Making The Wave Inclusive

As the Korean cosmetics industry, a branch of the larger "Hallyu" or South Korean cultural wave, begins to make inroads into the US and Europe there are concerns that darker skinned folk are being left out, intentionally or otherwise:

"Though, one subject that troubles her is the lack of K-beauty options for darker skin.

'As western consumers begin to hold domestic brands accountable for completely excluding darker-skinned people from their consumer base, I noticed that Korean brands were entering into the international market and not expanding their ranges to fit the new market,' she told the Korea JoongAng Daily. 

'As a darker-skinned K-beauty enthusiast, I find the most frustrating part of participating in the international K-beauty phenomenon is the idea that I do not have the right as a prospective consumer to request shades that will match people who look like me, even though the products are being sold in my backyard. There are Korean brands being sold in major U.S. supermarkets and cosmetic stores, in areas with highly diverse populations, and people with dark skin are completely excluded from enjoying that expansion. Dark skin is not exclusive to a particular race. You can be any race or ethnicity and have dark skin. It’s just interesting to see how dark skin is constantly seen as an unreliable consumer base when that is not at all the case.'”

Knowing as little as I do about fashion and beauty in general, I was content to just listen to my adult students talk about their experiences traveling abroad and what they thought of the issues involved.  It is, however, undeniably a huge business (especially in China and to a lesser extent Japan) and there's something non-Koreans seem to find especially attractive about South Korean women, or at least the products they use.