Sales boom for luxury skin care player, Sulwhasoo as K-beauty continues its reign

The AmorePacific brand reportedly reached a record KRW1 trillion in 2015 thanks in part to the K-beauty wave in mainland China and growing consumer preference for holistic ranges of traditional medicine based ingredients.

Its identity is steeped in Asian herbal medicine to convey Asian wisdom for harmony and balance, of which a flagship store has been dedicated to communicate this in Singapore.

“Opening at Capitol Singapore, a local landmark is a very valuable event for the brand. We will continue to enhance the value of Sulwhasoo as a luxury beauty brand and strive to meet the expectations of global customers through various activities to thus reaching out to more consumers in the global market​,” says brand manager, Jeon Jin-soo.

This led to the recognition of Korean skin care products as being highly suitable for the local consumers in Singapore.

The revenues in the ASEAN market increased by more than 80 per cent in 2014 compared to the previous year to haul the growth of the brand in the global market.

Currently, Sulwhasoo is sold in 10 countries around the world, including Singapore, China, USA, Thailand etc and is concentrating on its development as a global beauty brand.

Traditional based formulations are becoming big business in Asia​

Rising concerns around 'chemical pollution' coupled with an ancestral interest in traditional medicine has seen demand for holistic based or natural cosmetics - a segment that continues to go from strength to strength this year in Asia.

In the quest for more natural based but potent beauty formulations; ingredients like bird's nest, cordyceps, ganoderma, snail slime, sea cucumber and most recently, horse oil are making their way into cosmetics formulations.

According to our expert on beauty trends in the Asia Pacific region, Florence Bernardin, major brands like L’Oreal's Yue Sai in China, Watsons and numerous Korean players are scrambling to introduce ranges comprised of traditional infused ingredients right now.

New lines of cleansers and day creams feature mineral, sparkling and glacier water formulations as well as dead sea salt which is claimed to retain water and enhance skin barrier function.

"Not only are these ingredients rare and precious; but ones like 'co​rdyceps' have many health related properties, 'bird's nest', is famous for being a beauty secret of the imperial court while prized material - snail slime is highly regarded as far as South America​," she informs CosmeticsDesign-Asia.com.