Korean beauty industry expert. 15+ years in beauty. I translate industry news and offer insights on regulations & history. Featured in Vogue, BBC & Le Monde.
Republic of Korea
Joined July 2019
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A few weeks ago, I spoke with Vogue's @katicy_ about the future of the Korean beauty industry, including the growing role of biotechnology in skincare and why K-beauty brands don't actually come and go as quickly as people seem to think.
The article is now online [link in the first comment]
#kbeauty
Amorepacific is holding a series of educational events across South Korea to celebrate the 60th anniversary of @SulwhasooKR
At the pop-ups, you'll find lots of special promotions, competitions and free samples. Staff also told me that explanations are available in English and Mandarin.
#kbeauty
South Korean customs authorities seized over 280,000 counterfeit products between August and September, including nearly 5,600 fake cosmetics of Korean beauty brands like Sulwhasoo, d'Alba, AHC and Beauty of Joseon.
Authorities reminded consumers to be careful when purchasing Korean beauty products online because counterfeit cosmetics are produced by unauthorised manufacturers with no regulatory oversight and often don't comply with the strict safety standards of South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS).
#kbeauty
Korean beauty brand Sulwhasoo has relaunched its bestselling Clarifying Mask with a new, improved formula.
The new edition, re-named "Pore Purifying Peel-off Mask", has been shown to be more effective in reducing impurities and excess sebum compared to the previous version, while being gentle on the skin at the same time thanks to an improved formula enriched with soothing and skin barrier-fortifying ingredients.
The formula has also been enriched with Sulwhasoo's signature ingredient Jaum Activator™ (also known as Jaumdan™) to re-balance skin after peeling off the mask.
Sulwhasoo's Clarifying Mask is one of the brand's biggest bestsellers and has sold over 11.3 million units over the past 19 years.
#kbeauty
The products that got me through another hot and humid Korean summer. Some old favourites I’ve been using for years, alongside a few more recent additions to my routine.
Translated product details, including ingredients lists, certifications and product claims are available on my website (link in bio).
Most of these products are available on YesStyle and Olive Young Global.
YesStyle: use code ODILE123
Olive Young Global: use code ODILEMONOD1
#kbeauty
🧵
A quick note:
It goes without saying that beauty brands making illegal drug claims is something that should be taken seriously. However, I've been reporting on this type of administrative sanctions for years.
Korean authorities announce these sanctions every couple of weeks. They are not rare occurrences, and the reports usually involve 20+ brands or products at a time.
At no point have I ever claimed that "XYZ brand has been CANCELLED in Korea", or tried to present one of these sanctions as some catastrophic event, as happened with a certain brand a few months ago.
A couple of influencers looking for a quick shot at internet fame blew that story wildly out of proportion, leading people to believe that the brand was somehow being "cancelled" in Korea and the sanctions represented a much bigger deal than they actually did.
Consumer groups and the MFDS do a very good job of monitoring the domestic market. That is precisely why these reports are published so regularly and made available to consumers.
These sanctions are simply the sign the market is being regulated and monitored as it should be. There is no conspiracy, no national outrage and no "cancellation" happening.
This kind of violation happens all the time. It shouldn't, but it does. It also tends to happen more often with Korean SMEs, because they don't always have a dedicated regulatory team in-house and often hire freelance consultants when they need them.
Abib was fined by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) for making misleading drug claims to promote its
• Glow Collagen Mask Glutathione Film
• Heartleaf Essence Pad
The company was ordered to suspended all promotional activities related to these products for 2 and 3 months, respectively.
#kbeauty
Abib was fined by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) for making misleading drug claims to promote its
• Glow Collagen Mask Glutathione Film
• Heartleaf Essence Pad
The company was ordered to suspended all promotional activities related to these products for 2 and 3 months, respectively.
#kbeauty
Odile Monod retweeted
What is going on with Russell, Mercedes? 🙃
#F1 #BahrainGP 🇲🇾
This quoted post is unavailable.
Odile Monod retweeted
Verstappen and Audi had the same problem, but I understand that you want to defend engine regulations tailored specifically to you.
A little reality check on the “organic” growth of some K-beauty brands.
Anua made over ₩700bn in sales last year, 67.8% more than the year before. However, The Founders (Anua's parent company) also revealed that the company's advertising and promotional expenses went from ₩45.2bn to a staggering ₩118bn in a single year.
That’s an absurd amount of money being invested into making one brand "viral". To finance these expenses the company borrowed ₩80bn short-term, which made its debt ratio go from 37% to 84%.
Let this be an important reminder when discussing the seemingly overnight success of certain K-beauty brands in the West. Vsibility is not necessarily the same thing as organic consumer demand and oftentimes social media "virality" is just the result of an enormous marketing budget.
Visuals: dailybeauty.drop
#kbeauty
South Korean authorities really looked at the recent Choice / Sunscreen Gate and said:
"You know what? This is just the perfect time to relax laws around sunscreen testing."
🤷♀️
South Korea is preparing to make a major change to the way sunscreens are tested in the country.
Under a new proposal announced by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), sunscreen efficacy would no longer need to be tested exclusively on human skin, and for the first time, cosmetic manufacturers would be allowed to substantiate SPF and PA claims using two internationally recognised in vitro testing methods (ISO 23675, 24443)
The agency explains that these changes are meant to reduce the operational and financial burden of carrying out in vivo tests for Korean companies, allowing them to launch new products more rapidly in response to the increasing demand for Korean cosmetics abroad.
Secondly, the South Korean MFDS has proposed an amendment to Article 10 of the Enforcement Rule of the Cosmetics Act, which sets out the conditions under which functional cosmetics can be exempted from pre-market review.
You might remember this particular law from the Korean sunscreen controversy of 2021. It's the law that establishes that sunscreens and other functional cosmetics can bypass required pre-market tests when the formula is very similar to a product that was already tested and approved by the MFDS.
After the controversy, the MFDS decided to tighten the conditions under which companies could use this particular exemption and now, in 2026, the agency is proposing to narrow them even further.
Under the new proposal, the exemption would only apply when the new product is nearly identical to the formula that was already reviewed by the MFDS. Most ingredients (even non-active ingredients) would need to be the same and used in the same amounts, with only limited exceptions for fragrance, preservatives and colourants used below 1%.
The proposal is currently open for public consultation until September 18, after which the MFDS will review the feedback received before finalising the amendments.
#kbeauty
South Korea is preparing to make a major change to the way sunscreens are tested in the country.
Under a new proposal announced by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), sunscreen efficacy would no longer need to be tested exclusively on human skin, and for the first time, cosmetic manufacturers would be allowed to substantiate SPF and PA claims using two internationally recognised in vitro testing methods (ISO 23675, 24443)
The agency explains that these changes are meant to reduce the operational and financial burden of carrying out in vivo tests for Korean companies, allowing them to launch new products more rapidly in response to the increasing demand for Korean cosmetics abroad.
Secondly, the South Korean MFDS has proposed an amendment to Article 10 of the Enforcement Rule of the Cosmetics Act, which sets out the conditions under which functional cosmetics can be exempted from pre-market review.
You might remember this particular law from the Korean sunscreen controversy of 2021. It's the law that establishes that sunscreens and other functional cosmetics can bypass required pre-market tests when the formula is very similar to a product that was already tested and approved by the MFDS.
After the controversy, the MFDS decided to tighten the conditions under which companies could use this particular exemption and now, in 2026, the agency is proposing to narrow them even further.
Under the new proposal, the exemption would only apply when the new product is nearly identical to the formula that was already reviewed by the MFDS. Most ingredients (even non-active ingredients) would need to be the same and used in the same amounts, with only limited exceptions for fragrance, preservatives and colourants used below 1%.
The proposal is currently open for public consultation until September 18, after which the MFDS will review the feedback received before finalising the amendments.
#kbeauty