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| A customer applies cosmetics with an AmorePacific cushion at a Sephora store in New York.. / Courtesy of AmorePacific |
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By Park Jae-hyuk
AmorePacific Group said Monday cumulative global sales of its cushion compact exceeded 100 million units. Cushion compact means a makeup product combining a compact with a special sponge soaked with base makeup, such as sun block or foundation.
Korea's top cosmetics firm developed the world's first cushion compact category with a product named IOPE Air Cushion in 2008. The company and its 15 brands sold more than 33 million cushion compacts last year including 6.5 million sold in overseas markets, which means at least one unit was sold every single second.
According to a TNS Korea survey of 800 Korean women, 75 percent have used a cushion compact at least once and 55 percent are only using it for their base makeup. Three out of four respondents said they spend less time on touch-ups or base makeup because of the product.
The global market researcher's data also showed the average makeup application time decreased from 13 to 7 minutes and the average number of necessary base makeup cosmetics from 2.2 to 1.7.
In order to promote its achievements, AmorePacific is conducting a digital campaign titled "The Truth of Cushion", which began on Monday and will run until next April, which features a video introducing the company's innovative cushion technologies. Its teaser released on Nov. 11 was watched by 2.3 million viewers in just 10 days.
In the video, AmorePacific researchers said, "A good cushion is the one that helps cosmetics adhere to skin thinly and evenly." The researchers said those cushions naturally show the user's skin tone and are more economical, as they can be used longer than other cushions having similar capabilities.
Most innovative company
Last year, Forbes chose the 100 World's Most Innovative Companies and AmorePacific ranked 28th vying with global enterprises. The U.S. business magazine also published an article titled, "How South Korea's AmorePacific Became One of the World's Most Innovative Companies," regarding AmorePacific's cushion compact as an innovation and explaining that the firm attracted global customers with the newly-made cosmetics category.
AmorePacific has researched and developed its cushion compacts at Cushion Laboratory or C-Lab, where researchers for cushion, foundation, primer and powder gather with experts of customer analysis and merchandise study.
As a result, the company upgraded its cushions from the first generation in 2008 to the fourth generation now, evolving the core technology of the product for 15 times. The fourth generation cushion features a three-dimensional hive-shaped sponge and ultrafine dispersion technology. It minimizes the particle size and naturally expresses a user's skin tone.
AmorePacific also collaborates with overseas laboratories in order to make products meeting the demands of customers who live in different regions and to expand its presence in the global market.
For example, the company's two brands ― Innisfree and Etude House ― developed base cushion compacts for Chinese customers wanting to hide their facial blemishes. Another brand ― Laneige ― released a moistureless cushion for customers living in hot and humid ASEAN countries.
As of October, AmorePacific applied for patents for 177 cushion technologies developed by C-Lab and registered 26. The company received the Excellence Award of the Korea Technology Awards in 2012, the IR52 Chang Young-sil Award in 2014 and the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit in 2015. It was also selected among the World-Class Products of Korea in 2013 as it has led global K-beauty fever.
Secret of development
The world's first cushion was developed after AmorePacific researchers became inspired by a parking stamp which sets a seal to parking tickets without any leakage of liquid. The researchers applied the idea to cosmetics products and developed a stamp-typed sun block in 2008, which had never been seen before.
A polyurethane foam sponge soaked with liquid sun block was contained in a compact with a puff, so that its users can touch up anywhere at any time. Customers could easily carry the product and did not have to wash their hands after applying their makeup.
AmorePacific invented the first generation cushion after 3,600 experiments on its sponge to test various factors, such as material, hardness, thickness and size of pores. According to the company, the sponge is the most important technology of its cushion compact.
"AmorePacific will not stay in its current position but continue to actively lead the global cushion market through technological innovation and R&D," said AmorePacific C-Lab director Choi Kyung-ho.
"We hope our customers look for future cushion technologies which will change the life of women all over the world."
