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Business of Fashion
a day ago
- Business
- Business of Fashion
Can Deodorant Be a Luxury Product?
For decades, the number one prestige body product in the US has not been a pricey cellulite lotion or an ultraluxe bath oil, but a deodorant that was minted in 1994. Donna Karan's Cashmere Mist deodorant was invented to flank the brand's flagship white flower and musk scent before becoming a star all its own. Parent company Interparfums confirmed to The Business of Beauty that it still tops the charts according to Circana data. Proponents liken the smell to warm sheets or upscale baby shampoo. Navya Dev, a New York-based nose and founder of the custom perfumery Creature, doesn't wear perfume herself, but wears perfumed deodorants. She appreciates Cashmere Mist and other fine fragrance deodorants for their lowkey sillage. 'People will smell deodorant on me and they're like, 'You smell so good right now.' And I'm like, that's fascinating, because all I'm wearing is deodorant,'' Dev said. Today, the inclusion of fine fragrance in body care products, but especially deodorants, are table stakes as brands seek to value-pack their products with experiences. As trends like perfume layering gain traction in the global West, 'brands are reimagining body care as a fragrance-first category,' said Aishwarya Rajpara, a consultant at market research firm Euromonitor, pointing to a new guard of 'high-quality, complex fragrance compositions that rival traditional perfumes.' Spray deodorants are increasingly functioning as "fine fragrance mists," according to Papatui's Jenna Fagnan, driving demand. (BoF Team) Full-body spray has become the world's preferred deodorant format, selling more than roll-ons, sticks, creams and wipes combined — in no small part thanks to their resemblance to atomised fragrances. By 2026, the global deodorant market is forecasted to be worth $29 billion, according to Euromonitor, but much of this growth is being driven by the prestige segment, sales of which grew 24 percent in 2024, compared to 1 percent for mass formulas, said Circana. Few brands embody the Cashmere Mist effect like minimalist bodycare label Salt and Stone, a Sephora darling whose stick deodorant has become the best-selling product in its category on Amazon. In scents like Rose and Oud, it costs $20. Founder Nima Jalali, a pro snowboarder with an entrepreneurial streak, created the brand in 2017 as an upscale alternative to an unattractive category, and also contracted DSM-Firmenich to help develop a core scent collection. 'It was shocking to look at what was out there and how much I wanted to hide it away in my cabinet once I bought it,' Jalali said. 'Everything that I was seeing from the mass brands was very drugstore smelling — like 'mountain air.'' He shook his head. Elevating the Essential It sounds simple in theory: Mix a $10 speed stick with a drop of $200 perfume and upsell the customer. In practice, fusing deodorant and fine fragrance is a delicate and laborious alchemy, with its first ingredient being investment. Companies at every level and price point will partner with fragrance houses, from Burberry to Bath and Body Works, to imbue their products with 'elevating' scent experiences. A more recent phenomenon sees mass brands partnering with certain noses known for indie successes, like perfumer Frank Voelkl, who has earned an unlikely bit of celebrity for his creation of Le Labo's now-ubiquitous Santal 33. 'It's like using a fine fragrance mist at the same time,' said Jenna Fagnan, the co-founder of Dwyane 'the Rock' Johnson's personal care brand Papatui. (Johnson is, she said, a fine fragrance freak.) When it came to formulating its deodorant range, Fagnan and Johnson tapped Dsm-Firmenich, alongside Voelkl, to create scents like Sandalwood Suede. Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson's personal care line Papatui features deodorants with fragrances cooked up by Frank Voelkl, the creator of Le Labo Santal 33. (Golden Hours) While Papatui's Fagnan did not describe the cost of Voelkl's collaboration, she said it was more than they expected. 'We were a little naive to think that you could easily use fine fragrance and have something affordable,' Fagnan explained, citing the cost of high-quality perfume oil in particular. Fagnan said it cut into their margins but was a worthy investment to get customers hooked. Each and Every, founded in 2019 by Lauren Lovelady, reintroduced their line of deodorants this year with scents like Sunday Morning and Eternal Summer, created with essential oils in partnership with fragrance houses; the text on their new sleek black packaging revolves around the scent name, as on a perfume bottle. 'You can elevate this simple daily ritual into something that feels luxurious,' said Lovelady, who was inspired by how brands like Supergoop and Vacation used texture and scent, respectively, to turn sunscreen into a beauty staple. Scent Overload The ubiquity of ultraluxe scents like Baccarat Rouge 540, and the countless dupes they've spawned across the price spectrum, have no doubt stoked demand for inventions like vetiver or oud deodorant. But fine fragrance's descent to the least sexy of personal care categories feels irreversible. After the armpit, where else could perfume possibly go? Strong demand for hair perfumes, hand lotions and body soaps indicate that the infusion is far from over. But fine fragrance fatigue is already beginning to set in, as surges in sales and social media content conspire to make these scents ubiquitous — cheapening them in the process. Analysts predict sales to soften in the US as price hikes and a 15 percent tariff on goods imported from Europe take effect. Perfumer Dev thinks, optimistically, that more niche formulations will help brands (and shoppers) continue the fragrance conversation, sustaining sales in the process. 'People are so willing to get niche about every step of their style,' Dev said. She should know: Dev recently became the in-house perfumer for indie bodycare label Soft Services, where she's building a long runway of scent launches. Though the brand originally debuted without fragrances — to show shoppers that it was more geared toward solutions than sensuality — founder Rebecca Zhou said that it has since become a priority. (It's also become a priority at Sephora, where Soft Services sits in the bodycare section alongside Sol de Janeiro, Touchland and Salt and Stone.) After contacting fragrance houses like DSM-Firmenich and Givaudan, she decided to hire Dev to quicken the product development process. 'Now in one day we'll make 12 fragrances, and we can iterate on one of them three times,' Zhou said. 'We want scents that are unique and stick in your mind,' she continued. 'But you know, at the end of the day, we're not a niche fragrance brand. We need something that people can connect to at mass.' Sign up to The Business of Beauty newsletter, your complimentary, must-read source for the day's most important beauty and wellness news and analysis.
Qatar Tribune
2 days ago
- Business
- Qatar Tribune
Tariffs threaten Asian beauty product boom in US
Agencies When Amrita Bhasin, 24, learned that products from South Korea might be subject to a new tax when they entered the United States, she decided to stock up on the sheet masks from Korean brands like U-Need and MediHeal she uses a few times a week. 'I did a recent haul to stockpile,' she said. 'I bought 50 in bulk, which should last me a few months.' South Korea is one of the countries that hopes to secure a trade deal before the Aug. 1 date President Donald Trump set for enforcing nation-specific tariffs. A not-insignificant slice of the U.S. population has skin in the game when it comes to Seoul avoiding a 25% duty on its exports. Asian skin care has been a booming global business for a more than a decade, with consumers in Europe, North and South America, and increasingly the Middle East, snapping up creams, serums and balms from South Korea, Japan and China. In the United States and elsewhere, Korean cosmetics, or K-beauty for short, have dominated the trend. A craze for all-in-one 'BB creams' — a combination of moisturizer, foundation and sunscreen — morphed into a fascination with 10-step rituals and ingredients like snail mucin, heartleaf and rice water. Vehicles and electronics may be South Korea's top exports to the U.S. by value, but the country shipped more skin care and cosmetics to the U.S. than any other last year, according to data from market research company Euromonitor. France, with storied beauty brands like L'Oreal and Chanel, was second, Euromonitor said. Statistics compiled by the U.S. International Trade Commission, an independent federal agency, show the U.S. imported $1.7 billion worth of South Korean cosmetics in 2024, a 54% increase from a year earlier. 'Korean beauty products not only add a lot of variety and choice for Americans, they really embraced them because they were offering something different for American consumers,' Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said. Along with media offerings such as 'Parasite' and 'Squid Game,' and the popularity of K-pop bands like BTS, K-beauty has helped boost South Korea's profile globally, she said. 'It's all part and parcel really of the same thing,' Lovely said. 'And it can't be completely stopped by a 25% tariff, but it's hard to see how it won't influence how much is sold in the U.S. And I think what we're hearing from producers is that it also really decreases the number of products they want to offer in this market.' Senti Senti, a retailer that sells international beauty products at two New York boutiques and through an e-commerce site, saw a bit of 'panic buying' by customers when Trump first imposed punitive tariffs on goods from specific countries, manager Winnie Zhong said. The rush slowed down after the president paused the new duties for 90 days and hasn't picked up again, Zhong said, even with Trump saying on July 7 that a 25% tax on imports from Japan and South Korea would go into effect on Aug. 1. Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia subsequently reached agreements with the Trump administration that lowered the tariff rates their exported goods faced — in Japan's case, from 25% to 15% — still higher than the current baseline of 10% tariff. But South Korea has yet to clinch an agreement, despite having a free trade agreement since 2012 that allowed cosmetics and most other consumer goods to enter the U.S. tax-free. Since the first store owned by Senti Senti opened 16 years ago, beauty products from Japan and South Korea became more of a focus and now account for 90% the stock. The business hasn't had to pass on any tariff-related costs to customers yet, but that won't be possible if the products are subject to a 25% import tax, Zhong said. 'I'm not really sure where the direction of K-beauty will go to with the tariffs in place, because one of the things with K-beauty or Asian beauty is that it's supposed to be accessible pricing,' she said. Devoted fans of Asian cosmetics will often buy direct from Asia and wait weeks for their packages to arrive because the products typically cost less than they do in American stores. Rather than stocking up on their favorite sunscreens, lip tints and toners, some shoppers are taking a pause due to the tariff uncertainty.
Asahi Shimbun
3 days ago
- Business
- Asahi Shimbun
Tariffs on South Korea's products threaten the ‘K-beauty' boom in the U.S.
Customers and influencers try on new Korean perfume during a workshop at Senti Senti in New York on July 25, 2025. (AP Photo) NEW YORK--When Amrita Bhasin, 24, learned that products from South Korea might be subject to a new tax when they entered the United States, she decided to stock up on the sheet masks from Korean brands like U-Need and MediHeal she uses a few times a week. 'I did a recent haul to stockpile,' she said. 'I bought 50 in bulk, which should last me a few months.' South Korea is one of the countries that hopes to secure a trade deal before the Aug. 1 date President Donald Trump set for enforcing nation-specific tariffs. A not-insignificant slice of the U.S. population has skin in the game when it comes to Seoul avoiding a 25% duty on its exports. Asian skin care has been a booming global business for a more than a decade, with consumers in Europe, North and South America, and increasingly the Middle East, snapping up creams, serums and balms from South Korea, Japan and China. In the United States and elsewhere, Korean cosmetics, or K-beauty for short, have dominated the trend. A craze for all-in-one 'BB creams' — a combination of moisturizer, foundation and sunscreen — morphed into a fascination with 10-step rituals and ingredients like snail mucin, heartleaf and rice water. Vehicles and electronics may be South Korea's top exports to the U.S. by value, but the country shipped more skin care and cosmetics to the U.S. than any other last year, according to data from market research company Euromonitor. France, with storied beauty brands like L'Oreal and Chanel, was second, Euromonitor said. Statistics compiled by the U.S. International Trade Commission, an independent federal agency, show the U.S. imported $1.7 billion worth of South Korean cosmetics in 2024, a 54% increase from a year earlier. 'Korean beauty products not only add a lot of variety and choice for Americans, they really embraced them because they were offering something different for American consumers,' Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said. Along with media offerings such as 'Parasite' and 'Squid Games,' and the popularity of K-pop bands like BTS, K-beauty has helped boost South Korea's profile globally, she said. 'It's all part and parcel really of the same thing,' Lovely said. 'And it can't be completely stopped by a 25% tariff, but it's hard to see how it won't influence how much is sold in the U.S. And I think what we're hearing from producers is that it also really decreases the number of products they want to offer in this market.' Senti Senti, a retailer that sells international beauty products at two New York boutiques and through an e-commerce site, saw a bit of 'panic buying' by customers when Trump first imposed punitive tariffs on goods from specific countries, manager Winnie Zhong said. The rush slowed down after the president paused the new duties for 90 days and hasn't picked up again, Zhong said, even with Trump saying on July 7 that a 25% tax on imports from Japan and South Korea would go into effect on Aug. 1. Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia subsequently reached agreements with the Trump administration that lowered the tariff rates their exported goods faced — in Japan's case, from 25% to 15% — still higher than the current baseline of 10% tariff. But South Korea has yet to clinch an agreement, despite having a free trade agreement since 2012 that allowed cosmetics and most other consumer goods to enter the U.S. tax-free. Since the first store owned by Senti Senti opened 16 years ago, beauty products from Japan and South Korea became more of a focus and now account for 90% of the stock. The business hasn't had to pass on any tariff-related costs to customers yet, but that won't be possible if the products are subject to a 25% import tax, Zhong said. 'I'm not really sure where the direction of K-beauty will go to with the tariffs in place, because one of the things with K-beauty or Asian beauty is that it's supposed to be accessible pricing,' she said. Devoted fans of Asian cosmetics will often buy direct from Asia and wait weeks for their packages to arrive because the products typically cost less than they do in American stores. Rather than stocking up on their favorite sunscreens, lip tints and toners, some shoppers are taking a pause due to the tariff uncertainty. Los Angeles resident Jen Chae, a content creator with over 1.2 million YouTube subscribers, has explored Korean and Japanese beauty products and became personally intrigued by Chinese beauty brands over the last year. When the tariffs were first announced, Chae temporarily paused ordering from sites such as a shopping platform owned by an e-commerce company based in Hong Kong. She did not know if she would have to pay customs duties on the products she bought or the ones brands sent to her as a creator. 'I wasn't sure if those would automatically charge the entire package with a blanket tariff cost, or if it was just on certain items,' Chae said. On its website, YesStyle says it will give customers store credit to reimburse them for import charges. At Ohlolly, an online store focused on Korean products, owners Sue Greene and Herra Namhie are taking a similar pause. They purchase direct from South Korea and from licensed wholesalers in the U.S., and store their inventory in a warehouse in Ontario, California. After years of no duties, a 25% import tax would create a 'huge increase in costs to us,' Namhie said. She and Greene made two recent orders to replenish their stock when the tariffs were at 10%. But they have put further restocks on hold 'because I don't think we can handle 25%,' Namhie said. They'd have to raise prices, and then shoppers might go elsewhere. The business owners and sisters are holding out on hope the U.S. and Korea settle on a lower tariff or carve out exceptions for smaller ticket items like beauty products. But they only have two to four months of inventory in their warehouse. They say that in a month they'll have to make a decision on what products to order, what to discontinue and what prices will have to increase. Rachel Weingarten, a former makeup artist who writes a daily beauty newsletter called 'Hello Gorgeous!' said while she's devoted to K-beauty products like lip masks and toner pads, she doesn't think stockpiling is a sound practice. 'Maybe one or two products, but natural oils, vulnerable packaging and expiration dates mean that your products could go rancid before you can get to them,' she said. Weingarten said she'll still buy Korean products if prices go up, but that the beauty world is bigger than one country. 'I'd still indulge in my favorites, but am always looking for great products in general,' she said. Bhasin, in Menlo Park, California, plans to keep buying her face masks too, even if the price goes up, because she likes the quality of Korean masks. 'If prices will go up, I will not shift to U.S. products,' she said. 'For face masks, I feel there are not a ton of solid and reliable substitutes in the U.S.'
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Business Standard
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Tariffs on South Korea's products threaten the 'K-beauty' boom in the US
When Amrita Bhasin, 24, learned that products from South Korea might be subject to a new tax when they entered the United States, she decided to stock up on the sheet masks from Korean brands like U-Need and MediHeal she uses a few times a week. I did a recent haul to stockpile, she said. I bought 50 in bulk, which should last me a few months. South Korea is one of the countries that hopes to secure a trade deal before the Aug. 1 date President Donald Trump set for enforcing nation-specific tariffs. A not-insignificant slice of the US population has skin in the game when it comes to Seoul avoiding a 25 per cent duty on its exports. Asian skin care has been a booming global business for a more than a decade, with consumers in Europe, North and South America, and increasingly the Middle East, snapping up creams, serums and balms from South Korea, Japan and China. In the United States and elsewhere, Korean cosmetics, or K-beauty for short, have dominated the trend. A craze for all-in-one BB creams a combination of moisturiser, foundation and sunscreen morphed into a fascination with 10-step rituals and ingredients like snail mucin, heartleaf and rice water. Vehicles and electronics may be South Korea's top exports to the US by value, but the country shipped more skin care and cosmetics to the US than any other last year, according to data from market research company Euromonitor. France, with storied beauty brands like L'Oreal and Chanel, was second, Euromonitor said. Statistics compiled by the US International Trade Commission, an independent federal agency, show the US imported $1.7 billion worth of South Korean cosmetics in 2024, a 54 per cent increase from a year earlier. Korean beauty products not only add a lot of variety and choice for Americans, they really embraced them because they were offering something different for American consumers, Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said. Along with media offerings such as Parasite and Squid Games, and the popularity of K-pop bands like BTS, K-beauty has helped boost South Korea's profile globally, she said. It's all part and parcel really of the same thing, Lovely said. And it can't be completely stopped by a 25 per cent tariff, but it's hard to see how it won't influence how much is sold in the US And I think what we're hearing from producers is that it also really decreases the number of products they want to offer in this market. Senti Senti, a retailer that sells international beauty products at two New York boutiques and through an e-commerce site, saw a bit of panic buying by customers when Trump first imposed punitive tariffs on goods from specific countries, manager Winnie Zhong said. The rush slowed down after the president paused the new duties for 90 days and hasn't picked up again, Zhong said, even with Trump saying on July 7 that a 25 per cent tax on imports from Japan and South Korea would go into effect on Aug. 1. Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia subsequently reached agreements with the Trump administration that lowered the tariff rates their exported goods faced in Japan's case, from 25 per cent to 15 per cent still higher than the current baseline of 10 per cent tariff. But South Korea has yet to clinch an agreement, despite having a free trade agreement since 2012 that allowed cosmetics and most other consumer goods to enter the US tax-free. Since the first store owned by Senti Senti opened 16 years ago, beauty products from Japan and South Korea became more of a focus and now account for 90 per cent of the stock. The business hasn't had to pass on any tariff-related costs to customers yet, but that won't be possible if the products are subject to a 25 per cent import tax, Zhong said. I'm not really sure where the direction of K-beauty will go to with the tariffs in place, because one of the things with K-beauty or Asian beauty is that it's supposed to be accessible pricing, she said. Devoted fans of Asian cosmetics will often buy direct from Asia and wait weeks for their packages to arrive because the products typically cost less than they do in American stores. Rather than stocking up on their favorite sunscreens, lip tints and toners, some shoppers are taking a pause due to the tariff uncertainty. Los Angeles resident Jen Chae, a content creator with over 1.2 million YouTube subscribers, has explored Korean and Japanese beauty products and became personally intrigued by Chinese beauty brands over the last year. When the tariffs were first announced, Chae temporarily paused ordering from sites such as a shopping platform owned by an e-commerce company based in Hong Kong. She did not know if she would have to pay customs duties on the products she bought or the ones brands sent to her as a creator. I wasn't sure if those would automatically charge the entire package with a blanket tariff cost, or if it was just on certain items, Chae said. On its website, YesStyle says it will give customers store credit to reimburse them for import charges. At Ohlolly, an online store focused on Korean products, owners Sue Greene and Herra Namhie are taking a similar pause. They purchase direct from South Korea and from licensed wholesalers in the US, and store their inventory in a warehouse in Ontario, California. After years of no duties, a 25 per cent import tax would create a huge increase in costs to us, Namhie said. She and Greene made two recent orders to replenish their stock when the tariffs were at 10 per cent. But they have put further restocks on hold "because I don't think we can handle 25 per cent, Namhie said. They'd have to raise prices, and then shoppers might go elsewhere. The business owners and sisters are holding out on hope the US and Korea settle on a lower tariff or carve out exceptions for smaller ticket items like beauty products. But they only have two to four months of inventory in their warehouse. They say that in a month they'll have to make a decision on what products to order, what to discontinue and what prices will have to increase. Rachel Weingarten, a former makeup artist who writes a daily beauty newsletter called Hello Gorgeous!, said while she's devoted to K-beauty products like lip masks and toner pads, she doesn't think stockpiling is a sound practice. Maybe one or two products, but natural oils, vulnerable packaging and expiration dates mean that your products could go rancid before you can get to them, she said. Weingarten said she'll still buy Korean products if prices go up, but that the beauty world is bigger than one country. I'd still indulge in my favourites, but am always looking for great products in general, she said. Bhasin, in Menlo Park, California, plans to keep buying her face masks too, even if the price goes up, because she likes the quality of Korean masks. If prices will go up, I will not shift to US products, she said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Japan Today
3 days ago
- Business
- Japan Today
Tariffs threaten Asian beauty product boom in U.S.
By MAE ANDERSON When Amrita Bhasin, 24, learned that products from South Korea might be subject to a new tax when they entered the United States, she decided to stock up on the sheet masks from Korean brands like U-Need and MediHeal she uses a few times a week. 'I did a recent haul to stockpile,' she said. 'I bought 50 in bulk, which should last me a few months.' South Korea is one of the countries that hopes to secure a trade deal before the Aug. 1 date President Donald Trump set for enforcing nation-specific tariffs. A not-insignificant slice of the U.S. population has skin in the game when it comes to Seoul avoiding a 25% duty on its exports. Asian skin care has been a booming global business for a more than a decade, with consumers in Europe, North and South America, and increasingly the Middle East, snapping up creams, serums and balms from South Korea, Japan and China. In the United States and elsewhere, Korean cosmetics, or K-beauty for short, have dominated the trend. A craze for all-in-one 'BB creams' — a combination of moisturizer, foundation and sunscreen — morphed into a fascination with 10-step rituals and ingredients like snail mucin, heartleaf and rice water. Vehicles and electronics may be South Korea's top exports to the U.S. by value, but the country shipped more skin care and cosmetics to the U.S. than any other last year, according to data from market research company Euromonitor. France, with storied beauty brands like L'Oreal and Chanel, was second, Euromonitor said. Statistics compiled by the U.S. International Trade Commission, an independent federal agency, show the U.S. imported $1.7 billion worth of South Korean cosmetics in 2024, a 54% increase from a year earlier. 'Korean beauty products not only add a lot of variety and choice for Americans, they really embraced them because they were offering something different for American consumers,' Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said. Along with media offerings such as 'Parasite' and 'Squid Game,' and the popularity of K-pop bands like BTS, K-beauty has helped boost South Korea's profile globally, she said. 'It's all part and parcel really of the same thing,' Lovely said. 'And it can't be completely stopped by a 25% tariff, but it's hard to see how it won't influence how much is sold in the U.S. And I think what we're hearing from producers is that it also really decreases the number of products they want to offer in this market.' Senti Senti, a retailer that sells international beauty products at two New York boutiques and through an e-commerce site, saw a bit of 'panic buying' by customers when Trump first imposed punitive tariffs on goods from specific countries, manager Winnie Zhong said. The rush slowed down after the president paused the new duties for 90 days and hasn't picked up again, Zhong said, even with Trump saying on July 7 that a 25% tax on imports from Japan and South Korea would go into effect on Aug. 1. Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia subsequently reached agreements with the Trump administration that lowered the tariff rates their exported goods faced — in Japan's case, from 25% to 15% — still higher than the current baseline of 10% tariff. But South Korea has yet to clinch an agreement, despite having a free trade agreement since 2012 that allowed cosmetics and most other consumer goods to enter the U.S. tax-free. Since the first store owned by Senti Senti opened 16 years ago, beauty products from Japan and South Korea became more of a focus and now account for 90% the stock. The business hasn't had to pass on any tariff-related costs to customers yet, but that won't be possible if the products are subject to a 25% import tax, Zhong said. 'I'm not really sure where the direction of K-beauty will go to with the tariffs in place, because one of the things with K-beauty or Asian beauty is that it's supposed to be accessible pricing,' she said. Devoted fans of Asian cosmetics will often buy direct from Asia and wait weeks for their packages to arrive because the products typically cost less than they do in American stores. Rather than stocking up on their favorite sunscreens, lip tints and toners, some shoppers are taking a pause due to the tariff uncertainty. Los Angeles resident Jen Chae, a content creator with over 1.2 million YouTube subscribers, has explored Korean and Japanese beauty products and became personally intrigued by Chinese beauty brands over the last year. When the tariffs were first announced, Chae temporarily paused ordering from sites such as a shopping platform owned by an e-commerce company based in Hong Kong. She did not know if she would have to pay customs duties on the products she bought or the ones brands sent to her as a creator. 'I wasn't sure if those would automatically charge the entire package with a blanket tariff cost, or if it was just on certain items,' Chae said. On its website, YesStyle says it will give customers store credit to reimburse them for import charges. At Ohlolly, an online store focused on Korean products, owners Sue Greene and Herra Namhie are taking a similar pause. They purchase direct from South Korea and from licensed wholesalers in the U.S., and store their inventory in a warehouse in Ontario, California. After years of no duties, a 25% import tax would create a 'huge increase in costs to us,' Namhie said. She and Greene made two recent orders to replenish their stock when the tariffs were at 10%. But they have put further restocks on hold "because I don't think we can handle 25%,' Namhie said. They'd have to raise prices, and then shoppers might go elsewhere. The business owners and sisters are holding out on hope the U.S. and Korea settle on a lower tariff or carve out exceptions for smaller ticket items like beauty products. But they only have two to four months of inventory in their warehouse. They say that in a month they'll have to make a decision on what products to order, what to discontinue and what prices will have to increase. Rachel Weingarten, a former makeup artist who writes a daily beauty newsletter called 'Hello Gorgeous!,' said while she's devoted to K-beauty products like lip masks and toner pads, she doesn't think stockpiling is a sound practice. 'Maybe one or two products, but natural oils, vulnerable packaging and expiration dates mean that your products could go rancid before you can get to them,' she said. Weingarten said she'll still buy Korean products if prices go up, but that the beauty world is bigger than one country. 'I'd still indulge in my favorites, but am always looking for great products in general,' she said. Bhasin, in Menlo Park, California, plans to keep buying her face masks too, even if the price goes up, because she likes the quality of Korean masks. 'If prices will go up, I will not shift to U.S. products,' she said. 'For face masks, I feel there are not a ton of solid and reliable substitutes in the U.S.' © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
