K-beauty focus: Trends and innovations from South Korea’s cosmetics market

CJ Olive Young strengthens premium position with new retail brand​

CJ Olive Young is rolling out its new retail brand, Luxe Edit to strengthen its position in the growing premium beauty market.

Luxe Edit will retail over 30 domestic and foreign brands, including Hera, Estee Lauder, and THREE.

The introduction of Luxe Edit will also mark the debut of seven brands, including care brands such as BeginS, Olaplex, and Philip B.

K-beauty exports: Less dependence on China, greater market diversification – MFDS​

South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) plans to intensify its market diversification strategies and tap into promising growth in SEA and Europe, as China exports dip.

The MFDS announced on July 6 that the country’s cosmetics exports surpassed KRW10tn (USD8bn) for the second consecutive year in 2022.

Despite a 2.2% decline from the previous year, South Korea remains the fourth largest cosmetics exporter in the world after France, US and Germany.

Sun patches score domestic success, but overseas opportunities in the balance – K-beauty expert​

South Korean cosmetics brands such as IOPE and Mediheal have hopped on the bandwagon of sun patches, which have gone viral on social media.

At the forefront of the constantly evolving beauty industry is South Korea, where novel sun protection patches have been a hit among local consumers and garnered attention from international audiences on TikTok.  

First picked up by golfers, these patches have become increasingly popular among general consumers for their ease of use and multifunctional benefits.

Florihana targets Korea on the back of increasing demand for naturals in skin care, fragrance​

Florihana is pushing to expand in South Korea to tap into the consumer demand for natural fragrances in both skin care and fine fragrances.

The drive for natural fragrances is being fuelled by the growing consumer awareness and interest in fragrance, which started during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Now seems to be the time to develop our business in the Korean market. The skin care market might be very saturated in Korea, but there are still opportunities for natural fragrances,”​ said Milie Durante, sales manager, Florihana.

Behind the resurrection of first-gen K-beauty brands Skinfood, Nature Republic, Etude​

First-generation K-beauty brands have navigated their way back to relevancy by banking on brand values, zeroing in on trends and playing on nostalgia.

Etude House, Nature Republic, Skinfood and Tony Moly are familiar names to any beauty aficionado. Over a decade ago, these brands were the hottest beauty brands in a market that was quickly becoming dominated by South Korean players.

These brands introduced us to the fun and innovation of K-beauty but had since been become lost among the wave of intense competition from new brands.