Power Player steps up overseas push for K-beauty, enters 250 stores in Europe

[Financial News] South Korean cosmetics company Power Player is stepping up its push into overseas markets, led by its skincare brand Ongredients. A new product launched this year sold 430,000 units in just four months, and the company is expanding its sales base, including by entering 250 offline stores in Europe. Cumulative revenue through the third quarter of this year also at least doubled year over year, helped by an expanded product range and overseas distribution network.

According to Power Player on the 5th, Ongredients currently exports cosmetics to around 40 countries. It sells its products through OLIVE YOUNG and MUSINSA in South Korea, and through Amazon, TikTok Shop and Notino overseas.
Founded in 2019, Power Player develops skincare products focused on the skin barrier, hydration and soothing, elasticity, and skin tone. Ongredients segments its products according to skin concerns and emphasizes functionality through a strategy centered on ingredients and formulations.
This year in particular, new product launches and expansion of overseas sales channels have been taking place simultaneously. After introducing Skin Barrier Calming Lotion EX in January, the company launched BakuGlow Capsule Lotion in June. It has since expanded its product range to include the Berryvery line, a skin-tone care product, and home beauty devices.
Among these products, BakuGlow Capsule Lotion recorded cumulative sales of 430,000 units within four months of launch. The company believes that broadening its range beyond products focused on hydration and soothing to include products for elasticity care has contributed to increased sales.
Expansion of its offline distribution network in Europe stands out in overseas markets. Power Player has entered 120 OVS stores in Italy and 130 stores of Lilly Drogerie, a Bulgarian cosmetics and household goods retail chain.
Last September, it also entered the UK and Japanese markets through TikTok Shop. The company is diversifying its sales channels by adding local offline distribution networks to its previously online-focused sales model. Its strategy is to expand its reach among overseas consumers through online platforms while improving brand accessibility by entering local stores.
In South Korea, it has newly entered the Armed Forces Welfare Agency (PX), following its existing listings with OLIVE YOUNG and MUSINSA.

Alongside expanding its distribution network, Power Player is strengthening its product ranges for different skin concerns. Its core products are organized into three lines: Skin Barrier, BakuGlow and Berryvery. Skin Barrier is a range of hydrating and soothing products for dry and sensitive skin. It uses hyaluronic acid, Centella asiatica and ceramides, among other ingredients, with a focus on providing moisture and caring for the skin barrier.
The company says its flagship product, Skin Barrier Calming Lotion EX, was shown to improve hydration and the skin barrier in human application tests conducted by the Korea Institute of Dermatological Sciences.
The BakuGlow line targets skin elasticity. It features the proprietary ingredient “BakuGlow,” developed jointly with a research lab at Konkuk University. The Berryvery line, designed to address skin tone and blemishes, uses ingredients including tranexamic acid (TXA) and niacinamide.
The company also focuses on ingredient delivery technology during product development. It says that liposome and microcapsule technologies are incorporated into key products to improve the delivery of active ingredients to the skin.
Power Player is expanding its customer base, built around products for skin barrier care, to include customers for its elasticity and skin-tone care products. Rather than relying on a single product, it is increasing the number of products it sells by building ranges for different skin concerns.
This diversification of products and expansion of the distribution network are leading to revenue growth. According to the company, cumulative revenue through the third quarter of this year at least doubled compared with the same period last year.
Going forward, the company plans to expand its business with a focus on offline markets at home and abroad. In South Korea, it will use OLIVE YOUNG as a key sales channel while securing additional distribution networks; overseas, it plans to step up its entry into offline stores in Greater China and Japan.
It is also working to expand its sales network in Southeast Asia, North America and Europe. At the same time, it plans to add the Derma CeraDeep line, which uses the ceramide complex ingredient “CeraDeep” in its existing skincare range, and expand into the derma skincare market.
A Power Player representative said, “We plan to expand our domestic and overseas sales channels, focusing on our existing hydrating and soothing products and our newly launched products for elasticity and skin-tone care, while pursuing product development and diversifying our distribution network.”

[email protected] Kim Hyun-cheol Reporter