Korea’s hanbang changing the face of fancy cosmetics

Customers shop for hanbang cosmetics, made from traditional Korean ingredients, at a cosmetics shop in Myeong-dong. [JoongAng Ilbo]

As Kim Soo-hun tapped her fingers on the glossy makeup counters at Shinsegae department store in Seoul’s Jung District, her gaze stopped in front of a sleek, gold bottle marked “Sulwhasoo.”
“I used to buy my skin-care products from well-known Western brands like Lancome and Estee Lauder,” the 33 year old said. “But I’m really into this brand [Sulwhasoo] at the moment. It has more of a natural, holistic approach compared to other high-end makeup brands.”
Hanbang makeup, or cosmetics using traditional Korean ingredients, have been making a splash in recent years. An estimated 1 trillion won ($1.1 billion) worth of hanbang cosmetics were sold last year, making up about 20 percent of total cosmetics sales, according to consensus estimates of industry experts. Sulwhasoo, by Amorepacific (formerly Pacific), is the first record-breaking hanbang brand, with 470 billion won in sales last year. It was the best-selling cosmetics brand in Korea, beating out foreign heavyweights including Lancome, Estee Lauder and Clinique.
“There are few makeup brands in Korea that cross over the 100 billion won line in sales. Sulwhasoo crossed that line in 2000,” said Kim Hyo-jung, a public relations manager at Amorepacific.
In step with Sulwhasoo’s popularity, other hanbang brands are making their mark in the industry, with LG Household and Health Care releasing SooRyeHan and The History of Whoo in 2003, both of which passed the 100 billion won mark in sales. Coreana and Rosee Cosmetics also have hanbang lines out.
“After the Korean market opened in 1995, many foreign cosmetics lines came in. The perception at the time was that foreign brands were superior because they were unfamiliar and more expensive,” said Sung Yoo-jin, public relations manager at LG Household and Health Care. “However, with the popularity of Sulwhasoo and the boom in the ‘well-being’ and organic lifestyle trends in the early 2000s, people started to pay attention to hanbang lines, which cater to this ‘natural’ approach,” Suh said.
The effect is a change in the perception of Korean cosmetics, said Kim Seong-ah, a beauty editor at the Korean edition of Allure Korea, the top American beauty and health magazine. “High-end hanbang brands, The History of Whoo in particular, shifted the perception of the Korean public toward the word ‘luxury’ when used with Korean cosmetics,” Kim said. The brand’s night cream, Hwanyugo, which costs around 680,000 won, sold 20,000 bottles, double the company’s initial expectations.
“This reliance on high-end, expensive cosmetics products, together with the organic boom, has made hanbang brands from Amorepacific and LG really popular with Korean women. They’re showing a greater tendency to trust expensive skin care products over cheaper varieties, especially women aged 30 and up, who are the target customers for these hanbang lines,” she said.
However, smaller companies with low-budget cosmetics lines are also changing the hanbang plateau, with Somang Cosmetics releasing Danahan and Missha launching Misa, both of which have lured customers in their teens and 20s. Companies are now launching hanbang lines targeting this new demographic ― Amorepacific’s Hanyul launched earlier this year.
As for the global market, larger companies like Amorepacific and LG are looking toward Asian countries, with Sulwhasoo doing well in Hong Kong since its launch there in 2004. LG’s The History of Whoo and SooRyuHan went on sale in China in 2006.
“We are doing well in Asia. We have yet to tackle the U.S. and Europe but I think, if anything, hanbang brands have potential because they are so different from any other cosmetics items out there,” Sung said.

By Cho Jae-eun Staff Reporter [jainnie@joongang.co.kr]