From social media trend to economic powerhouse

Who would have thought serums infused with snail mucin – the sticky substance they secrete – would turn out to be part of skincare routines world wide?

Effectively, it is occurred – and the gooey elasticity is vital, based on a viral TikTok problem selling the serum. It made its producer, the small South Korean label CosRX, go international. It’s now owned by Amorepacific, the nation’s greatest cosmetics firm.

The fast unfold of that sticky serum tells you simply how wildly profitable Ok-beauty has turn out to be. Fuelled by viral content material and tendencies, it is likely one of the greatest industries in South Korea, the place the stress to look nearly flawless has at all times been enormous in a extremely aggressive society.

The home market alone was valued at about $13bn (£9.6bn) in 2024, with gross sales of some merchandise anticipated to develop at double-digit charges. And the remainder of the world is simply as obsessive about Ok-beauty – which is maybe unsurprising given it is a part of the Hallyu, or Korean Wave, which has made Ok-Pop and Ok-dramas a world phenomenon.

Ok-beauty manufacturers now occupy entire sections at international retailers – from Sephora to Boots to Walmart. Within the first half of 2025, South Korea overtook France, the birthplace of recent cosmetics, to turn out to be the world’s second-largest exporter of magnificence merchandise, after the USA.

Seek for “Korean skincare” on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube and you will be met with a deluge of content material from influencers, a few of whom have lots of of hundreds of thousands of followers. They dissect ingredient lists, movie unboxings and file “Get Prepared With Me” movies constructed round concepts corresponding to “glass pores and skin”, sheet masks and, in fact, snail mucin.

“There are such a lot of merchandise and types, and loads of instances you are uncovered to hundreds of thousands of them as a shopper – it is extremely saturated and aggressive,” stated Liah Yoo, a magnificence influencer and founding father of the US-based Ok-beauty model Krave Magnificence.

On the coronary heart of Ok-beauty’s rise is a relentless tempo of innovation. New formulations seem each few months, usually designed to spark the following on-line obsession.

Ten-step skincare routines, in a single day “water sleeping masks” and headline-grabbing components corresponding to salmon sperm had been as soon as seen as area of interest or unappealing. At this time, many are staples in lavatory cupboards from London to Los Angeles.

Social media has been central to this shift. Merchandise launched in Seoul are on TikTok and Instagram feeds within the US, UK, India and Australia immediately.

There are nonetheless rising issues in regards to the social influence of magnificence beliefs, significantly on younger individuals. Consultants warn that fixed publicity to skincare content material on-line can gas nervousness and extreme spending.

“We’re absolutely conscious that extreme use or misuse of social media can result in backlash,” stated Kim Seung-hwan, Amorepacific’s chief govt, including that manufacturers should strike a cautious steadiness in how they use on-line platforms.

The problem will solely develop because the business expands to incorporate Western multinationals.

L’Oréal acquired a South Korean conglomerate which included the model Dr.G in late 2024, saying the deal would assist meet rising demand for efficient but inexpensive Ok-beauty merchandise.

Different international companies are more and more incorporating widespread components related to Korean manufacturers corresponding to centella asiatica and rice water into their very own traces.

Lots of South Korea’s massive magnificence manufacturers are a part of the nation’s highly effective conglomerates, or chaebols.

Amorepacific accounts for roughly half of the home market. Its portfolio ranges from premium manufacturers corresponding to Sulwhasoo to international mass-market names like Laneige, environmentally centered labels corresponding to Innisfree, and fast-growing impartial manufacturers. However at the same time as a chaebol, Amorepacific says it appears to be like to smaller impartial manufacturers for contemporary concepts.

“Via the founder and the CosRX group, we had been capable of be taught their strategy to formulation innovation and how one can reply extra shortly to shopper wants,” Mr Kim from Amorepacific stated. “These classes have since been built-in into our wider organisation.”

In 2024, Amorepacific offered about $6.2bn of merchandise. LG Family & Well being Care, one other main conglomerate, recorded gross sales of $4.1bn. The size of the business continues to point out up in South Korea’s export figures too.

Exports rose 15% within the first half of 2025 to a file $5.5bn, largely pushed by robust gross sales within the US and Europe, placing the nation on observe to surpass $10bn in annual magnificence exports.

For Mr Kim, all prospects usually are not the identical.

“In international locations like Japan, Korea and China, there’s extra curiosity in issues like flawless pores and skin. In Europe perfume is the principle class, and within the US make-up is extra widespread,” he stated.

“Issues are altering although,” he added, pointing to rising curiosity amongst Western shoppers in youthful-looking pores and skin and solar safety, significantly as consciousness of local weather change and UV publicity grows.

To cater to the ever-growing demand, South Korea’s 30,000 or so magnificence manufacturers depend on a extremely subtle industrial ecosystem.

They’re supported by authentic improvement producers, or ODMs, which deal with analysis, formulation and manufacturing for 1000’s of labels.

Even massive conglomerates outsource some product traces, whereas smaller names rely closely on ODMs to maneuver shortly and preserve prices down.

Cosmax, one of many largest producers, provides merchandise to about 4,500 manufacturers from factories throughout South Korea, China, the US and South East Asia.

In 2024, it accounted for simply over 1 / 4 of South Korea’s $10bn price of cosmetics exports.

This enables merchandise to maneuver from being conceptualised to being offered in as little as six months – the method that may take one to 3 years for a lot of Western manufacturers.

Automation helps preserve prices down. The BBC visited a sprawling Amorepacific manufacturing unit outdoors South Korea’s capital Seoul, the place a handful of staff oversaw absolutely automated manufacturing traces bottling Laneige’s Water Sleeping Masks and CosRX’s Vitamin C 23 Serum.

Velocity, nonetheless, comes at a price. Intense competitors has contributed to skinny revenue margins and excessive charges of enterprise failures. In keeping with authorities information, greater than 8,800 cosmetics manufacturers have gone out of enterprise lately.

“South Korea has nice infrastructure that may assist you create a model shortly, however rising a profitable model is one other story,” stated Ms Yoo. “It comes all the way down to your model ethos, your identification, and the way completely different your merchandise are from anything in the marketplace.”

As competitors intensifies, manufacturers face rising stress to be extra clear, and to give attention to components and the effectiveness of their merchandise quite than superstar endorsements.

“We’re not simply shopping for from the large manufacturers now. We’re truly speaking about components, the place it is sourced, what it does,” stated Mia Chen, a outstanding magnificence influencer. “Plenty of Korean skincare derives from pure components, and all of us need that on our pores and skin with out negative effects.”

The business can be being formed by its altering market.

China is now not the most important abroad purchaser as its personal manufacturers erode the dominance as soon as loved by Japanese and Korean imports.

For the primary time in 80 years, Amorepacific’s North America enterprise overtook the one in China final yr, Mr Kim stated, including that the agency additionally expects progress in Japan, Europe, India and the Center East.

The US stays a key market, importing extra magnificence merchandise from South Korea than wherever else. However President Donald Trump’s 15% tariffs on Korean imports have sparked some uncertainty.

Olive Younger, South Korea’s greatest cosmetics retailer which plans to open its first retailer within the US this yr, imposed a 15% customs responsibility on American orders. Amorepacific stated it might contemplate worth will increase solely on a case-by-case foundation, based mostly on discussions with retail companions corresponding to Sephora and Walmart.

However the companies have the backing of the South Korean authorities, which designated Ok-beauty a strategic nationwide asset in December, promising to help manufacturing and exports.

It’s a telling vote of confidence in an business that kicked off as a viral pattern and is now an financial drive.

Extra reporting by Jaltson Akkanath Chummar and Juna Moon