U.K.-based natural cosmetics firm The Body Shop is looking to bolster its skin care product lineup, which is expected to help the body care-focused company expand its presence in South Korea’s highly developed cosmetics market.

“The Body Shop’s latest strategic focus is skin care, which has been seeing higher than expected sales, as shown through the popularity of our iconic products like the Tea Tree Oil and the Drops of Youth Essence,” said The Body Shop Korea general manager Oh Mi-kyung in an interview with The Korea Herald.

“By actively developing and promoting high-quality skin care products, The Body Shop Korea is looking to increase its total market share in the country, of which the skin care sector takes up roughly 55 percent compared to just 6 percent held by body care products,” she said.

As its name suggests, The Body Shop — a part of global cosmetics giant L’Oreal Group — has traditionally been a strong player in the body care sector while holding a comparatively low presence in the skin care section.

“Around 65 percent of The Body Shop Korea’s total sales come from body care products whereas skin care products account for around 25 percent," Oh said. “This also means that we have a lot of room and potential to introduce excellent skin care products, developed with L’Oreal’s leading cosmetics technology, to Korean consumers.”

The Body Shop considers Korea as one of the “company’s most important international markets,” alongside other well-known foreign beauty brands closely watching Korea’s fast-changing beauty industry, according to The Body Shop Korea executive.

As of 2014, the Korean cosmetics market was valued at an estimated 11.8 trillion won ($9.91 billion) and is expected to grow by more than 7 percent to reach roughly 12.6 trillion won this year, according to a 2015 report by Shinhan Investment Corp.

Standing among the top 10 cosmetics markets in the world, Korea is expected to further attract new players in the years to come given its reputation for developing innovative, high-tech beauty products, according to international market analyst Datamonitor.

“As Korea’s cosmetics industry has significantly grown in size, it has become both an important and difficult market for our global operations,” Oh said.

For one, The Body Shop Korea is the firm’s only country branch allowed to use advertisements for product promotion. Although The Body Shop, in line with its corporate values, prohibits the use of advertisements across its global operations, it made an exception for Korea, a primarily ad-driven market.

The U.K. natural cosmetics company is also expecting to win over Korean consumers with “high-quality products made with all-natural ingredients, hand-picked and processed under fair trade standards,” Oh said.

As part of its recent push to better promote and enlarge its current skin care lineup, The Body Shop is preparing to launch the Oils of Life, an intensely revitalizing facial oil, in Korea on Oct. 1.

The company expects the new facial oil to become one of The Body Shop’s best-selling skin care products along with its iconic antiblemish solution Tea Tree Oil and the Drops of Youth Concentrate, an antiaging serum introduced in 2012.

“The Body Shop will continue its product innovation in the years to come, introducing an expanded skincare and makeup product lineup to our customers in the future,” Oh said.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)