While male beauty product sales represent a sliver of total revenue for most South Korean cosmetics companies, The Washington Post reported young men are taking to complex skin regimens to improve their image. This dedication to skin care reflects contemporary South Korean values, said Eric Min, deputy editor-in-chief at a South Korean men's magazine.
"In South Korea, [looking] young and [being] active are considered very attractive qualities,” he explained in a press announcement. “Youth equals ability."
Cosmetics companies reached these target groups with savvy marketing, luring new customers at events like baseball games, where men are in attendance – typically in large numbers.
Young men are buying an assortment of product lines, which are cheap and quickly advancing in popularity. Cosmetics men are applying to cover blemishes and wrinkles include:
• Toner
• Moisturizer
South Korea's cosmetics industry earns about $10 billion in sales annually. Its products also are widely sought in China and Southeast Asia and according to South Korean newspaper, Hankyoreh, the Chinese population is a high-quality target market. Consumers there typically spend hundreds of dollars at cosmetics stores and even have turned the shopping district of Myeongdong into a cosmetics-focused tourism culture.
