The streets of Myeong-dong are a mecca for fans of Korean cosmetics. In this shopping area of ??Seoul, all kinds of beauty stores are displayed one after another. Olive Young, Missha, Laneige, Nature Republic, Innisfree, TonyMoly, Holika Holika, Mamonde… Eye-catching offer posters hang on the entrance doors and, at street level, large bowls full of facial creams and masks rest that can be obtained for less than 5,000 won, about three euros.
In South Korea, anyone who does not take care of their skin denotes negligence, even illness. It especially happens among women, who have historically suffered more aesthetic pressure, although lately young men have also taken care of their skin. “Skin care is a pillar of Korean culture. The woman’s face is her letter of introduction in society and of course, an elemental aspect in the art of seduction. It is even more important than the clothing,” says Helena Kim, spokesperson for the Klairs brand. This young woman, who started her facial care routine when she was 12, remembers how “her grandmother would wash her face with the water resulting from boiling rice or green tea” because “she wanted to show off a young face,” the great obsession of South Korean women. .
The years have passed and, over time, Korean cosmetics products have become sophisticated to the point of attracting the attention of the industry abroad. “Since the last decade, the entire sector has been very aware of the innovations of South Korean companies. They set trends because there is a lot of investment in R&D and consumers are very demanding,” says Sara Jiménez, spokesperson for the Beauty Cluster, a Spanish association for the beauty sector based in Barcelona.
Export data confirms how interest in k-beauty (Korean beauty) has skyrocketed. In Spain, the business moved 24.5 million euros in 2023, 22% more than the previous year, according to the Kotra commercial office and the Government of Spain. Worldwide, cosmetics and perfumery exports already exceed $8 billion. According to the OEC portal and Datawheel, the main consumer countries are China, Japan, the United States, Vietnam and Russia.
Spain, along with the rest of the European countries, has little weight in terms of business volume, although the Beauty Cluster is convinced that there is great growth potential. “Ten years ago Korean cosmetics were little known in Europe but in recent years we see that interest has skyrocketed thanks to social networks and the popularity of Korean culture,” reasons Sean Kim, director of the Cosrx firm. The so-called k-wave (Korean wave) has conquered the screens with hits like Parasites or The Squid Game, and has also seduced the ears of the youngest with the catchy music of k-pop.
Are we talking about a temporary phenomenon? The brands consulted acknowledge that they would not have gotten this far without the crucial role of TikTok and Instagram, where products such as snail slime, which promise to eliminate acne marks, go viral. “It is not a passing fad, since we have seen how large Western cosmetics groups imitate the trends that are generated there. Not only in the formulation of the active ingredients, but also in the packaging, which stands out aesthetically and for its more sustainable materials,” says Jiménez. Sources from Kotra, the Korean commercial office, assure that “Korean cosmetics brands in Spain have gone from appearing in small stores on a very limited basis, to being in almost all the large cosmetics chains with exclusive sections in physical and online stores.” . Some examples of chains that incorporate Korean cosmetics on their shelves are Sephora, Primor, Druni, Douglas or Perfumeria Júlia.
According to the sources consulted, Korean cosmetics has made a name for itself in the Western world thanks to the formulation of active ingredients based on natural ingredients – such as tea, ginger, ginseng, snail – and the constant commitment to innovation. The country, according to Kotra data, invests 4.5% of its GDP in R&D, more than double that of Spain, and cosmetics is one of those responsible, although not the main one, since they have a greater weight in its economy. important technology and automotive industries.
Despite the growing interest in South Korean cosmetics, not everything is a bed of roses in this business. From Miin Cosmetics, a Catalan company that has been importing these products for ten years, they explain the commercial difficulties caused by the strict regulation of the European Union. Especially in sun cream products, company sources comment. “Over the years, we have gotten used to it, but it is key to comply with the legal threshold for preservatives or the limit of impurities and it is also important to detail, with clear descriptions, elements such as allergens in cosmetics,” explains Amparo Violero, head of regulatory affairs. by Miin.
European distributors have to trade with a powerful business ecosystem, made up of 28,015 companies, according to 2022 data from the South Korean government, which reflects how the figure has more than doubled in five years. Naturally, the network of companies is made up of large and small firms, which produce high and low-end products, but what is striking is the prominence of the Amorepacific and LG groups (the same as that of televisions), which are the biggest players in the industry. In 2022 (latest available data) its income was 3,000 million euros, in the first case, and 2,200 million euros, in the second and only taking into account LG’s cosmetics division. In that same year, the South Korean cosmetics industry generated a turnover of 13.5 trillion Korean won, about 9.3 billion euros, which means that these two groups approximately controlled half of the sector.
This concentration of wealth would not have been possible if Amorepacific and LG were not chaebol companies, which in Korean means family-owned business conglomerate. Samsung, Hyundai, SK Telecom and dozens of other companies are also part of this privileged group. For decades, they have received support from the Government (in the form of subsidies or tax benefits) controlled by a military dictatorship – which was imposed after the armistice with North Korea in 1953 – and since the late 1980s, by democratic parties that They support a neoliberal system inspired by the United States, their great ally.
The ten main chaebols – among them LG – today represent 60% of the GDP of South Korea, an economy in full expansion that is the 13th in the world – according to the World Bank – and that has surpassed the Spanish economy for years (see graphic). This exponential growth has been called the “Korean miracle,” but the phenomenon would not be understood without the favors of the Korean Government to these family groups.
Today, mobile technology, microchips and the automotive industry are the drivers of this buoyant economy. Cosmetics only represents a small part, 0.81% of the GDP, but everything suggests that it will become an increasingly relevant sector. On the streets of Myeong-dong, beauty product stores that promise a face are overwhelmed. young for life. And consumers, including Western tourists, go crazy to get them.
