to instantly read 150+ free stories & 250-word summaries of all our stories

Body and Seoul

How India got sheetfaced: Making sense of the K-beauty wave

From black-market import groups on WhatsApp to stores across the country, Korean “functional cosmetics” have well and truly arrived, snail mucin and all

30/03/19

Roshni Nair

In the past few years, Korean beauty products and 10-step skincare regimen have captured hearts, minds and wallets across Asia, the US and even Europe

India's no stranger to this—starting with the Northeast, where, for years, there was a black market for K-beauty items shipped in via Myanmar

In the past couple of years, it's turned into a flood, with Korean brands setting up shop and retailers like Nykaa stocking even more

India's K-beauty imports rose 72% to $9.5 million last year—and retailers and brands say this is just the beginning

universe-1351865_1920-1920x1200.jpg

Want to read a free 200 word summary?

A rout of giant African and garden snails glide along specially crafted mesh and glass in dark rooms, leaving a trail of mucin that will be the centrepiece in “bare beauty” products. That these molluscs are delicacies in the form of escargot, valued by French and Spanish gourmands for centuries, is well-known. That their slime…

Read the full story. Subscribe now.

Also read our exhaustive coverage about E-commerce, Future of Retail and Ride Sharing

Why subscribe? Let us explain.

Already Registered?

Related stories

More stories in /Analysis, /Reportage & /Weekend

See all in Reportage, Startups & Technology

This story is for subscribers only.
or

Read the full story. Subscribe now.

Also read our exhaustive coverage about E-commerce, Future of Retail and Ride Sharing

Why subscribe? Let us explain.

The selected story is available only for paid subscribers. Might want to change your mind!

Subscribe now

Already Registered?

Questions?

What is The Ken?

The Ken is a subscription-driven media site. We write one story a day (weekdays only). These stories have sharp, original insights on technology, business, science and healthcare from India.

Why do I have to sign up to read your stories?

Our stories are not free. Well, some select stories are. But, a significant part of what we write at The Ken is for subscribers only. We put in a lot of effort and resources in writing our stories and believe that you must pay for good journalism.
Hence, our three plans. 1) The annual membership
2) The free sign up
3) The recurring quarterly subscription

On journalism and why you should pay for it, if you haven’t already seen it, here’s a great explainer from John Oliver.

So, one must pay for journalism?

Yes.

How many stories will I get if I take an annual membership?

828+ stories.

And, in the free sign up?

Four stories every month.

Do I get a refund?

We allow you to sample our journalism for free before signing up, and after you do, we stand by its quality. But we do not offer refunds.

I am not getting my daily emails. Do I have to whitelist emails from The Ken?

An added benefit of your subscription (free/paid) are the daily personalised emails. These emails, at times, might end up in your spam/junk folder due to emojis, attachments or images. In case you’re not receiving these emails, it might help to whitelist us. If the problem still persists, write to us at [email protected].

Why am I unable to access the archives?

Full and unrestricted access to our archives is a feature of our annual membership.

My payment is not going through, what can I do?

Please write to us at [email protected] detailing the payment error or queries.

See all FAQs

    See all results for Ken

    No results found for Ken.