The South Korean beauty and personal care company, which owns brands Sulwhasoo, Laneige and Innisfree, attributed the success of the brand to increasing scalp care and hair loss concerns, which it believes have been triggered by the changing climate.
The rapid change in weather and temperature can cause an imbalance in the scalp and ultimately lead to hair loss, said the firm.
The interest in scalp care has been on the rise in the past few years thanks to the ‘skinification’ of hair care According to Mintel, 47% of Chinese consumers believe a healthy scalp was key to healthy hair.
Earlier this year, CosmeticsDesign-Asia reported that scalp care would become even more important in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on health awareness. It also suggested that research into the scalp microbiome would lead to more product innovations in this space.
Backed by green tea research
Launched in March 2020, LABO-H was backed by a decade of Amorepacific’s research into scalp skin, its microbiome and green tea probiotics research.
LABO-H’s best-selling scalp shampoo contains Amorepacific’s patented green tea ingredient, which helps strengthen the scalp barrier and prevent hair loss while also protecting the scalp from various stress factors like pollution.
According to the firm, the shampoo can help to relieve hair loss symptoms by 67.6%. Human trials also showed that the formula could reduce the number of hairs lost by one-third.
The product claims to help alleviate the symptoms of hair loss within six weeks of use.
After one application, the shampoo claims to remove 99.8% of ultrafine dust pollution and 86.7% of scalp oil. It also can increase scalp moisture by 81.9% while managing hair volume, elasticity and shine.
Amorepacific began researching green tea in the 1980s and has since delved into the study of probiotics in the plant.
The company holds the first patent for green tea lactic acid bacteria, which was discovered in 2010 when researching green tea from its own organic tea fields on Jeju Island.
The potential of this research prompted the company to establish the Green Tea Probiotics R&D centre to advance the research of its green tea strain.
Since then, the institute has published several findings in the realm of dermatology as well as dietary health. In 2020, it revealed that the green tea lactobacillus exosomes had anti-inflammatory effects on the skin.
Smart marketing
Aside from the product efficacy, LABO-H also owes its product popularity to a successful marketing campaign involving two popular Korean comedians Kang Yu-mi and Lee Taek-jo who took part in a live streaming broadcast in partnership with a drugstore chain.
LABO-H received further attention with the endorsements of singer Mir and actor Go Eun-ah who have both been open with their hair loss struggles.