J-beauty hot on heels of K-beauty 17 April 2018 The world’s current obsession with all things K-beauty (i.e. Korean skincare products) may soon be overtaken by Japanese skincare brands (i.e.J-beauty), according to Global Cosmetics News. It reports that a study conducted by L2 reveals that J-beauty brands saw sales growth and digital visibility increase faster over 2017 than their K-beauty counterparts. K-beauty sales seem to have been affected (at least in Asia) by South Korea’s THAAD crisis prompted by the president’s unilateral decision to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence missile defence system. In addition, some Korean brands have warned that their performance this year will be negatively affected by US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs. In the meantime, Japanese brand Shiseido broke its 1 million Yen sales target a staggering three years ahead of its deadline. Global Cosmetics News further notes while the K-beauty look is a high-maintenance look requiring multiple products, the Japanese aesthetic is more geared towards natural, bare-faced beauty, which is a key global trend for this year.