they found their niche and they really managed to stand firm and represent themselves as a brand that is expert at doing, [for example], brow shaping and really loving and enhancing your eyebrows.
What are your thoughts on the beauty and skincare industry in Hong Kong and the rest of Asia? How do you think it has evolved and what hurdles do brands and individuals still face?