Global makeup brand NARS joined Musinsa Beauty on Friday and unveiled its new Liquid Blush. Two of the 13 available shades will be sold exclusively on Musinsa Beauty for one month. [Musinsa Beauty]
Global makeup brand NARS joined Musinsa Beauty on Friday and unveiled its new Liquid Blush. Two of the 13 available shades will be sold exclusively on Musinsa Beauty for one month. [Musinsa Beauty]

Global luxury beauty brands once found almost exclusively in department stores and duty-free shops are now turning to Musinsa Beauty — launching new products there first and offering exclusive items unavailable anywhere else.

Global makeup brand NARS joined Musinsa Beauty on Friday, marking its entry with an online showcase that unveiled the new Liquid Blush. Two of the 13 available shades will be sold exclusively on Musinsa Beauty for one month. A pop-up store where customers can test the new products is also running inside Musinsa Megastore Seongsu.

NARS is not the first luxury label to debut a new product on Musinsa Beauty. In January, global makeup brand MAC launched two exclusive shades of its Powder Kiss Hazy Matte Lipstick when it joined the platform. One of the exclusive shades, "Girls Weekend," sold out its initial stock within three days of release, and more than 50,000 visitors came to a MAC pop-up store that ran for nine days.

In May, global skincare brand Biotherm pre-launched its men's line on Musinsa and offered some products exclusively through the platform.

Key products and campaign imagery from global beauty brand MAC. [Musinsa]
Key products and campaign imagery from global beauty brand MAC. [Musinsa]

Industry observers describe the luxury beauty brands' push into Musinsa Beauty as unusual. These labels have traditionally relied on department stores and duty-free shops as their primary sales channels and have been reluctant to expand their online retail presence. The shift is widely seen as an effort to reach consumers in their 20s and 30s, who have emerged as major spenders in the beauty market.

Intensifying competition in the luxury beauty segment also appears to be a factor. Global luxury fashion houses — including Louis Vuitton, Prada, Hermès and Gucci — have been expanding into beauty, swelling the ranks of premium-image brands and igniting a race to win new customers.

"With luxury fashion brands that had stayed in fashion now jumping into the beauty market, existing luxury beauty brands have no choice but to diversify their channels," an industry official said. "The competition to get ahead with younger customers who can build long-term brand loyalty will only grow fiercer."

Musinsa Beauty, which grew out of a fashion platform, is seen as well suited to drawing in new customers, given that consumers with a strong interest in fashion are naturally more likely to purchase luxury beauty products.

The luxury beauty brands' strategy aligns with Musinsa Beauty's own expansion drive. Musinsa opened its first offline beauty store at Megastore Seongsu this year and is accelerating its growth. Two large beauty stores — each spanning more than 1,300 square meters — are set to open in the Hongdae and Seongsu neighborhoods in September and November, respectively.

The number of brands on Musinsa Beauty has also grown to around 2,000. Since last year, a string of luxury beauty labels have joined the platform, including Hourglass, Laura Mercier, Ex Nihilo and DS & Durga.

Musinsa Beauty plans to deepen its collaborations with luxury beauty brands. "We will expand strategic partnerships beyond simple store listings — including exclusive products, pre-launches, content creation and online and offline promotions," a Musinsa Beauty official said.


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