'Sun Care' Emerging as a K-Beauty Representative Product

Weekly Summary - Sept 9, 2024

Here are some of the domestic and international beauty & health-related issues that have occurred over the past week.

While the export trend of Korean cosmetics continues steadily, the popularity of sun care products is particularly prominent. From January to July this year, sales in the sun care category at Olive Young Global Mall increased by a whopping 90% compared to the same period last year. In the case of Kolmar Korea, which recorded more than 300 billion won (U$224,103,150) in sun care sales last year, sun care sales in the first half of this year accounted for 80% of last year's total sales. 

According to Euromonitor, the global sun care market is growing at a double-digit rate every year, with 11.2% in 2022 and 15.6% in 2023. Against this background, it is predicted that it is only a matter of time before sun care becomes a signature item of K-beauty.

There is another phenomenon that stands out in relation to exports. This is a surge in exports of K-skincare to Hong Kong. According to the Korea Customs Service, as of the end of July this year, K-skincare exports to Hong Kong reached $30 million, recording a year-on-year growth rate of 39.5%. This significant increase in exports is due to the end of the pandemic and a significant increase in tourists.  The point is the composition of tourists. Recently, a large proportion of tourists visiting Hong Kong are Chinese. This can be inferred from the increasing number of Chinese visitors to Hong Kong purchasing K-skincare.

The popularity of K-beauty is spreading to other fashion items. A typical case is colored lenses.  Recently, the popularity of 'K-color lenses' among the Millenials and Gen Z in the United States has been expanding, and exports of related companies have increased significantly.

CEO Lee Yu-bin, who founded the successful K-beauty indie brand 'TIRTIR', has disposed of all his holdings and resigned as CEO. The amount of money that Lee got from the stake sale is estimated to be 140 billion won (U$ 104,573,601). The success story of the cosmetics startup 'APR' founded by a college student is even more dramatic. This is because the company has raised its value to 2 trillion won (U$ 1.5 billion) in just 10 years since its founding.

Chinese online retail giant AliExpress is trying to ride the K-beauty craze that is spreading around the world. Ali, who announced the opening of a beauty specialty center next month, is making an all-out effort to attract K-beauty companies by offering unconventional benefits such as fee waivers.

Due to the recent hot and humid weather, sales of pore cosmetics have increased significantly.  As climate change intensifies, the industry expects the popularity of pore care products that can effectively manage sweat, sebum, and other impurities and maintain makeup for a long time will increase in the future.

Domestic pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are expanding their entry into cosmetics.  Olive Young's pharmaceutical bio company cosmetics are HK inno. N) There are more than 10 companies, including the slow-aging skincare brand 'Bewants', Dong-A Pharmaceutical's trouble care brand 'Pation', Samjin Pharmaceutical's vegan skincare brand 'Simplog', Hugel's derma cosmetics brand 'Wellage', and Dongkook Pharmaceutical's derma cosmetics brand 'Centellian 24'.

For more information, please visit THE K BEAUTY SCIENCE website.

K-뷰티 대표주자로 떠오르는 '선케어'...식약처 '피부나이' 표현 금지 < VIEWS < 기사본문 - THE K BEAUTY SCIENCE (thekbs.co.kr)