Opening Ceremony enters beauty market with Korean beauty brands

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Nov 25, 2016

New York City retailer Opening Ceremony has entered the growing beauty market with the launch of Korean beauty products.
 

Opening Ceremony launched seven Korean beauty brands and 27 beauty products on its website including lip balm, body oil, and a butterfly mask among others. The brands, SKINRx Lab, Bonvivant, MustaeV, Son & Park, Too Cool for School, Memebox and Manefit, all specialize in different products like Body Lotion and Face Cream from SKINRx Lab and Collagen Masks from Manefit.
 
The retailer’s focus on Korean beauty is not random. In August, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety reported that South Korea surpassed the US and Japan to become the number 2 cosmetics exporter behind China and France shipping $1.1 billion in skincare. Total exports from the country were worth $2.59 billion. Lim Dae-gyu, a director at Cosmax Inc, a cosmetics manufacturer with annual sales of close to $500 million, said, "For South Korean mass brands, it takes less - just 4-6 months from planning to market launch.”

L'Oreal Korea told Reuters, "Korean consumers are very sophisticated. Their interest in beauty and expectations of cosmetics are high and they are willing to try new concepts. It's a market where new trends emerge before potentially going global."
 
Carol Lim told the American press that the holiday season was the most opportune time to launch a capsule collection of brands. She also considers the product offering and Korean beauty in particular to be exciting.
 
The new Opening Ceremony beauty offering is available now on the retailer’s website. Prices range from $3 to $36.