"Home Beauty Also from the Home Appliance Leader"… LG Electronics Expands Home Beauty Line

LG Electronics, which has exited the smartphone business to focus on traditional home appliances such as air conditioners, washing machines, and refrigerators, is expanding its appliance domain by recently launching a series of home beauty products.

On the 30th, LG Electronics released the 'LG Pra.L Washmellow,' a fine ultrasonic cleanser optimized for summer skin care. This product gently cleanses the face using a brush attached to the head. It is especially effective in summer when sebum secretion is high and sunscreen is frequently used.

The brush vibrates approximately 370,000 times per second. The fine ultrasonic waves shake the skin’s stratum corneum, providing excellent pore cleansing effects with minimal skin irritation. It has a waterproof rating that allows it to withstand depths of up to 1 meter for 30 minutes, making it usable in the shower. The device measures only 10.8 cm in length and weighs 180 g, and can be used for up to 5 months on a single charge (based on once daily use for 70 seconds).

In January this year, LG Electronics launched a new beauty device called 'LG Pra.L Derma Sera,' which uses ultrasonic technology to care for facial contours. It allows users to conveniently manage the elasticity of sagging facial areas such as under the chin, forehead, around the eyes, and cheeks at home. When the head part is pressed against the skin and the button is touched, ultrasonic waves are precisely and evenly delivered 3 mm beneath the skin to stimulate collagen production.

Equipped with Wi-Fi, users can check the remaining ultrasonic shots, recommended usage cycles, and skin type diagnosis through a smartphone app. To expand touchpoints for home beauty, LG Electronics even opened a pop-up store where customers can try and purchase products directly.

LG Electronics’ entry into the home beauty business based on its flagship brand 'LG Pra.L' is relatively recent. The company entered the home beauty market in September 2017 by launching the LG Pra.L LED Mask, which manages facial skin tone and elasticity. In 2019, it established a home beauty business division led by Executive Director Nam Hye-sung, who has a background in cosmetics companies, and in 2021, it set up a separate home beauty research institute. Last year, it added medical device manufacturing and sales to its business objectives, and earlier this year, it further expanded its scope by including cosmetics sales at the shareholders’ meeting. The plan is to incorporate cosmetics that can be used in combination with beauty and medical devices into its business domain.

Currently, LG Electronics’ home beauty product lineup includes beauty devices such as the Derma Sera (facial line care), Intensive Multi-Care (total skin elasticity management), Washpop (facial cleansing), and Essential Booster (cleansing and absorption enhancement), as well as home medical devices like Medipain (pain relief) and MediHair (hair loss treatment).

The expansion of the home beauty business reflects the growing consumer trend of not sparing investment in themselves and the increasing demand from customers who want to conveniently manage their skin while relaxing. Advances in technology have extended the lifespan of home appliances, and the rise of 'upgradable (UP) appliances' that allow consumers to add desired functions after purchase has highlighted the limitations of traditional appliances in expanding consumer touchpoints, influencing the growth of the home beauty business.

Unlike the stagnant traditional appliance market, the home beauty market is rapidly growing. According to LG Economic Research Institute, the domestic home beauty device market was estimated to be about 1.6 trillion KRW at the end of last year. Considering that the market size was only 500 billion KRW in 2018, it has more than tripled in five years.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.