An increasing number of consumer-goods companies are entering the beauty sector and a number of international beauty brands like Estée Lauder are investing in/acquiring Korean Beauty brands.
Korean women use 10 to 18 skin-care productsIncludes two-step cleansing with both an oil cleanser and second step cleanser, a booster, essence, toner, water oil, serum, ampoule, moisturizer, and sleeping packs. Source: Grazia Daily in a day, Korean men spend more on cosmetics per head than any other country, and it is common for kids to go to Jimjilbang (Korean spa) with their families for washing, scrubbing, and relaxing.
This culture has led to the emergence of around 2000 beauty brands, each pushing for innovation that contributes to an overall thriving industry.
Korea has also, therefore, become the test-ground for cosmetic companies to test innovations with highly knowledgeable consumers, who love to try new cosmetic trends.
K-beauty products are known to be the most innovative (10 years ahead of even the US) – Korean companies popularised the merging of foundation, moisturizer, anti-aging cream, whitening agent, and sunscreen in one product – the world-famous concept of BB cream.
BB cream has become famous in the last 10 years, but Koreans are said to have been using it for over 30 years.
Factor 2: Government’s increased focus on exports.
The government was too focused on consumer durable exports (Samsung, LG, Hyundai), but when the country faced a financial crisis in the 1990s, the government decided to diversify.
A part of this diversification strategy was the export of media & entertainment, which led to the Korean wave called Hallyu (i.e. Korean culture such as pop, food, etc. expanding to the rest of the world).
Beauty items are integrated into the plots of most K-Dramas & some of the celebrities (BTS, Wonder Girls, Psy) who have become global names heavily promote beauty products.
The government also gives tax breaks to export-only companies, like Wishtrend, a beauty company that sells only to America, and doesn’t have to pay any taxes in the country.
Factor 3: Korean Beauty products are not cosmetics but cosmeceuticals.
Korean Beauty brands are known to use unusual, natural ingredients such as snail mucus to combine cosmetics and therapeutics and focus on skin-problem prevention, instead of treatment.
