Making its mark in Europe, the original home of “Pharmacy Cosmetics”: The Market Potential K-Dermocosmetics Has Spotted

In March, the front of Sephora’s beauty concept store in Cologne, Germany was covered with Korean brand AESTURA. After first launching on Sephora Europe’s online mall in February, AESTURA has been rolling out sequentially across more than 860 offline stores in 19 European countries, including France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

 

<In March, the front of a Sephora store in Cologne, Germany was wrapped with Korean dermocosmetic brand AESTURA. Photo: Amorepacific>

 

K-beauty’s global success is no longer surprising, but AESTURA’s entry into Europe carries a different meaning. AESTURA is one of Korea’s leading dermocosmetic brands. Dermocosmetics combines “dermatology,” meaning skin science, and “cosmetics,” referring to beauty products, and describes cosmetics developed based on dermatological science.

 

Europe is widely regarded as the home of dermocosmetics. It is filled with century-old brands such as Vichy and La Roche-Posay from France and Eucerin from Germany, built on the authority of doctors’ and pharmacists’ recommendations. Skincare brands known as “pharmacy cosmetics” grew not through department stores or general retail channels, but through pharmacies. Europe is the market that effectively defined the dermocosmetic category itself.

 

In this market, AESTURA recorded top-three sales rankings in the cream category in Türkiye, Germany, Spain, and Portugal from the early stage of its launch, led by its flagship product, ATOBARRIER365 Cream. In Europe’s already mature derma market, how was a relatively new K-derma brand able to win consumers over?

 

 

Not by Trend, but by Evidence

<Last October, AESTURA participated in Sephoria: House of Beauty, the third global beauty festival held in Paris, France. Photo: AMOREPACIFIC>

 

K-beauty’s success overseas is often attributed to fast, trend-driven marketing. But in the dermocosmetic market, where proven efficacy is critical, the story is different. Instead of relying on K-beauty’s speed-oriented marketing, AESTURA emphasized trust-based assets. Its core strength lies in combining the authentic derma heritage that began with Pacific Pharma with AMOREPACIFIC’s skin-science research capabilities. With proven mass appeal as Olive Young’s No. 1 brand and global retail touchpoints such as Sephora, AESTURA was able to establish itself as a differentiated K-derma brand even in mature overseas derma markets. This also reflects a broader shift taking place across the K-beauty industry.

 

K-beauty is now continuing to achieve meaningful industrial success. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Korea’s cosmetics exports reached USD 11.4 billion, or KRW 17.2 trillion, in 2025, up 11.8% year on year and marking an all-time high. In the global cosmetics export ranking by country, Korea rose to second place after France, which recorded USD 24.3 billion. Korea had ranked third in 2024, but overtook the United States, which recorded USD 10.8 billion, within just one year.

 

As the market matures, K-beauty’s competitive battleground is shifting beyond marketing toward the fundamental functionality of products. As more consumers directly compare ingredient information through social networks, actual skin-improving performance is becoming a stronger purchase driver than brand name alone. The growing attention on cosmetics with effects comparable to procedures, such as PDRN, a salmon-derived regenerative ingredient, reflects the same trend. Within this shift, dermocosmetics has emerged as one of the fastest-growing categories.

 

<Trend in the size of the global dermocosmetics market>

 

According to Euromonitor, the global dermocosmetics market was worth approximately KRW 53 trillion as of 2025. From 2020 to 2025, its compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, reached 12.2%. This is nearly seven times higher than the 1.7% growth rate recorded by the general skincare market during the same period.

 

Trendier AI, an AI company specializing in the beauty industry, identified the “medi-cosmetic pivot” as the biggest trend in K-beauty this year. The company analyzed that the application of clinically proven active ingredients to skincare is becoming mainstream, with K-beauty leading the movement.

 

 

A Market Shaped by a Nation of Sensitive-Skin Consumers

Behind the rise of K-derma is Korea’s highly discerning consumer base. According to Skin Research and Technology, a dermatological science journal, 56.8% of Korean women perceive themselves as having sensitive skin, a higher rate than in the United States and Europe, where the figure stands at around 45–50%. In other words, Korea is a market where some of the world’s most sophisticated sensitive-skin data is accumulated.

 

The domestic dermocosmetics market began to take shape around the 2010s, when pharmaceutical companies started entering the cosmetics business. At the time, companies such as Pacific Pharma, the origin of AESTURA, and Daewoong Pharmaceutical, the company behind Easydew, launched derma-specialized brands centered on products sold through hospitals and clinics. Korea’s domestic derma market, which was worth around KRW 800 billion in 2020, surpassed KRW 1.1 trillion in 2023 after the COVID-19 period. However, even after more than a decade, only a limited number of brands have reached a level capable of competing globally.

 

<Trend in the size of Korea’s domestic dermocosmetics market>

 

 

Different from the Start: Pharmaceutical DNA

AESTURA, whose name refers to a fertile delta, traces its roots back to Pacific Pharma, founded in 1982. At a time when the concept of dermocosmetics did not even exist, the company focused on skin-barrier research. It introduced ATOBARRIER Cream in 2008 as a product sold through hospitals and clinics, and officially launched the AESTURA brand in 2012.

 

What sets AESTURA apart from ordinary cosmetics companies is its product development approach. More than 470 research papers and over 240 patents accumulated by Derma Lab, AMOREPACIFIC’s independent research organization, form the foundation of its product design. This is further supported by eight advisory networks made up of 62 dermatologists. Insights from these specialists’ clinical experience inspire product development and also lead to expert content on skin concerns, such as “Derma Counseling Center.” In this structure, medical-field insight is embedded not merely in marketing, but in the product development process itself.

<The AESTURA Sensitive Skin Cosmetics Research Society, launched last year. Through regular meetings held twice a year, the group shares clinical opinions on patients with sensitive skin and discusses cosmetics research, development, and commercialization. Photo: AMOREPACIFIC>

 

 

A Cream Sold Every Five Seconds

AESTURA’s signature product, ATOBARRIER Cream, was first developed in 2008 as a hospital-sold product for consumers with weakened skin barriers. As consumer demand grew for easier access without visiting hospitals, ATOBARRIER365 Cream was launched at Olive Young in 2018. The brand explained, “This was meaningful not simply because we expanded distribution, but because we listened to the voices of sensitive-skin consumers and improved accessibility by positioning the product as a moisturizer that can be used consistently in everyday life.”

 

<ATOBARRIER Cream, previously distributed through hospitals and clinics, was launched at Olive Young in 2018. Photo: AMOREPACIFIC>

 

Since then, cumulative sales of ATOBARRIER Cream have surpassed 10 million units, and as of the first half of 2026, it has become a steady seller with one unit sold every five seconds. The product has received awards in Olive Young’s cream category for six consecutive years, and the AESTURA brand as a whole has maintained the No. 1 position in total sales within the dermocosmetics category for three consecutive years since 2023.

 

 

 

Creation of a Derma Unit and the Potential of K-Derma

AESTURA has recently been accelerating its global expansion. Starting with its entry into Japan’s @cosme in 2023, the brand entered Vietnam and Thailand in 2024, followed by Sephora in the United States in 2025. In the same year, it also expanded into Canada, Australia, and China. This March, the brand’s reach extended to more than 860 Sephora stores across 19 European countries.

Last year, AMOREPACIFIC established a new Derma Beauty Unit combining AESTURA and ILLIYOON, and appointed Lim Woon-sup, who had led AESTURA, as an inside director. LG Household & Health Care also created an independent Derma & Contemporary Beauty division. As derma beauty becomes a core growth pillar of the global beauty industry, AMOREPACIFIC aims to respond proactively to market changes.

Derma is not a passing trend, but a field with structural growth potential. Key drivers include population aging, ingredient-conscious consumption, the spread of post-procedure care, and the normalization of homecare routines. Unlike color cosmetics, sensitive-skin concerns are not limited to a specific region or ethnicity, which further enhances the category’s scalability. According to industry sources, the global dermocosmetics market is expected to grow to KRW 100 trillion by 2030. Brands that have built long-standing technological capabilities and consumer trust are more likely to capture a larger share of this growth. This is why the industry is paying close attention to AESTURA, a brand that has accumulated validated data over many years.

Originally published in The JoongAng