Before toners, face powders and lipsticks, Korean women had cucumber water, rice powder and rouge made of safflower. With improved technology and the glittering image of Hallyu, Korea is returning back to its old prescription of beauty and hopefully bring along the whole world to it as well.
Revival of Oriental herbs
The country's largest cosmetics manufacturer, Amore Pacific, first introduced its hit Oriental herb cream "Sulwhasoo" abroad in 2004, opening an outlet in Hong Kong. The company emphasized the uniqueness of "Asian beauty" made from five medicinal plants in collaboration with an Oriental medicine team from Kyung Hee University. The company took caution to make everything perfect, even adding a dab of fragrant herb scent lest some one pick up the strong smell of the other plants.
It was a smashing hit. The company now reaps 400 billion won annually through its Sulwhasoo line alone both at home and abroad and has expanded to the United States, China, France, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and other markets. It just opened a new office in Russia last month.
In 2006, the company established a certified Oriental herb research center with Kyung Hee University.
The company already has separate research members involved in similar studies in Yongin. It is further experimenting with extracts from bamboo, red ginseng and most recently green tea. It even has its own green tea garden and museum. For that reason the company also prides itself on being a promoter of Korean tea culture around the world.
Amore's success inspired other local brands to follow suit. LG Household and Healthcare developed "WHOO Hwanyugo", which contains rare snow lotus that the company says rejuvenates skin and regulates its metabolism.
Reportedly the result of years of research together with Oriental medicine practitioners, this brand led the company to open 35 stores in China within a year. The company now makes up 13 percent of the total cosmetics sales in Vietnam and is fast settling down as a premium brand in China.
Other brilliant concoctions from local brands at home include extracts from wild ginseng, rare mushrooms or deer antlers. Some have even taken hints from old Dongeuibogam, a medical encyclopedia from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), particularly from the pages related to revitalizing female gi (life force).
Experts agree that such a trend attributes to Korea's renewed nostalgia toward the past, together with the uniqueness of its traditional cosmetics and the ongoing "well-being" trend that stresses a traditional diet and a healthy, sound lifestyle free of junk food.
Natural ingredients: rice-cream, not ice cream
You are as good as you eat, the saying goes. So in Korea we make cosmetics out of our staples. Rice for one, was known as an effective skin softener rich in vitamin B, vitamin E and even the γ-oryzanol element for whitening effect.
The Face Shop has a line of 14 beauty care products made from grain and water drained after washing polished rice. The line includes moisturizers, face packs, soaps and cleanser. The brand further embraces natural ingredients of extracts from flowers, vegetables, fruits and herbs.
Once a sensation at home for providing quality products at a reasonable price, the company now runs 160 shops in 18 nations including U.S., Japan, Canada and Australia and lately signed a contract with Al Ghurair Group of the United Arab Emirates.
Skin Food Co. is another "edible cosmetics" rival at home. Its first whitening product line was made from tomatoes, and it has since followed up with one from vitamin A and D-rich avocado. Just reading its beauty care product ingredients --milk, lettuce, cucumber, cheese, coffee, chocolate, pepper, onion, garlic, radish, plum, seaweed, etc. -- makes one's mouth water. Its latest new arrival includes BB cream made from mushroom.
The next beauty staple: fermentation
SanSan fermented essence and cream by SBB Co.,
A little less traveled path is "fermented cosmetics". Think kimchi, soybean paste, yogurt and wine; things that get better with time. One of the strong merits of fermented cosmetics is that they are free of industrial chemicals. Their nutritional value does not easily wear off with time, and they allow the skin to breathe and sweat easily.
This summer Mejoo and Cellist Co. released its soybean cosmetics brand "Soyborn" which takes advantage of isoflavones, an element known to trigger estrogen-like biological activity that could brighten and moisturize skin.
SBB Co'.s SanSan brand goes further, making beauty products by utilizing agribusiness microbiology. Its booster essence for example is formed of extracts from well-fermented yard grass, silk element, and marine products that provide much needed iron. Despite high prices, it products are already big hits on Japanese home shopping networks before even being officially launched at home. It is reportedly being offered contracts from Shanghai, L.A. and India.
"Fermented cosmetics may soon triumph over natural and Oriental cosmetics in the future", Shin Hong-joo, a researchers at Amore Pacific, said. The company has also released its own fermented cream extracted from beans.
Bringing Korean beauty to the world
"Cosmetics have long gone beyond the concept of painting the face to embrace multifunctional roles of making skin brighter, healthier, preventing skin diseases and slowing down the aging process", Yoo Ik-dong, a research at the Korean Research Institute of Bioscience & Biotechnology, said at a symposium for cosmetics technology this summer.
While acknowledging the success of local brands overseas, Yoo urged the businesses to go further still. "Local investment in cosmetics R&D is still weak compared to global brands", he said. "Korea should further enhance investment, establish more overseas networking and set up official research institutes for protecting patents and other support measures for local businesses".
Amore Pacific, the most successful Korean brand abroad, feels confident. "Our vision to become the beauty source for 3 billion Asian women will continue", Suh Kyung-bae said. The Amore-Pacific president appeared in the Asian edition of Forbes last year and added, "The company's aim is to become one of the top 10 global brands by 2015". The enthusiasm is equally shared by other local brands.
By Kim Hee-sung
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