江南Style 韓系美妝品席捲海外
While the French have long been the global style leader in the sartorial stakes, for decades beauty innovation was being led by Japanese cosmetics companies such as SK-IIand Shiseido. But in the last few years, South Korean beauty brands have been claiming a bigger stake of the American beauty market, which is estimated to be $44 billion dollars, according to the NPD Group.
雖然法國人向來是時裝潮流的全球領導者，不過在美容領域，過去幾十年的創新主要是由SK-II和資生堂等日本化妝品公司引領的。NPD集團表示，近年來，在市場規模高達440億美元的美國美容市場上，韓國的美容品牌開始佔據更大的份額。
“There has been a cumulative interest in Korean beauty and it all started with the BB cream,” says Megan McIntyre, the beauty director at the lifestyle siteRefinery29.
生活網站Refinery29的美容總監梅根o麥金泰爾指出：“人們對韓國美容產品的興趣漸漸增高，這種趨勢是從BB霜開始的。”A BB, or beauty balm, is in an all-in-one skincare and makeup hybrid that moisturizers, covers blemishes, and contains sunscreen. The products hit U.S. shelves in 2011 and now nearly every major cosmetics brand carries one. “Once American women caught on to BB creams, they started becoming curious about other Korean beauty products,” says McIntyre.
BB霜是一款兼具護膚和化妝作用的美容產品，可以起到保溼、遮瑕的作用，並且包含防曬成分。這種產品於2011年在美國開賣，現在幾乎每個大型化妝品品牌都有了自家的BB霜產品。麥金泰爾表示：“自從美國女性愛上了BB霜，她們就開始對其它韓國美容產品也充滿興趣。”
Last year, McIntyre hired a South Korea-based correspondent to report on the latest trends from the ground. “If Korea has had BB creams for about 20 years, what else are we missing?” she says.
去年，麥金泰爾在韓國招聘了一位辦事員，向她全面報告韓國美容行業的最新動向。她表示：“如果韓國的BB霜已經生產20年了，那麼我們還錯過了哪些產品？”The two major Korean beauty powerhouses areAMOREPACIFIC (think of it as the Estée Lauder of Korea) and its brands include LANEIGE, Iope and Sulwhasoo, while LG has SUM 37 and the soon-to-be-launched belif. Other major brands include Dr. Jart,Tony Moly and Amarte. While many of these brands are sold at Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus as well as Sephora, there’s also a host of websites selling curated Korean beauty products, such as Glowrecipe, Peach and Lily, and SokoGlam. MemeBox is a Korean beauty subscription service, similar to Birchbox.
韓國有兩家美容巨頭，一家是愛茉莉，其地位相當於韓國的雅詩蘭黛，它的品牌包括蘭芝、亦博和雪花秀；另一家是LG，旗下品牌包括SUM 37和馬上將推出的belif。韓國的其它主要品牌包括Dr. Jart、魔法森林和Amarte等等。很多品牌在伯道夫古德曼、內曼馬庫斯和絲芙蘭等商場和門店有售，此外也有很多網站在銷售韓國美容產品，比如Glowrecipe、Peach and Lily和SokoGlam等。另外還有一項類似於化妝品發現平臺Birchbox，名叫MemeBox的美容產品訂購服務。But beyond the BB cream, and the often cute packaging- Tony Moly’s lip balms are packaged in cherry and lip shaped compacts- what’s the appeal of Korean beauty, and how is different than its American counterpart?
除了BB霜和韓國化妝品慣常採用的可愛包裝（比如魔法森林的脣膜採用桃紅色包裝，化妝盒呈嘴脣狀）以外，韓國美容產品的吸引力究竟是什麼？它與美國化妝品有什麼不同？It all comes down to innovation and an obsession with beautiful skin, says Christine Chang, the co-founder, along with Sarah Lee, of .
的聯合創始人克里斯汀o張表示，這要歸功於韓國美容行業的創新，以及韓國人對好皮膚的癡迷。“Korean companies are churning out innovative products at an unprecedented rate, and it’s powered by consumers willing to do anything for good skin,” says Chang. “Korean women have a totally different approach to beauty. They don’t rely on one product for their skin and they don’t use makeup to mask their imperfections.”
克里斯汀o張表示：“韓國企業正在以前所未有的速度推出創新產品，這是由於許多消費者爲了護膚不惜任何代價。韓國女性採用一種完全不同的美容方法，她們不依靠單一的產品護膚，而且也不願用化妝品掩蓋臉上的瑕疵。”A typical Korean skincare regime involves multiple products and multiple steps—usually somewhere between 10 and 17, says McIntyre. “It’s not a chore for Korean women though. They view it as a ritual or pampering experience.”
麥金泰爾稱，一名韓國女性的護膚流程通常要用到好幾種產品，包含好幾道工序，經常在10到17道工序之間。“她們並不認爲這種過程很繁瑣累人，而是當成一種儀式，或一種享受過程。”The hallmarks of Korean beauty include ingredients such as ginseng and even snail mucin; facial-sheet masks which can be made from cotton fiber or natural material such as kelp; and products containing fermented ingredients. K beauty (as its called) also has its own lingo. An “essence” is similar to a super-charged serum and K beauty experts talk about “skin expression,” which is how consumers work a product into their skin.
不少韓國化妝品含有人蔘和蝸牛粘液等原料，韓國的面膜原材料有的取自棉纖維，有的取自海藻等天然原料，還有些產品含有發酵成份。韓國化妝品也有自己的“行話”。所謂的“精華”類似於一種加強版的精華液，而韓國專家口中的“肌膚表達”，是指消費者將一款產品用到皮膚上的效果。Here’s a look at some of the biggest Korean brands available in the U.S.
下面讓我們瞭解一下美國市場上幾個最大的韓國品牌。Sulwhasoo
雪花秀Although it launched in Korea in 1967, Sulwhasoo didn’t make its stateside debut until 2010, when it went on sale at Bergdorf Goodman. This luxury brand is inspired by ancient Korean herbal medicine, and a few of its key ingredients include Korean ginseng, solomon’s seal to treat dryness and Chinese peony which has anti-inflammatory properties. Sulwhasoo’s top selling product is Concentrated Ginseng Renewing Cream, followed by First Care Activating Serum—the company says the serum has generated $1 billion in sales worldwide and one is sold every 9 minutes throughout the world. Sulwhasoo’s Timetreasure Renovating Cream ($400) is the line’s priciest product and contains Korean red pine, which is grown on an unpolluted island near the west coast of Korea.
雖然雪花秀早在1967年便在韓國銷售，但直到2010年，它才被引進美國，最初是在伯道夫古德曼商場銷售。這個高端品牌的靈感來自古代韓方草藥，其原料包括高麗蔘、能治療皮膚乾燥的玉竹和具有消炎功效的牡丹。雪花秀銷量最高的產品是人蔘面霜，其次是潤燥精華。雪花秀公司聲稱，該公司的潤燥精華在全球已經創下了10億美元的銷售額，平均每9分鐘就會賣出一瓶。雪花秀售價最高的產品是400美元的珍雪面霜，其中包含韓國紅松成分，這種植物生長在韓國西海岸附近一座未受污染的島嶼上。Belif
BelifAn LG-owned brand, belif will make its stateside debut this month, when it goes on sale in Sephora. Belif bills itself as a “truthful” brand and the simple packaging clearly states each product’s ingredients. The brand partnered with a centuries old apothecary in Scotland, and uses traditional medicinal herbs in its products—which are also free from synthetic dyes, synthetic preservatives and mineral oils. Belif will launch with 21 products, including Hungarian water essence, a serum made with 10 herbs; the True cream moisturizing bomb which contains comfrey leaf, and the True cream aqua bomb, which has a gel-like consistency and contains Lady’s Mantle and nettle leaf.
作爲LG集團旗下的品牌，belif直到本月纔在美國的絲芙蘭開售。Belif標榜自己是一個“誠實”的品牌，簡潔的包裝上清楚地寫明瞭每種產品的成份。該品牌與一家擁有百年曆史的蘇格蘭藥材商進行合作，並在產品中使用了傳統草藥成份。另外，該品牌的產品不含合成染色劑、合成防腐劑以及礦物油。Belif將推出21款產品，包括一款匈牙利水潤精華、一款含有10種草藥成份的精華液、一款含有紫草成分的True潤澤炸彈霜，以及True補水炸彈霜，後者具有凝膠質地，含有鬥蓬草和蕁麻葉成分。
