K-beauty trends 2018
Trends in K-beauty 2018
This will be the year of simplicity and purity in new skin care from Korea.
Every year, new skin care innovations emerge from Korea and 2018 looks promising, to say the least. I have listed some things that I think we will see in the coming year.
More focus on kind but powerful ingredients and less on playful packaging.
If you go into a beauty store in Korea, you are often greeted by a lot of packaging that looks more like toys or sweets rather than skin care. This does not mean that the product is worse, just that skin care can also be fun. But it seems that many companies will focus more on the content itself rather than a fun product packaging.
We will see more "clean" brands.
That is, not natural but pure in such a way that the product is free of harmful ingredients that can in any way irritate the skin or be harmful. So even if a brand is not 100% natural, it can be 100% "pure" without, for example, parabens, silicones or sulfates
Multifunctional products
We will see products that simplify our skin care routine, ie more products with 2 in 1 or 3 in 1.
Ingredients that are effective but mild for very sensitive skin
In Korea there is a lot of air pollution and during the spring even for a few weeks the so-called yellow dust comes from China. I remember that some days I could not go out because these strong pollutants made the air so dangerous to breathe. All this of course affects the skin of Koreans and causes many to get very sensitive skin with irritation and redness. This means that many Korean cosmetics companies are looking for ingredients that work for the most sensitive skin type and that reduce redness and irritation. In 2017, a popular ingredient for sensitive skin has been Centella Asiatica (found in many of klairs and by wishtrends products as well as leegeehaam (ljh)) and I think we will see more such ingredients in 2018. This also means that we will see many products that focus on protecting the skin from pollution and oxidative damage.
Competition from Japanese brands
Japanese brands will start competing more with Korean brands in the international arena.
Beauty technology for home use.
I think we will see a lot of new technology in skin care that increases the effectiveness of skin care products. For example, we will see the Ion Enhancer which increases the absorption and penetration of active ingredients in sheetmasks. You have previously had to visit a clinic to do this, but it will also be available for home use. Among other things, we will present one to you here at GLOWID at the end of January!
To sum up, I believe that 2018 will be the year of simplicity and purity. I look forward so much to seeing and testing many new products and to being able to present them to you in 2018. Most of all, I look forward to my upcoming Seoul trip as I get to rehearse and test everything new that comes in the spring! Stay tuned dear ones!