Subject
- #K-beauty
- #Korean skincare
Inside K-beauty’s second coming
Korean beauty’s rapid rise 10 years ago eventually led to market saturation and consumer fatigue. Now, it’s enjoying a resurgence.
“Korean skincare is living in 2050.” Goes the phrase cropping up across a number of TikToks and Instagram Reels, as more and more people discover the advanced — almost futuristic — qualities of K-beauty.
Korean skincare’s initial and rapid proliferation in 2015/2016 introduced complex 10-step routines, ingredients like ginseng and the ‘glass skin’ trend, propelling brands such as Laneige, Peach & Lily, Glow Recipe and Innisfree into the spotlight. Yet, this rapid rise eventually led to market and consumer fatigue. Now, the category is experiencing a second coming, fuelled by renewed social media virality and a seemingly insatiable consumer appetite for ingredients-focused skincare.
K-Beauty surges as overseas direct sales hit $1 billion, doubling in a year
Last year, the amount of direct purchases of Korean cosmetics and perfumes by foreigners approached $1 billion (approximately 1.4 trillion won).
On the 6th, according to data submitted by the Korea Customs Service to People Power Party lawmaker Park Seong-hoon, the amount of overseas direct purchases of fragrances and cosmetics last year was $973 million. This is double the amount of the previous year in 2023 ($523 million).
Riding the K-beauty wave, the size of product direct purchases grew more than 17 times from $55 million (approximately 763 million won) in 2019 to last year. K-beauty accounted for one-third of the total amount of overseas direct purchases (approximately $2.9 billion) last year. Since surpassing clothing in 2018 to become number one, K-beauty items have consistently maintained their position.
