A guide to translation and multilingual communication services for the beauty and personal care industry. Read about the required skills for working with cosmetic copy in a multicultural context.

1. Conveying beauty through language...
Quick Guide to Translation
for the Beauty Industry
Communiquer en beauté...

2. Q U I C K G U I D E TO T R A N S L AT I O N FO R T H E B E AU T Y I N D U S T RY
How does translation tie in with cosmetics
or beauty products? The beauty industry is
a global business spanning across many
cultures and borders.
All multinational beauty companies have
started out locally and grown beyond their
own markets with the help of entire armies
of advertising, copywriting and marketing
experts who help shape their international
product offering in line with the target
consumers.
CAN YOU SPOT
THE DIFFERENCE?
The above product is a dead giveaway
for one of the most important differences between English and French: the
former being a lot more active and all
about the use of verbs and the latter
giving preference to nouns.
To learn more about multilingual communication
and translation for the beauty and cosmetics
industry, visit us at: www.beautyterm.com
Translation is part of the global effort to convince a new set of consumers to buy their
products. Product labels, packs, inserts,
brochures, advertisements and catalogs are
all translated into a myriad of languages.
Best example: we have all seen the multilanguage packaging inserts for creams,
serums and other beauty products.

3. Q U I C K G U I D E TO T R A N S L AT I O N FO R T H E B E AU T Y I N D U S T RY
What are the fundamentals, the nuts and
bolts of translating cosmetic copy? Is it
difficult or straightforward, challenging or
tedious, creative, intuitive or empirical?
How can beauty professionals buying
translation services distinguish between
good and bad translation providers? How
can they navigate between the multitude of
agencies all vying for their business?
Hiring professional language experts, and
not “language brokers” acting as nothing
more than middlemen, is the first step to
securing top-notch services.
QUALITIES TO LOOK FOR:
Style
Knowledge of Terminology and Nomenclature
Experience
Marketing Acumen: Putting a Spin on It
Consistency
To learn more about multilingual communication
and translation for the beauty and cosmetics
industry, visit us at: www.beautyterm.com

4. Q U I C K G U I D E TO T R A N S L AT I O N FO R T H E B E AU T Y I N D U S T RY
Different Types of Translation
Beauty companies generally hire translation
professionals to deliver one of two types of
translation: “for information” or “for print”.
The specifications for these jobs
will vary, but the skills required of
teh translators in completing them
will remain largely the same.
To learn more about multilingual communication
and translation for the beauty and cosmetics
industry, visit us at: www.beautyterm.com

5. Q U I C K G U I D E TO T R A N S L AT I O N FO R T H E B E AU T Y I N D U S T RY
Style
No two translators will
translate the same text
in exactly the same way
- irrespective of their
expertise, experience or
the time spent on the
task. This is particularly
true for good marketing
copy that sells.
Is style important? Style is
everything when it comes to
marketing luxury and beauty
brands. Style is also the
number one prerequisite
of successfully translated
cosmetic copy.
There are a thousand and one ways that a cosmetic
translation can come off as sounding heavy-handed, dull,
and clumsy or simply out of place, off-key. It takes real
skill to take what has been carefully honed in one language
and render it with equal elegance and sophistication in
another.
Argan oil is extremely efficient in fighting the ageing process. It restores the skin’s elasticity
thanks to a high concentration of unsaturated fatty acids and vitamins A and E.
It has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and protects the cells from free radicals.
Argan oil brings powerful anti-wrinkle and highly effective firming action. It restores
cutaneous elasticity thanks to its high content of unsaturated fatty acids and vitamins A and E
with anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. It protects cells against free radicals.
Argan oil is a powerful anti-wrinkle agent with high-performance firming action. It restores
the skin’s elasticity thanks to high concentrations of anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory unsaturated fatty acids and vitamins A and E. Argan oil also protects the cells from free radicals.
L’huile d’argan : Puissant anti-rides au pouvoir raffermissant très efficace. Redonne à la peau
son élasticité grâce à sa forte teneur en acides gras insaturés, en vitamines A et E, anti oxydant,
anti-inflammatoire. L’huile d’argan protège les cellules contre les radicaux libres.
To learn more about multilingual communication
and translation for the beauty and cosmetics
industry, visit us at: www.beautyterm.com

6. Q U I C K G U I D E TO T R A N S L AT I O N FO R T H E B E AU T Y I N D U S T RY
Terminology and Nomenclature
“anti-aging”?
“anti-age”?
“age-defying”?
“age-defense”?
“age-reversing”?
“age-deflecting”?
“pro-age”?
“age-decelerating”?
“...”?
In addition to being familiar with standard
cosmetic jargon, translators working for
the beauty industry must follow the development of market trends and technological
breakthroughs, which often dictate the
direction of the language used by a
particular company.
Translating a single document involves
hundres of choices and decisions that
must be made.
DID YOU KNOW?
According to research, Baby
Boomers are not fond of the
“anti” everything description,
preferring terms such as
“pro-age”, “pro-youth”,
“youth-preserving” and
“youth extending”.
To learn more about multilingual communication
and translation for the beauty and cosmetics
industry, visit us at: www.beautyterm.com

7. Q U I C K G U I D E TO T R A N S L AT I O N FO R T H E B E AU T Y I N D U S T RY
Experience
Experience is a strong
safeguard against costly mistakes
and embarrassment.
A seasoned language professional is
not only in full control but also deeply
aware of the necessity to do research,
maintain a good level of curiosity and
communicate with the client.
Fashion retailer Mango is a good example of a company that inadvertently
put their reputation on the line with an inexperienced translator.
Mango’s French website briefly published a product description labelling
its jewelry as “slave style”. Needless to say, the advertisement unleased
a torrent of fury among the consumers and anti-racism associations.
WHAT HAPPENED?
The word “esclava”, which means “bracelet” or “bangle” in Spanish, was
translated on the French site into “esclave”, which means “slave” in French.
Consequently, several bracelets -- and even a necklace -- were sold on
the French site under the name “slave style”.
On Mango’s English website, the items are referred to as “woven bracelets”.
To learn more about multilingual communication
and translation for the beauty and cosmetics
industry, visit us at: www.beautyterm.com

8. Q U I C K G U I D E TO T R A N S L AT I O N FO R T H E B E AU T Y I N D U S T RY
Marketing Acumen: Putting a Spin on It
Every word we set to paper is in one way or another about marketing. In the particularly
image-conscious world of cosmetics, the consumer wants to be dazzled and seduced.
Buzzwords, catchphrases and slogans are all part of the translator’s bag of tricks.
The grater your translator’s understanding of marketing strategies, the better your
chances to turn a profit and achieve fast growth.
CURIOUS FACT
(your translator should know)
In the US, a growing number of marketers
are dropping the use of articles - words
such as “the,” “a” and “an” that typically
precede many nouns. They claim that
“When you can drop an article, the brand
takes on a more iconic feel”.
Some say that omitting articles reflects
marketing professionals’ compulsion for
turning brands into religion or cults.
Others say that it’s about making the
product more personal.
Whatever the case, “the” and “a” are
surreptitiously losing their place in
marketing talk.
To learn more about multilingual communication
and translation for the beauty and cosmetics
industry, visit us at: www.beautyterm.com

9. Q U I C K G U I D E TO T R A N S L AT I O N FO R T H E B E AU T Y I N D U S T RY
Consistency
Another quality to look for in a beauty translator is consistency. A product
intended for “puffy eyes and dark circles” should not be described as targeting
“puffy bags and dark circles” or “puffiness and dark shadows”.
It is important to reproduce continuity and coherence in a translation as the
overall effect will help maintain the product’s unique identity in the marketpace.
A WORD OF CAUTION:
Beware of companies that promise to slash the cost of your translations
with translation memory (TM) software!
They will tell you that you will not be paying (or paying very little) for “repetitions” and “fuzzy matches” but ultimately the “cost savings” will cost you
money!
Why TM-based translations of cosmetic copy can be inconsistent and poor in quality:
Heavy reliance on TM software is incompatible with cosmetic copy which is diametrically opposed to
cut-and-dry legal agreements or formulaic user’s manuals.
Limited to whole sentence or segment matches, today’s TM software is counterintuitive to the human translation process (largely based on matches on the sub-segment level). It does not cover linguistic
nuances such as idiomatic expressions, colloquialisms, proverbs and metaphors.
Translators are paid less without commensurate gain in productivity. They are nevertheless required
to perform a series of tasks to run the software and to check over the “matched” results; they have to invest
in costly programs and training. As a result, they are not motivated to perform to their best.
Translation agencies that promise the moon are only interested in profit. They fail to perform the
necessary TM maintenance and are quick to assign your projects to any available translator.
The same string (potential match) but with different formatting can be either completely ignored or
return a fuzzy (incomplete) match. Inadequately maintained TMs may contain several translated versions of
the same sentence!
To learn more about multilingual communication
and translation for the beauty and cosmetics
industry, visit us at: www.beautyterm.com

10. Q U I C K G U I D E TO T R A N S L AT I O N FO R T H E B E AU T Y I N D U S T RY
A g n es M eilh ac
Beautyterm LLC
6 3 U n q u owa Ro a d
Fa ir f ield , CT 06824
U SA
agnes@beautyterm.com
+ 1 2 03 550 65 48
Jo ann Ph elp s
Be autélog ie
7 2 Blv d M ontpa rn a sse
7 5 01 4 Paris 1 4e me
Fr ance
joann@beautyterm.com
+ 3 3 ( 0) 6 07 75 73 61
Beautyterm LLC is a full-service multilingual communications
and translation consulting boutique specializing exclusively in
the personal care and cosmetics industry.
With a solid activity base in Paris and New York, the world’s
undisputed beauty capitals, Beautyterm LLC is the brainchild of
two veteran linguists, Agnes Meilhac and Joann Phelps, who use
a unique approach to international marketing communications
founded on two decades of experience.
The company offers services in a wide range of world languages.
For more information, please visit http://www.beautyterm.com/
or http://www.beautelogie.fr/ (in French).
To learn more about multilingual communication
and translation for the beauty and cosmetics
industry, visit us at: www.beautyterm.com

11. Conveying beauty through language...
Communiquer en beauté...