Will J-beauty Overtake K-beauty in 2018?

Jan 31st, 2018

Audrey Latimer

Could Korean beauty's time in the spotlight be coming to an end?

Over the past few years, beauty lovers around the world have ogled over K-beauty skin care and makeup, but a recent article from the South China Morning Post suggests that while K-beauty isn't slowing down, it may soon have to share that spotlight with its Japanese neighbors.

J-beauty has been in the beauty and personal care zeitgeist a lot lately. From the U.K. launch of Decorté to the launch of LenaJapon's ecommerce site in the U.S. to the launch of Shiseido's Posme and its millennial-focused skin care line, Waso, the article suggests that 2018 could be the year niche labels help Japan overtake Korea.

According to the article, J-beauty is "steeped in age-old rituals, [and] has already begun changing the faces of women across continents. Japan, after all, is the country that took double cleansing mainstream, created essences as a skin care category and taught the world that cleansing oils were not an oxymoron ... And it continues to push the boundaries of innovation by marrying old-school principles with technology and environmental factors."