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2025 Korean Beauty Trend Forecast Part 2: Products & Tech
Which beauty products and technology are we going to be seeing in 2025? On episode 258 of the Korean Beauty Show podcast, K-Beauty expert Lauren Lee is sharing part 2 of her predictions for the Korean beauty trends we’re going to be seeing more of in 2025. If you missed part 1, tune in here.
One of the new beauty trends we're going to be seeing more of in 2025 is hyper-personalization. This provides a more personal shopping experience for consumers and can come in lots of different forms from analyses, filters, quizzes, and more.
First and perhaps the oldest type of beauty AR to be released was virtual trials and filters. Filters have been around for quite some time, but only recently have they started to be widely used to promote beauty products.
With makeup filters, users can virtually "try" on makeup and see what it's like for their skin. There are plenty of these doing the rounds on social media, but many brands are now also incorporating them as part of their site experience as well.
In 2025, you can expect to see more skin analysis tests, color analysis tests, and other types of tests designed to help consumers work out what works best for them. The technology uses AI to analyze different aspects of the skin and determine its characteristics (skin types, acne, spots etc) and then provides recommendations for the best products for the skin.
I actually met someone at BeautyWorld Expo in the Middle East last year in 2023 who was developing this kind of technology.He told me if he ever succeeded he would love to bring Jelly Ko on as a case study.
Fast forward to 2024 and he reached out to me again to let me know that his company had finally launched their technology. He invited us to be one of the first to use it. With his help, we now have AI Skincare Technology on our Jelly Ko website.
In under a minute, this newtechnology analyses your skin, identifies areas of concern or things to work on and matches you with your perfect Jelly Ko product.
It’s been extremely popular, first because it's a bit of fun but also because it removes the confusion for our customers.
It's also been great for our team too because it reduces the number of inquiries we get from people wondering which products are their perfect fit.
In 2024, we saw a proliferation of milky toners and essences. It seemed to be the must-release product for a lot of Korean brands from Tir Tir to Beauty of Joseon.
Of course this isn’t a new category. I’m From has had a milky rice toner for years, Laneige launched their Cream Skin Refiner years ago. However, in 2024 it seemed like a staple in every Korean beauty brand’s lineup.
These kind of products are especially good for dry skin and for barrier care.
My personal favourite is the Aestura Atobarrier 365 Cream Mist. For me, it strikes the right balance for my dry skin in terms of hydration and oiliness. I also love the mist format as I personally find some of the milky toners a little too runny to use. For me, Laneige Cream Skin Refinersuffers a bit from this problem. It’s so runny - like water- that I often find it running down my hands when I use it, which I don't love.
Products Mentioned:
The global sun protection market generated US $11.50 billion in 2024. It is projected to grow even more over the new 5 years, with an estimated annual growth rate of 3.73%. This category is just going to get stronger. At the moment, the United States leads in terms of revenue, generating US $2 billion in 2024.
Sources: Statista & Knowledge Source Intelligence
Many Korean companies are making the most of Korea’s ability to use the latest sunscreen filters and exporting their products around the world. However, I do foresee rocky seas ahead in some markets, particularly the US. We are already seeing crackdowns by customs into the USA and the effects of MoCRA, the new legislation designed to modernise cosmetics regulations in the US. This is having a flow-on effect at retailers because they cannot legally stock the sunscreen products that are using newer filters. The FDA has not approved new sunscreen filters since 1999, which means Americans only have access to older generation filters.
Many Korean brands have been forced to take their sunscreens off Amazon.This had led some brands, likeBeauty of Joseon, to come out with American versions of their formulas that are FDA compliant.
The other issue that is a bit of a "wait and see" at the moment is the issue of tariffs, which President-elect Trump has indicated he will introduce. This will potentially have an impact on the Korean beauty industry because the products are all imports. This might have the effect of driving up the prices of products in the US.
The global beauty devices market was valued at USD 32.5 billion in 2022.It is expected to grow to USD 73.2 billion by 2032, which is a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.5%.
Source: Market Research Future
This trend was really evident to me attending beauty expos around the world in 2024.Consumers are hungry for at-home options to replicate in-clinic beauty treatments and procedures.Not everyone has the money for expensive salon treatments and the cost of living crisis is also impacting on people's desire to do more of their own treatments at hand.
A lot of Korean brands are doing a lot of promo for beauty devices, including TikTok famous brands like Medicube.
Medicube is owned by APR, a publicly listed company in Korea valued at an estimated $1.8 billion by Forbes.In February 2024, the CEO of APR said:
“Out of 5 million customers with memberships for our brands' online platforms, 36 percent of them are from outside the country(i.e. Korea)”
They did $401 million in annual sales in 2023. This is a huge company with huge marketing budgets. They have come out with quite a few different versions of their devices.
I personally have theMedicube AGE-R Booster Pro and I enjoy it. It works really well with ourJelly Ko Cherry Blossom Sleeping Mask.
A lot of our customers say they prefer it to theJelly Cream that Medicube sells, which I must admit I was interested to see the texture, colour and marketing for their product is very similar to ours. Some people were even commenting that our product looks like theirs - except we launched ours all the way back in 2020.
Korean injectables are gaining more attention overseas and more products are being approved for use on foreign markets.
One of those is Rejuran (aka "salmon sperm" or "salmon DNA") . That has been used extensively in Asia since 2015 but has become extremely popular globally recently. Clinics from Australia to Singapore and even the Middle East are now offering Rejuran treatments.
Another type of injectable that is very popular are the so-called “Skin Boosters”. Now these are not fillers or Botox but rather injection designed to improve the health of your skin, hydrate it and strengthen its barrier. A lot of them are used in conjunction with treatments like microneedling. There are even some specifically formulated for acne-scarring.
Korean wrinkle injections are also being approved for use in more countries:
It's not just on the cosmetic side that Korea really excels - pharma and biotech are also strong industries for Korea domestically and internationally as well.
All products recommended on the Korean Beauty Show podcast are selected by us. Some of our Show Notes include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links we may earn an affiliate commission. This helps offset the costs associated with producing the podcast.
"In under a minute, this new technology analyses your skin, identifies areas of concern or things to work on and matches you with your perfect product."
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