While the French have long been the global style leader in the sartorial stakes, for decades beauty innovation was being led by Japanese cosmetics companies such as SK-IIand Shiseido. But in the last few years, South Korean beauty brands have been claiming a bigger stake of the American beauty market, which is estimated to be $44 billion dollars, according to the NPD Group.
虽然法国人向来是时装潮流的全球领导者，不过在美容领域，过去几十年的创新主要是由SK-II和资生堂等日本化妆品公司引领的。NPD集团表示，近年来，在市场规模高达440亿美元的美国美容市场上，韩国的美容品牌开始占据更大的份额。
“There has been a cumulative interest in Korean beauty and it all started with the BB cream,” says Megan McIntyre, the beauty director at the lifestyle siteRefinery29.
生活网站Refinery29的美容总监梅根•麦金泰尔指出：“人们对韩国美容产品的兴趣渐渐增高，这种趋势是从BB霜开始的。”
A BB, or beauty balm, is in an all-in-one skincare and makeup hybrid that moisturizers, covers blemishes, and contains sunscreen. The products hit U.S. shelves in 2011 and now nearly every major cosmetics brand carries one. “Once American women caught on to BB creams, they started becoming curious about other Korean beauty products,” says McIntyre.
BB霜是一款兼具护肤和化妆作用的美容产品，可以起到保湿、遮瑕的作用，并且包含防晒成分。这种产品于2011年在美国开卖，现在几乎每个大型化妆品品牌都有了自家的BB霜产品。麦金泰尔表示：“自从美国女性爱上了BB霜，她们就开始对其它韩国美容产品也充满兴趣。”
Last year, McIntyre hired a South Korea-based correspondent to report on the latest trends from the ground. “If Korea has had BB creams for about 20 years, what else are we missing?” she says.
去年，麦金泰尔在韩国招聘了一位办事员，向她全面报告韩国美容行业的最新动向。她表示：“如果韩国的BB霜已经生产20年了，那么我们还错过了哪些产品？”
The two major Korean beauty powerhouses areAMOREPACIFIC (think of it as the Estée Lauder of Korea) and its brands include LANEIGE, Iope and Sulwhasoo, while LG has SUM 37 and the soon-to-be-launched belif. Other major brands include Dr. Jart,Tony Moly and Amarte. While many of these brands are sold at Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus as well as Sephora, there’s also a host of websites selling curated Korean beauty products, such as Glowrecipe, Peach and Lily, and SokoGlam. MemeBox is a Korean beauty subscription service, similar to Birchbox.
韩国有两家美容巨头，一家是爱茉莉，其地位相当于韩国的雅诗兰黛，它的品牌包括兰芝、亦博和雪花秀；另一家是LG，旗下品牌包括SUM 37和马上将推出的belif。韩国的其它主要品牌包括Dr. Jart、魔法森林和Amarte等等。很多品牌在伯道夫古德曼、内曼马库斯和丝芙兰等商场和门店有售，此外也有很多网站在销售韩国美容产品，比如Glowrecipe、Peach and Lily和SokoGlam等。另外还有一项类似于化妆品发现平台Birchbox，名叫MemeBox的美容产品订购服务。
But beyond the BB cream, and the often cute packaging- Tony Moly’s lip balms are packaged in cherry and lip shaped compacts- what’s the appeal of Korean beauty, and how is different than its American counterpart?
除了BB霜和韩国化妆品惯常采用的可爱包装（比如魔法森林的唇膜采用桃红色包装，化妆盒呈嘴唇状）以外，韩国美容产品的吸引力究竟是什么？它与美国化妆品有什么不同？
It all comes down to innovation and an obsession with beautiful skin, says Christine Chang, the co-founder, along with Sarah Lee, of Glowrecipe.com.
Glowrecipe.com的联合创始人克里斯汀•张表示，这要归功于韩国美容行业的创新，以及韩国人对好皮肤的痴迷。
“Korean companies are churning out innovative products at an unprecedented rate, and it’s powered by consumers willing to do anything for good skin,” says Chang. “Korean women have a totally different approach to beauty. They don’t rely on one product for their skin and they don’t use makeup to mask their imperfections.”
克里斯汀•张表示：“韩国企业正在以前所未有的速度推出创新产品，这是由于许多消费者为了护肤不惜任何代价。韩国女性采用一种完全不同的美容方法，她们不依靠单一的产品护肤，而且也不愿用化妆品掩盖脸上的瑕疵。”
A typical Korean skincare regime involves multiple products and multiple steps—usually somewhere between 10 and 17, says McIntyre. “It’s not a chore for Korean women though. They view it as a ritual or pampering experience.”
麦金泰尔称，一名韩国女性的护肤流程通常要用到好几种产品，包含好几道工序，经常在10到17道工序之间。“她们并不认为这种过程很繁琐累人，而是当成一种仪式，或一种享受过程。”
The hallmarks of Korean beauty include ingredients such as ginseng and even snail mucin; facial-sheet masks which can be made from cotton fiber or natural material such as kelp; and products containing fermented ingredients. K beauty (as its called) also has its own lingo. An “essence” is similar to a super-charged serum and K beauty experts talk about “skin expression,” which is how consumers work a product into their skin.
不少韩国化妆品含有人参和蜗牛粘液等原料，韩国的面膜原材料有的取自棉纤维，有的取自海藻等天然原料，还有些产品含有发酵成份。韩国化妆品也有自己的“行话”。所谓的“精华”类似于一种加强版的精华液，而韩国专家口中的“肌肤表达”，是指消费者将一款产品用到皮肤上的效果。
Here’s a look at some of the biggest Korean brands available in the U.S.
下面让我们了解一下美国市场上几个最大的韩国品牌。
Sulwhasoo
雪花秀
Although it launched in Korea in 1967, Sulwhasoo didn’t make its stateside debut until 2010, when it went on sale at Bergdorf Goodman. This luxury brand is inspired by ancient Korean herbal medicine, and a few of its key ingredients include Korean ginseng, solomon’s seal to treat dryness and Chinese peony which has anti-inflammatory properties. Sulwhasoo’s top selling product is Concentrated Ginseng Renewing Cream, followed by First Care Activating Serum—the company says the serum has generated $1 billion in sales worldwide and one is sold every 9 minutes throughout the world. Sulwhasoo’s Timetreasure Renovating Cream ($400) is the line’s priciest product and contains Korean red pine, which is grown on an unpolluted island near the west coast of Korea.
虽然雪花秀早在1967年便在韩国销售，但直到2010年，它才被引进美国，最初是在伯道夫古德曼商场销售。这个高端品牌的灵感来自古代韩方草药，其原料包括高丽参、能治疗皮肤干燥的玉竹和具有消炎功效的牡丹。雪花秀销量最高的产品是人参面霜，其次是润燥精华。雪花秀公司声称，该公司的润燥精华在全球已经创下了10亿美元的销售额，平均每9分钟就会卖出一瓶。雪花秀售价最高的产品是400美元的珍雪面霜，其中包含韩国红松成分，这种植物生长在韩国西海岸附近一座未受污染的岛屿上。
Amarte
Amarte
A top brand in Korea since 2001, Amarte launched in the U.S. in 2013, under the helm of San Francisco-based, board certified dermatologist Dr. Craig Kraffert, who is also the company’s president. Amarte follows the multistep Korean approach to beauty, so the products are meant to cleanse, hydrate, rejuvenate and protect. “The multistep Korean regimen has been born out of an obsession with the Korean concept of skin care as a privileged activity of indulgence, enjoyment, and self respect,” explains Kraffert. Amarte’s product line includes a BB cream, an overnight sleep mask and a “Wonder Cream” that contains pearl powder and caviar extract, that is meant to lighten sunspots and nourish skin. Amarte also offers five collection kits designed to tackle brightness, anti-aging or dryness.
自2001年推出以来，Amarte就一直是韩国国内的顶级品牌，2013年，在公司总裁、旧金山皮肤科医生克雷格•克拉弗尔特的带领下，Amarte来到美国。该品牌延续了韩国的多步骤美容方法，其旗下产品均具有清洁、补水、修复和防护功能。克拉弗尔特解释道：“韩国人的多步骤美容方法源于韩国人将美容当成一种爱好、一种享受和一种尊重的特殊活动”。Amarte的产品包括一款BB霜、一款睡眠面膜和一款“神奇面霜”，后者的原料包含珍珠粉和鱼子精华，可以亮化斑点、营养肌肤。Amarte还提供了五种旨在增加皮肤光泽度、抗衰老和对抗皮肤干燥的套盒。
Belif
Belif
An LG-owned brand, belif will make its stateside debut this month, when it goes on sale in Sephora. Belif bills itself as a “truthful” brand and the simple packaging clearly states each product’s ingredients. The brand partnered with a centuries old apothecary in Scotland, and uses traditional medicinal herbs in its products—which are also free from synthetic dyes, synthetic preservatives and mineral oils. Belif will launch with 21 products, including Hungarian water essence, a serum made with 10 herbs; the True cream moisturizing bomb which contains comfrey leaf, and the True cream aqua bomb, which has a gel-like consistency and contains Lady’s Mantle and nettle leaf.
作为LG集团旗下的品牌，belif直到本月才在美国的丝芙兰开售。Belif标榜自己是一个“诚实”的品牌，简洁的包装上清楚地写明了每种产品的成份。该品牌与一家拥有百年历史的苏格兰药材商进行合作，并在产品中使用了传统草药成份。另外，该品牌的产品不含合成染色剂、合成防腐剂以及矿物油。Belif将推出21款产品，包括一款匈牙利水润精华、一款含有10种草药成份的精华液、一款含有紫草成分的True润泽炸弹霜，以及True补水炸弹霜，后者具有凝胶质地，含有斗蓬草和荨麻叶成分。
AMOREPACIFIC
爱茉莉
This powerhouse brand is the largest cosmetics company in Korea and says its yearly revenue is nearly two billion dollars. Available at Sephora and Nordstrom,AMOREPACIFIC uses highly concentrated botanicals, such as pine mushroom, bamboo sap, and AMOREPACIFIC globally patented Korean red ginseng in its products, and the company owns its green tea gardens. Its product line includes facial sheet masks and eye masks, and cushion compacts that contain bamboo sap rather than water for extra hydration. The Green Tea Seed Treatment Oil is meant to brighten and revive dull skin.
爱茉莉是韩国最大的化妆品公司，据说其年收入达到近20亿美元。该品牌的化妆品在美国斯芙兰和诺德斯特龙等大型商场均有售。爱茉莉的产品采用了高度浓缩的植物萃取物，如松蕈、竹沥以及该公司注册了全球专利的韩国红参成份等。爱茉莉还拥有自家的绿茶园。它的产品线包括面膜、眼膜、粉底等，它使用的补水成份不是普通的水，而是竹沥。此外该公司还有一款旨在明亮和修复暗哑肌肤的绿茶仔精华油。
LANEIGE
兰芝
LANEIGE, a Korean best-seller, launched in Target in 2014 (yes, Tar-jhay also sells premium cosmetics) and is also available online. The company says its BB Cushion is sold every 10 seconds—the product is essentially a BB cream in a compact, and is applied with an antimicrobial, spongey applicator. The line’s newest products, available in March, will include a Cushion Concealer, Brightening Sparkling Water Foam Cleanser, Firming Sleeping Mask and Water Bank Eye gel.
韩国畅销化妆品品牌兰芝于2014年被引入美国塔吉特百货，现在也可以在线订购。该公司称它的气垫粉饼每10秒钟就能卖出1瓶——这款产品本质上就是BB霜和粉饼的组合，使用时需要借助一块具有抗菌作用的海绵粉饼。该品牌的最新产品将于三月上市，其中包括一款遮瑕霜、一款亮颜活水泡沫洗面奶、一款紧致睡眠面膜，以及一款水库凝肌眼部嗜喱。
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