At-home beauty device market grows

2013-07-21

At-home beauty device market grows

By Rachel Lee

Laser 4X, a hair removal device made by Tria Beauty, is designed for at-home use

The country’s at-home beauty device market has been expanding gradually over, creating a new approach to beauty and skin care. Using high-tech, easy-to-use home beauty devices, consumers can now perform procedures like facial rejuvenation, cellulite and fat reduction, acne treatment and hair removal at home. Some popular at-home devices are Nu Skin’s ageLOC Galvanic Body Trio, a spa device that contours, smoothens and firms the body, and Unix Electronics’s Style Cube,  a hairstyling device.At-home electrical beauty devices will become a global trend, market research firm Mintel predicts.

“We are seeing this trend manifest itself in several ways,” Mintel global skin care analyst Nica Lewis said in a press release. “From the next generation of at-home beauty devices that harness energy and light to new ingredients that boost cellular energy, beauty brands are giving consumers more power and vitality for better results.”

Even though Korea  is a latecomer, it is now one of the fastest growing at-home beauty markets.

“Home devices have become useful since consumers who used to visit beauty salons and clinics regularly have found it unmanageable to do so anymore because of their increasingly hectic lifestyles,” said Cho Jin-kyung, Tria Beauty Korea  senior marketing director for Asia-Pacific. Tria Beauty is a California-based leading maker of laser hair removal devices.

According to the company, sales of its at-home beauty devices in Korea have seen double digit growth since launching in 2010. “Consumers trust our products because all of them passed FDA testing for safety and effectiveness,” Cho added, referring to the Food and Drug Administration, a U.S. regulatory agency.

Tria Beauty’s Laser 4X is one of the most popular laser hair removal devices in the market. The FDA-approved device uses the same diode-laser technology preferred by dermatologists to target and permanently disable hair follicles.

Other industry insiders attribute the market surge to the increasing number of price-conscious consumers, who have turned to do-it-yourself professional treatments amid the stagnant economy.

“Today’s smart consumers surf the web to acquire all the necessary product information and share their product reviews to help other consumers make the right purchase,” said Park Young-soon, director of Korea Home Skinovations. “Consumers are not looking for one-off, costly treatments at salons, but for home-use products they can use at any time and for the long term.”

Home Skinovations is a manufacturer of home-use aesthetic devices, founded in Israel in 2006. Its Korean branch has seen an over 200 percent sales growth from 2011 to 2012.

Silk’n Reju, one of the company’s most popular products, is an anti-aging device that uses a combination of fractional red light therapy and thermal heating to stimulate collagen production and improve skin texture. The company recommends using the device 15–20 minutes at a time, three times a week. It recommends Silk’n Blue for sensitive skin and acne problems.

Industry experts say the market will grow steadily. To gain and maintain consumers’ trust, they say companies must continue to make sophisticated, safe devices that meet consumers’ diverse needs.

“Our life’s dependence on science has been increasing. In the near future, we expect at-home devices to become even more popular,” said Park from Home Skinovations.