Korean Beauty – Trends and Regulations

TAGS:  Skin Care    

Wikipedia defines K-Beauty as “K-Beauty (Korean: 케이뷰티; RR: Keibyuti) is an umbrella term for skin-care products that are derived from South Korea. The fad gained popularity worldwide, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and the US and focuses on health, hydration and an emphasis for brightening effects”.

One interesting fact is that no one dare to define K-Beauty even in Korea, where K-Beauty was first born. Even though the world has been habitually enjoying the word for quite a decade, no one knows when, where and whom it came from. And even the concept and perception differ from country to country.

One thing for sure is that "K" means Korea, and I can confidently say that it is the innovative trend that is now hitting the globe.

Let's discover the key trends & regulations specific to Korean beauty & how K-beauty is different from other Asian beauty trends.

What are the Trends that are Seen Over the Years?

The big trend of K-Beauty's fashion doesn't seem much different from that of the global market. Believe it or not, it is no exaggeration to say that some of such global market trends began in the Korean peninsula.

Above all, K-Beauty was the first to announce its presence with natural cosmetics. Those typical brands which have already maintained the use and marketing concepts of natural cosmetics for a long period of time include:


In fact, according to a survey of foreign consumers, "natural cosmetics" were cited as one of the representative images of K-Beauty.

Going back to the 90’s, it was the time that K-Beauty actually showed a first move with some innovative product categories.

First introduced in Japan, BB cream products bloomed in Korea market and became a global item, and consequently K-Beauty announced the birth of CC cream. Not only that. Sheet mask is a representative K-Beauty item, which have shown an explosive growth in the U.S. and European market beyond Asia in recent years.


As time passes K-beauty has constantly pioneered new genre, such as foundation cushion, sleeping packs, anti-pollution products, and commercialization of new ingredients, which you have heard of at least once before. If you never heard of ‘essence’ and have no idea what it is, you are to be a novice in K-Beauty.


Not only the products but the way of coordination. This skincare routine is already popular in the globe some emphasizing on using multiple products at a time; 8 step, 10 step, or up to 13, 16 steps.

Make-up trends tend to keep its ‘naturalism’ at all time, but its naming, new item, and colors shows variety by season. Natural make-up has evolved now into fake make-up or no make-up look.

How is K-beauty Different from Other Asian Beauty Trends?

K-Beauty has such a fast product cycle. To survive as a cosmetics brand in Korea with four distinct seasons, the company should introduce new products in line with the ever-changing season that changes every three months. It would have been a shock to the market, which typically took at least years to launch a new product. Now, due to the influence of K-Beauty, the cycle of launching new products in all industries has been reduced.


This also applies to consumer trends, such as make-up routines. But there’s one trend that never changes, i.e. pursuing a natural beauty. Korean people prefer to wear a thin, light, natural and even a transparent make-up challenging facial flaws which shows an extreme naturalism. This tendency was one of K-Beauty’s tradition and what has been remarkably distinguished by other regions in Asia.

This is why K-Beauty focuses mainly on skincare, believing that healthy skin basically leads to a healthy make-up. If you have a genuine nice-looking skin, you won’t need to wear a thick, artificial looks.

In terms of consumer characteristics, Korean consumers are known to be so picky, easily empirical and tend to challenge new things without fear. That is why Korea market is to be the test bed for global leading brands to first launch new products.

In terms of industrial structure, Korea has Cosmax and Korea Kolmar, the world's leading OEM/ODM companies, which is an easy source to manufacture products for up to nearly 20,000 brand companies in Korea.

Classification	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	CAGR   (2015-2019)
Manufacturer	1,430 ea	1,627 ea	1,842 ea	2,139 ea	2,865 ea	19.0 %
Brand Holder	5,338 ea	7,117 ea	9,241 ea	11,877 ea	15,457 ea	30.4 %

Korea Manufacturer & Brand Holder Status (MFDS, 2019)

It is convergence with other industries that K-Beauty went beyond just the cosmetics industry and was heavily influenced by K-culture content, such as:

• K-pop
• K-drama, and
• K-movie

There are far more young, trendy and fun factors than J-Beauty, where consistency based on quality and technology has become a tradition.

Last of all, K-beauty has grown into an export-based industry at this point. On the back of this growth, government support also served a big favor for the export. It is true that J-Beauty has also seen a rapid increase in exports recently, but not many will be aware of the fact that Korea ranks fourth in the global cosmetic export amount followed by France, US and Germany.

Rank	Country	Export Amount (Unit: Million $)					CAGR  (2015-2019)
		2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
1	FRA	13,058	13,326	15,245	16,983	17,552	7.7 %
2	USA	9,413	9,540	10,162	10,737	11,006	4.0 %
3	GER	8,002	8,301	8,691	9,684	9,472	4.3 %
4	KOR	2,953	4,224	4,997	6,308	6,571	23.4 %
5	JPN	1,887	2,719	3,703	5,252	5,868	22.1 %
6	ITA	4,186	4,714	5,175	5,790	5,682	32.8 %
7	CHN	3,172	3,195	3,778	4,411	4,760	7.9 %
8	ESP	3,127	3,322	3,782	4,433	4,725	10.7 %

What Regulations Do We See Specific to K-beauty?

There are three unique regulations that have been implemented recently.

• First is the 'Labeling allergen contained in fragrance'. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) requires labeling allergen on the list from Jan. 1, 2020, if the corresponding ones are used.
• Secondly, it is the operation of the above-mentioned 'customized cosmetics law'. The government has decided to allow the production and management of cosmetics based on individual skin characteristics and conditions while operating an individual’s "customized cosmetics manufacturing license" through such tests.
• Third, the Recycling packaging material evaluation Act, which began to take effect on September 25, 2020. Although the law does not apply only to cosmetic packaging, all such containers must be judged according to self-evaluation and review by a government agency, and labeling should also be added. Violation of this will result in a hefty fine, depending on the case.

What are the Latest Innovations Brands are Coming Up With?

As mentioned earlier, the recent innovation in the Korean cosmetics market is in line with the global trend.

• First of all, sustainability. Korea’s major firms have already begun developing biodegradable or recyclable packaging materials. Such changes have become a must for K-Beauty, not an option, as products that use materials that are difficult to recycle have to be added with negative labeling with fines. 
• Second is the expansion of natural ingredient replacement and “free” marketing. They want to use fewer or fewer chemicals as these are available for replacement with natural ones. On the other hand, it is appealing to consumers by saying ‘chemical-free’ that it is a safe product, which excludes things that are perceived as potentially harmful, such as parabens, alcohols, etc. 
• Third is product development related to Covid-19. As mask wearing becomes more common, lipstick products that do not smudge easily, non-irritant products, trouble care products are gaining popularity.

Wrapping Up…

Is K-Beauty a product, item, genre, culture, awareness, industry, consumer trend, or a complex concept or else? The answer may be in each one of you. K-Beauty is so diverse for generations, regions, perceptions, countries or interests. Yeah, this variety is K-Beauty itself. Never try to define one in general. K-Beauty is a versatile package inside you.