South Korea remains the most lucrative facial care market, having both high spend and high growth rates, and is also the third biggest market in terms of value sales - behind Japan and China, research company Mintel reports.
Masqueology by Beauty Architects, a leading Korean skin care facial mask brand, has introduced a new line of face masks in the US.
The Masqueology face masks are now available in 3,000 Walmart locations across the US and online.
Marketed as affordable sheet masks, the Korean company’s business objective is to make the country’s skin care products accessible to everyone in the US.
Investing in the Three-Ologies, the brand, which brought the Korean phenomenon to the US, creates products based on biology, technology and psychology.
“The core of Masqueology is creating products that are easy, fast, and effective. To achieve this goal, we constantly strive to find the most innovative ways to deliver the best ingredients. Innovation is the driving force behind Beauty Architects,” said Phillip Ha, CEO, Masqueology.
"K-Beauty has been at the forefront of skin care in Asia for the last 10 years and we are proud to bring the best products to the US," adds Ha.
Younger audience
The masks, which are designed to follow the contours of the face for better results, lean towards younger generations with brands like TonyMoly (Sephora, Ulta, Urban Outfitters retailers in the US), Mintel reported.
Made famous by the country’s explosive K-beauty trend, Masqueology by Beauty Architects has received support from celebrities. The brand has featured in a variety of Western publications such as New Beauty and New York Times, along with a selection of TV programmes including The Today Show and Talk.
Future products
Previously, the premium products were only available at high-end spas and boutiques as part of the luxury cosmetics market. However, the brand has now announced it will be expanding its masks into the body and hair sectors due to consumer demand.
This winter, the brand will release a line of deep treatment hair masks infused with treated ingredients to moisturise, volumise and provide damage care. Extracts that will feature in Masqueology’s three product lines include blueberry, camelia, honey and macadamia.
In 2017, the brand will present new speciality masks and skin care products too.
Mintel reports that there is room for sheet/mask facial care brands to offer more premium innovations that are focused on multiple benefits (e.g. anti-ageing, anti-acne), using standout and unique ingredients (e.g. horse oil, bird’s nest, snail extract, donkey milk, konjac, lentils) and novel colours and designs.