From social media pattern to financial powerhouse | EUROtoday

Who would have thought serums infused with snail mucin – the sticky substance they secrete – would change into part of skincare routines all over the world?

Well, it is occurred – and the gooey elasticity is essential, in accordance with a viral TikTook problem selling the serum. It made its producer, the small South Korean label CosRX, go world. It is now owned by Amorepacific, the nation’s greatest cosmetics firm.

The speedy unfold of that sticky serum tells you simply how wildly profitable Ok-beauty has change into. Fuelled by viral content material and developments, it is likely one of the greatest industries in South Korea, the place the strain 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 probably 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 complete sections at world retailers – from Sephora to Boots to Walmart. In the primary half of 2025, South Korea overtook France, the birthplace of recent cosmetics, to change into the world’s second-largest exporter of magnificence merchandise, after the United States.

Search for “Korean skincare” on TikTook, Instagram or YouTube and you will be met with a deluge of content material from influencers, a few of whom have tons of of thousands and thousands of followers. They dissect ingredient lists, movie unboxings and document “Get Ready With Me” movies constructed round concepts akin to “glass skin”, sheet masks and, in fact, snail mucin.

“There are so many products and brands, and a lot of times you’re exposed to millions of them as a consumer – it’s highly saturated and competitive,” mentioned Liah Yoo, a magnificence influencer and founding father of the US-based Ok-beauty model Krave Beauty.

At the guts of Ok-beauty’s rise is a relentless tempo of innovation. New formulations seem each few months, typically designed to spark the subsequent on-line obsession.

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

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

There are nonetheless rising considerations concerning the social affect of magnificence beliefs, significantly on younger individuals. Experts warn that fixed publicity to skincare content material on-line can gas anxiousness and extreme spending.

“We are fully aware that excessive use or misuse of social media can lead to backlash,” mentioned Kim Seung-hwan, Amorepacific’s chief govt, including that manufacturers should strike a cautious stability 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.

Other world companies are more and more incorporating fashionable elements related to Korean manufacturers akin to centella asiatica and rice water into their very own traces.

Many 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 akin to Sulwhasoo to world mass-market names like Laneige, environmentally centered labels akin to Innisfree, and fast-growing unbiased manufacturers. But at the same time as a chaebol, Amorepacific says it appears to be like to smaller unbiased manufacturers for recent concepts.

“Through the founder and the CosRX team, we were able to learn their approach to formula innovation and how to respond more quickly to consumer needs,” Mr Kim from Amorepacific mentioned. “These lessons have since been integrated into our wider organisation.”

In 2024, Amorepacific bought about $6.2bn of merchandise. LG Household & Health Care, one other main conglomerate, recorded gross sales of $4.1bn. The scale of the business continues to indicate up in South Korea’s export figures too.

Exports rose 15% within the first half of 2025 to a document $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 should not the identical.

“In countries like Japan, Korea and China, there is more interest in things like flawless skin. In Europe fragrance is the main category, and in the US make-up is more popular,” he mentioned.

“Things are changing though,” 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 are supported by authentic growth 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 maintain 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 permits merchandise to maneuver from being conceptualised to being bought in as little as six months – the method that may take one to 3 years for a lot of Western manufacturers.

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

Speed, nonetheless, comes at a value. Intense competitors has contributed to skinny revenue margins and excessive charges of enterprise failures. According to authorities knowledge, greater than 8,800 cosmetics manufacturers have gone out of enterprise in recent times.

“South Korea has great infrastructure that can help you create a brand quickly, but growing a successful brand is another story,” mentioned Ms Yoo. “It comes down to your brand ethos, your identity, and how different your products are from anything else on the market.”

As competitors intensifies, manufacturers face rising strain to be extra clear, and to give attention to elements and the effectiveness of their merchandise reasonably than movie star endorsements.

“We’re not just buying from the big brands now. We’re actually talking about ingredients, where it’s sourced, what it does,” mentioned Mia Chen, a distinguished magnificence influencer. “A lot of Korean skincare derives from natural ingredients, and we all want that on our skin without side effects.”

The business can also be being formed by its altering market.

China is now not the largest 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 12 months, Mr Kim mentioned, including that the agency additionally expects progress in Japan, Europe, India and the Middle East.

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

Olive Young, South Korea’s greatest cosmetics retailer which plans to open its first retailer within the US this 12 months, imposed a 15% customs responsibility on American orders. Amorepacific mentioned it might think about worth will increase solely on a case-by-case foundation, based mostly on discussions with retail companions akin to Sephora and Walmart.

But 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 is a telling vote of confidence in an business that kicked off as a viral pattern and is now an financial power.

Additional Reporting by Jaltson is like thisth Chummar and Juna Moon