Mininurse, originally a Chinese skincare brand that was acquired by L'Oreal Group in 2003, seems to be fading away in the Chinese market, according to the China Business News Thursday.

Some industry insiders and Chinese customers are questioning L'Oreal's real purpose in the acquisition. Some even doubt that it (acquisition) is a platform by which L'Oreal promotes it own brand, Garnier, in China, which has a similar product positioning to Mininurse.

According to the media platform, many promising local Chinese brands, after being acquired by overseas companies, lose their essence {popularity}, and Mininurse is only one of them.

The legitimate purpose has never been to eliminate this brand afterwards, said Paolo Gasparrini, president of L'Oreal China. The company took four years to finally acquire Mininurse, hoping the transaction could help L'Oreal expand in China.

But it is true that L'Oreal did not achieve the initial goal in developing Mininurse, added Gasparrini.

Soon after L'Oreal acquired Mininurse in 2003, it had already started to lose a small portion of its distributors, for sales were shrinking, said Gu Jun, an official from a related department in Guangdong.

Mininurse's management approach before the acquisition was quite different from L'Oreal's, which also justifies its transparizing in the market, he added.

Launched in 1992, Mininurse has become one of the top three skincare brands in China, with 5 percent of the market occupation.