Located next to the Hsinchu Train Station, Wante Cosmetics has been around for over eight decades. On the lower right is a business card dating back to the period of Japanese rule. (courtesy of Wante)

A traditional cosmetics brand once on the brink of going out of business has recently experience a revival, with sales peaking after the brand became a hot topic on the Internet. It is now a favorite with many young people. What makes this old brand name so special? Why has it been able to find new life despite a total lack of advertising and very little in the way of sales channels?

Wante Cosmetics is inconspicuously located beside an underground passage in the vicinity of the Hsinchu train station. This shop, which serves both as a home and a packing facility, has only one narrow, little wooden display counter, spilling over with all kinds of products. It is attended by Cheng Yun-chiao (a.k.a., Grandma Wante) who is responsible for sales and is the daughter-in-law of Wante Cosmetics founder Liu Chin-yuan.

The store seems to be nothing out of the ordinary, but a closer look reveals the company's logo intricately cast in the iron bars spanning the shop's windows-a testimony to Wante's former glory. Grandma Wante proudly explains, "Our shop has been around since the period of Japanese rule. Many stores in Hsinchu used to produce face powder. They all did well, but now, we're the only one left."