Beauty obsession or clever marketing?

Cosmetic face masks emerge as top seller; maker seeks to get listed

By Kim Da-ye

What could be the best seller on home shopping channels that brought a company more than 80 billion won in revenue last year?

It is not Samsung Electronics’ latest laptop or a set of pots and pans, the favorite of housewives. It’s the Ha Yoo-mi face mask.

Genic, a medium-size company with capital at some 15 billion won, made 819 billion won in sales last year, most of which was generated from face masks made of gel instead of conventional fabric cutouts soaked with serum. The surge in sales growth has been staggering ― from 8.7 billion won in 2007, to 13.7 billion won in 2008 and 35 billion won in 2009.

Middle-aged actor Ha Yoo-mi modeled for the face mask, appearing often on home shopping channels without make-up. She became so synonymous with the brand that some people mistakenly thought Ha owned the company.

The company has now made enough money that it is working with Kyobo Securities to go public on the KOSDAQ market.

Looking at Genic’s success, a series of companies jumped into the gel-type face mask market. Leaders Cosmetics, an affiliate of Leaders Skin Group set up by dermatologists from Seoul National University, launched gel masks rich in collagen while Laterre followed suit by naming its product the “Choi Hwa-jung” mask. Choi is a famous radio personality here.

Other start-up cosmetic companies also see their cash cows in masks. Omu, a fledgling skincare firm, specializes in face masks made of silk sheets while La Foret, an online-only seller, makes its gel sheet out of coconut extract.

The popularity of face mask is not overlooked by large cosmetics companies. Launched in February, AmorePacific’s Haneul brand sold more than 10,000 a month of its whitening mask. Another face mask from the same brand sold only 2,000 a month last year. Korea’s largest skincare maker also has a chain of street shops called Aritaum whose 1,000 won masks received rave reviews from bloggers.

Chun Ji-young, product manager of Haneul said, “As the economy recovers, consumers are showing a willingness to pay extra for face masks in addition to serums.”

Many of them sell masks on home shopping channels in bulk. Some 20 face masks and eye patches plus free jars of moisturizers sell for less than 100,000 won while home shopping companies give an extra discount or add on special gifts from time to time.

Hyundai Home Shopping press officer Yang Hye-young said they are popular on home shopping channels for some reason. The best seller of Hyundai last year was Genic’s Cel-Derma anti-wrinkle hydrogel mask _ 400,000 were sold at 99,000 won between Jan. 1 to Nov. 11. Otherwise most of the top 10 sellers were kitchenware items that are cheaper than the set of face masks.

“We sell the masks in bulk, an amount which one person can use over 30 weeks when used two to three times a week. Many Koreans visit dermatologists and get skin aesthetic services, and they now want to enjoy it at home as well,” Yang said.

Yang adds that home shopping channels allows a trial period of a week. Rather than sending a sample separately, consumers can pick one randomly and return the whole set if they don’t like it.

Actor Ha’s appearance in a live broadcasting also helps as she has no qualms about being seen without make-up and advocates the daily use of the masks.

A Genic official said the company began its business by exporting face masks abroad. It later sought to expand to the domestic market, choosing home shopping channels as outlets without particular consideration.

The immense popularity of face masks is evident everywhere in Korea. An online search of Ha Yoo-mi pack, Leaders pack or Choi Hwa-jung pack yields hundreds of reviews on blogs with photos of women wearing the masks or full parcels of the face masks.

Consumers divide the large parcel of face masks among family members or friends, or even resell some of them at online flea markets. Most use the face masks as some consumers write in their blogs they put one on every day.

“Whenever the Ha Yoo-mi packs are sold on live broadcasts, I buy them in bulk. Before putting on make-up, I wear it for about 10 to 15 minutes. Then the cosmetics can be applied very well,” wrote a blogger named Tomboy Older Wife, a woman who favors daily use of the face mask.