2017 Late Summer, K-Beauty New Product Update

Although I still cannot see any megahit-to- be products yet, I think it’s good idea to write about new Korean products because I haven’t written the K-beauty product update since this June. I am not sure why but this year, most of Korean beauty companies have not introduced products for fall and winter yet but there are some interesting products that we should pay attention. So let’s see what we will see in this autumn.

A’Pieu
A’Pieu is expending its best-selling Madecassoside line. The centella asiatica based, trouble care/ brightening/repairing madecassosdie cream was big hit this S/S 2017. A’peiu recently introduced soothing balm, stick foundation and needle spot patch under the same product family. I think centella asiatica is still one of the best plant based ingredients for the skin, and most of the products under Madecassoside product family is based on centella asiatica extract and TECA (titrated extract of centella asiatica.) These products are suitable for most of the skin type including sensitive skin and the most amazing part of A’pieu’s Madecassoside line is that all the products are around $6 to $15. A’pieu also introduced high-glossy lip crayons, Fit-in- Enamel, seemingly and arguably inspired by Chanel’s Le Rouge Crayon de Couleur.

Espoir
Considering Espoir is under the Korea’s cosmetic giant Amore Pacific, it is hard to be considered highly appreciated brand. Although, I do like their base makeup products and Pro Tailor Foundation is definitely one of them. Although it is a little more expensive than conventional Korean brands, but it definitely worth every penny. They recently introduced new edition “Be Silk.” There are 10 different gradients with two tone spectrum (yellow base / pink base.) The texture is moderately light and has medium coverage, finishes skin glowy and radiant. Ah, it has excellent consistency so it does not become cakey for quite prolonged period of time, which is always a plus.

Missha
Interestingly, the most eye-catching new products of Missha is not the makeup nor the skincare. Actually, it’s a set of magnetic attached brush on the metal stand. So, you can practically attach the brushes on the upper plate or let them stand on the lower plate. It transforms your vanity into professional makeup studio. Not only the innovative design, but also the brush quality is superb. Missha used 3 different kinds of material for the brushes for various purposes. Because you can attach makeup brushes to the upper deck, you can easily dry the brush without deforming their original shape.

Laneige

As some of you already know, Laneige is not a “road shop” brand. So its product cycle is relatively longer than other brands. We get to see only 1 product family and several so-called “side” products 2 or 3 times a year only. Anyway, the S/S’s Fresh Calming Line was not so successful so rather they rely on its classical big hits, such as Water Sleeping Mask and Two Tone Lip bar. Laneige recently introduced Vitamin Brightening Cleansing Water. It has very similar formula to gentle toners so I am not so sure this product can cleanse very nicely but for people has extremely sensitive skin, this might be a good cleansing water for light makeup. Eye Sleeping Mask is also try-worthy. What I like about Amore Pacific products that they use unconventional yet beneficial ingredients sometimes, (not always though.) This eye sleeping mask contains caffeine & hesperidin, can be an excellent solution for the morning puffy eyes, although it is named “Eye Sleeping Mask.”

Nature Republic

While other brands constantly improve the formula by removing harmful ingredients and increase the amount of actives and base extract I don’t think Nature Republic is doing the same. Most of the new products are formulated with mediocre ingredients with ppm level of extracts and phenoxy ethanol. New Hawaiian Fresh Clear Toner, Remover and Real Super Grain line are all made with similar formula from what Nature Republic previous had. It was a truly disappointing season for Nature Republic as last year. Real Fresh Pomegranate Modeling Mask and Aloe Modeling Mask are quite interesting. It is a conventional modeling mask that comes with solution and powder. You mix them in the container and apply on the skin. It is a similar type of modeling mask to 23 Years Old’s Aqua Bab mask or MD’s Pick. They are made with “a little bit of every” active ingredients such as niacinamide, trehalose, panthenol, adenosine and sodium hyaluronate.

It’s Skin

Beside its best-selling crème d’escargot, lots of people still rave for Power 10 Formula serum. This year, they launched series of creams just like its ampoules. It’s Skin introduced 10 Power 10 Formula One Shot Creams – Ye (ferment), Gf (moisture & calming), Vc (Vitamin C), Vb (Vitamin B6,), Po (Pore), Co (Collagen), Li (licorice extract), Ve (Vitamin E), Wh (brightening) and Wr (wrinkle-care.) You can see it corresponds to its Power 10 Ampoule series. 10 corresponding masks were also introduced and 5 foam cleansers as well. If you liked Power 10 Formula ampoules, now you have equivalent cream and masks for most of them. It’s Skin also introduced disposable sleeping masks from the same product family as well. So, this year was all about expending the Power 10 Formula product family.

Innisfree

As you know, Innisfree is a #1 selling brand. This S/S was all about developing its My Palette line and undeniably, it was a quite a success for them. You can practically add any type of makeup product on the plate from eyeshadow to color corrector. Because of the light packaging, the price was very competitive as well. This F/W season is also an ongoing addition to its already strong color collection. Newly introduced Real Fit Color Liquid Gloss has two versions – gloss (high shine, glossy finish) and velvet (matte finish.) I can see this is strongly inspired by Nars’ new lip collection. Again, it’s significantly cheaper and colors look quite nice as well. So if you like the colors from Innisfree, they are definitely worth to pay attention to. Innisfree’s strength – skincare line also introduced a new product with 10% of skin-repairing panthenol. It is a toner made with very clean ingredients, completely EWG green level. Unfortunately, we cannot buy it from here, since it is a online only
product line – True Care. So sad.

Tonymoly

This year was not a very successful year for Tonymoly. They don’t have any post-hits after Liptone Get it Tint, its waterproof cushion, BC-dation. It’s new cosmeceutical line, Dr. LOGY hasn’t gain popularity yet and new lip product line, Perfect Lips, was not a big hit either. it recently introduced Taco-Pore Sebum / Blackhead line, consists of scrub stick, gel cream, bubble pore mask and blackhead removal mask. Tonymoly’s pore products were always good but I think it’s a little late now. It will be colder and F/W season is more about moisturizing and brightening generally, so I am not sure how well these products will do this season. But as I mentioned above, Tonymoly’s pore products were always good since its launching, and I will update you if I get to use them.