Customized Cosmetics Soaring in China with Beauty Giants Entering
- Chaileedo Press
- Jun 14, 2023
- 5 min read
The customized cosmetics market worldwide is expected to reach $70 billion in 2028 billion yuan.
Recently, Korean beauty group Amore Pacific announced that Hera has launched its Silky Stay Custom Match, which is a custom foundation service. The customized service is said to be offered by Hera's flagship product, Silky Stay Foundation, which comes in 125 shades, allowing customers to choose the product that best suits their own skin tone.
It is reported that customers can book the service on the Amore website and offline. After that, a professional make-up artist will first measure their skin tone on a one-to-one basis in its offline store and provide them with the right shade, which will then be formulated by a formulator. In addition, customers are free to choose a 'customized kit', which includes a selection of Hera products to match their skin tone and type.
Customers without appointments can also purchase personalized Silky Stay foundations at Amore offline shops using self-testing devices and specially designed swatch cards. Overseas customers outside of Korea can experience the service at Amore shopping centres worldwide. Now, the Silky Stay Foundation service has been launched on Amore's website, where users can select the shade of foundation they have used before and then select their skin tone before the system matches the Hera Silky Stay Foundation that suits their skin tone.
(Credit: Amore Pacific website)
Amore Pacific launched new customized services
CHAILEEDO has noticed that in the past two years, Korean beauty giant Amore Pacific Group has frequently launched customized cosmetic services. As previously reported, back in 2021, the Amore Pacific Group launched its personalized bathing agent service "Mind-linked Bathbot", which won a CES 2022 Innovation Award. It is said to use brain waves to analyze a person's feelings. When the user wears a headset equipped with eight sensors, the program measures the person's brainwaves in real-time and creates a bath bomb based on the robot's on-the-spot analysis, finding the right scent and color for each user.
(Credit: Amore Pacific Mind-linked Bathbot)
In February 2022, Amore Pacific launched its new 1:1 lifestyle beauty customization brand, CUSTOM.ME, which provides customized beauty services through a mobile skin analysis service, skin balancing customized products and a dedicated 1:1 manager service. In April 2022, Amore Pacific's Laneige launched Bespoke Neo, a bespoke air cushion service and foundation manufacturing service in its Korean shops. Bespoke Neo measures the consumer's skin tone and creates an optimized air cushion foundation through a one-on-one color consultation, with an intensive color system. The amount of detail is adjusted and the range of shade options has been extended to 5 types (C2, C1, N1, W1, W2).
On 16 May 2023, Amore Pacific announced the launch of another customized brand, "TONEWORK", focusing on the make-up sector. With artificial intelligence technology, TONEWORK is said to be able to accurately measure facial skin tone and create products by robots based on the results and order requirements, with 150 shades included in the system. In addition, the technology allows for the addition of hydrating and semi-matte formulas based on individual preferences, as well as the option of two different product types, foundation or air cushion, for a total of 600 options to meet consumer needs.
CHAILEEDO found that South Korea, where Amore Pacific is based, is also a country at the forefront of international policy guidance on customized cosmetics. In 2020, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) in Korea introduced the world's first regulatory requirement for customized cosmetics, Customised Cosmetics in Korea. The introduction of this regulation has provided more stringent quality assurance for the Korean customized cosmetics market and a model for the international market to follow.
In addition to Amore Pacific, LG Household & Healthcare and upstream company COSMAX have invested in the development and commercialization of customized cosmetics.
LG Household & Healthcare is reported to have launched LG CHI Color Master, a smart custom hair coloring system, in the US this year. It was a joint project with US hair care company Farooke Systems. COSMAX also announced the launch of its customized cosmetics platform "3WAAU" in March this year, claiming to recommend the precise choice of 12.6 million formula combinations to suit the needs of customizers.
In the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, it was stated that "after COVID-19, the premium product consumption market is expected to grow in the future and become the core of the beauty industry due to the popularity of cosmetic customization services in Korea."
With favorable policies, customized cosmetics in China is expected to explode
According to the Customized Cosmetics Trend Insight Report released by CHAILEEDO, the global customized beauty market grew from $29.25 billion in 2021 to $37.72 billion in 2022, with a CAGR of 11.87%, and is expected to reach $70 billion in 2028 billion yuan.
And, customized cosmetics are emerging as an opportunity sector in China. According to the Beauty Consumption Trends Report (Q1 2023) released by CHAILEEDO, 65% of consumers are willing to pay a premium when buying customized cosmetics, with nearly 40% of consumers willing to buy customized cosmetics when the price is 20% higher than similar products.
In 2022, China's first national policy to unbundle customized cosmetics triggered a boom in customized cosmetics. On 1 August 2022, the Shanghai Pudong New Area Cosmetics Industry Innovation Development Regulations came into force, which clearly stated that "cosmetic companies should be encouraged to explore small batch, multi-variety, customized cosmetic products, and precisely develop cosmetics that suit consumers' individual needs".
On November 10 of the same year, the National Medical Products Administration issued a notice on the piloting of personalized cosmetic services, deciding to carry out the piloting of personalized cosmetic services in some regions. With favorable policies, international brands are also looking at the Chinese market for customized cosmetics. It is reported that in April this year, the Shanghai Medical Products Administration issued the country's first "on-site personalized service" cosmetic production license for L'Oreal's SkinCeuticals shop in Shanghai's IFC. It is reported that once a company obtains the license, it will be able to engage in customized services involving direct contact with the contents of cosmetics in that business premises.
(Credit: customized service in SkinCeuticals offline store)
Shiseido's IPSA announced at the China International Import Expo in 2022 that its personalization project "Skin High Definition Station" is scheduled to land in Pudong, Shanghai in 2023. Based on the new IPSA ME ULTIMATE, it will be tailored to suit individual skin conditions.
Lee Kyungsoo, Chairman of COSMAX Group, has also said in a public interview that the customized cosmetics market will be the next windfall. Representative director of COSMAX said that in 2023, COSMAX will deepen its product customization business, with the scope of customization expanding from shampoo to skincare and color cosmetics.
It can be seen that with the gradual improvement of relevant regulations, the continued increase of major beauty brands will continue to invest in China and more customized cosmetics will be launched in the Chinese market. The customized cosmetics market may be expected to set off a wave.
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