The Beauty of South Korea

It’s a hotspot for skincare, makeup, aesthetic procedures and even hair products. And women in SG just lap them all up. Here’s why they do, and why they love K-beauty so much.

- Kayce Teo

 

It started in the mid-2000s. Mass-market South Korean skincare brands like The Face Shop and Laneige were instant hits. Singapore women flocked to their stores, buying up moisturisers, cleansers, masks and more. That was the start of hallyu, the K-wave.

These days, you can’t walk into a shopping mall and not see a Korean beauty store.

There’s no stopping hallyu beauty. The budget-friendly as well as masstige brands soon paved the way for luxe names like Sulwhasoo. And most recently, in May this year, Hera opened its first beauty counter in Singapore at Takashimaya D.S.

Why is K-beauty so hip and hot? It’s because K-pop is hip and hot in Korea and Singapore. The two are inextricably linked, with many K-beauty brands using K-celebs to front their campaigns.

Hip factor aside, the belief exists among consumers that K-beauty brands are one step ahead of their competitors. The brands are seen as high on innovation and at the forefront of skin science and research. Products also seem to be more compatible with Asian skin; women swear by the results they see. That makes them more eager to try more K-beauty brands in Singapore as well as when they travel to South Korea.

Its research is top-notch

Luxury skincare brand Sulwhasoo (owned by Korean beauty giant Amorepacific) opened its first counter at Tangs at Tang Plaza in 2012. In the six years since then, it has opened six beauty counters and three standalone boutiques, offering facial treatments on top of skincare and makeup.

Says Doreen Chia, brand general manager of Sulwhasoo: “Amorepacific has a strong global research and development team that does rigorous and in-depth studies to understand different skin needs to ensure our products work.”