Market intelligence
K-Beauty Market Report — 2026-09-18
Our guides and picks are cosmetic curation for education only — not medical advice. Skin varies person to person: patch-test new products and see a dermatologist for persistent or concerning issues.
Generated 2026-09-18T10:13:05.821Z · tool v1.1.0 · sources: Wikimedia pageviews, Google Trends RSS, Reddit public feeds, Google News RSS (EN + KO), TikTok Creative Center, static watchlist · no paid APIs · no Amazon requests
1. Top Trending Ingredients
Ingredient interest — English Wikipedia pageviews · 16/16 tracked ingredients measured · 18/18 article requests OK · comparing 2026-09-17 vs 2026-09-16 (two complete days)
| # | Ingredient | Views 2026-09-17 | Prev day 2026-09-16 | Δ | Δ % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ceramides | 207 | 175 | +32 | +18.3% |
| 2 | Salicylic Acid (BHA) | 838 | 770 | +68 | +8.8% |
| 3 | Tranexamic Acid | 431 | 397 | +34 | +8.6% |
| 4 | Glycolic / AHA | 212 | 203 | +9 | +4.4% |
| 5 | Snail Mucin | 56 | 54 | +2 | +3.7% |
| 6 | Vitamin C | 777 | 765 | +12 | +1.6% |
| 7 | Hyaluronic Acid | 416 | 417 | -1 | -0.2% |
| 8 | Retinol / Retinoids | 678 | 692 | -14 | -2.0% |
| 9 | Squalane | 91 | 99 | -8 | -8.1% |
| 10 | Benzoyl Peroxide | 196 | 215 | -19 | -8.8% |
| 11 | Azelaic Acid | 411 | 451 | -40 | -8.9% |
| 12 | Centella Asiatica (Cica) | 391 | 440 | -49 | -11.1% |
| 13 | Niacinamide | 22 | 25 | -3 | -12.0% |
| 14 | Panthenol (B5) | 96 | 118 | -22 | -18.6% |
| 15 | Bakuchiol | 40 | 58 | -18 | -31.0% |
| 16 | Kojic Acid | 53 | 80 | -27 | -33.7% |
Complete table — all 16 measured ingredients (snapshot data). Biggest mover: Salicylic Acid (BHA) +68 views (+8.8%, now 838); biggest fall: Centella Asiatica (Cica) -49 views (-11.1%). Highest absolute volume: Salicylic Acid (BHA) (838 views).
Proxy note: Wikipedia pageviews measure public curiosity about an ingredient — not sales, not search volume, not social chatter. The two days compared are both complete days, so a partial "today" bucket never distorts the delta.
Secondary signal — Google Trends daily RSS (news-driven feed, low skincare yield by design)
Markets queried: 12/12 answered · items seen: 120 · skincare-matching trends: 0
No skincare-specific trend in today's feed. Google Trends' daily RSS is news- and sports-driven; skin-related queries simply did not surface in this window. No data is inferred or fabricated — the filter runs on real feed items only.
Monitored lexicon: 127 skin-related terms and brands · endpoint health: retired keyword endpoint skipped (HTTP 404).
2. Community Pulse
Posts analysed today: 25 · ranked: 10
| Subreddit | Transport | Entries | State | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SkincareAddiction | atom | 25 | fallback | JSON blocked (HTTP 403 HTTP 403) → Atom fallback OK (tool UA via www.reddit.com) |
| KoreanBeauty | none | 0 | failed | JSON: HTTP 403; Atom: tool UA → HTTP 429; browser UA → HTTP 403; browser UA (legacy host) → HTTP 403 |
Top posts
| # | Title | Sub | Ingredients detected | Brands detected | Score | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Anti-Aging] What’s your skincare GOAT? | SkincareAddiction | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | [Before&After] Switching to rx skincare is the best thing I've done | SkincareAddiction | Sunscreen (unspecified) | La Roche-Posay | — | — |
| 3 | [B&A] RF Mole Removal Regret: Will these deep dents fill in? (Day 14… | SkincareAddiction | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | [Humor] After Getting Microneedling | SkincareAddiction | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | [Acne] The Most Oily Skin | SkincareAddiction | Azelaic Acid, Salicylic Acid (BHA) | Anua | — | — |
| 6 | [anti aging] | SkincareAddiction | Hyaluronic Acid | The Ordinary | — | — |
| 7 | [Routine Help] My routine always leaves me with greasy skin | SkincareAddiction | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | [Product Request] What’s better for dark spots? | SkincareAddiction | Niacinamide, Azelaic Acid | Anua | — | — |
| 9 | [product question] FAB facial radiance pads | SkincareAddiction | Retinol / Retinoids | — | — | — |
| 10 | [Routine Help] how to incorporate a well-aging skin care routine, help how to incorporate a wellaging skin | SkincareAddiction | Retinol / Retinoids, Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin C, Peptides | Torriden | — | — |
Ingredient heat (mentions across all analysed posts)
| Ingredient | Posts mentioning |
|---|---|
| Retinol / Retinoids | 5 |
| Sunscreen (unspecified) | 4 |
| Salicylic Acid (BHA) | 3 |
| Azelaic Acid | 2 |
| Hyaluronic Acid | 2 |
| Niacinamide | 2 |
| Vitamin C | 2 |
| Collagen | 1 |
| Glycolic / AHA | 1 |
| Micellar Water | 1 |
| Panthenol (B5) | 1 |
| PDRN / Salmon DNA | 1 |
Brand mentions
| Brand | Posts mentioning |
|---|---|
| Anua | 2 |
| La Roche-Posay | 2 |
| Avène | 1 |
| Bioderma | 1 |
| Neutrogena | 1 |
| Paula's Choice | 1 |
| The Ordinary | 1 |
| Torriden | 1 |
3. Market News Pulse
Queries: 0/2 answered · headlines read: 0 · lexicon-matched: 0 · shown: 0
No skincare-matching headline in today's news feeds. Nothing is inferred from unrelated coverage; the query log below shows exactly what each feed returned.
Query log
| Query | State | Matched | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| English (US) — skincare ingredients & K-beauty | failed | 0 | HTTP 503 |
| Korean (KR) — 스킨케어 성분 (skincare ingredients) | failed | 0 | HTTP 503 |
4. Social Signals
Source: static fallback list — the Creative Center ranking endpoints are gated (see probe log below). The list is curated in src/lib/lexicon.mjs and should be refreshed quarterly.
| # | Hashtag | Category | Buyer intent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #skincare | Category | Discovery / broad |
| 2 | #skincaretips | Education | Advice-seeking |
| 3 | #koreanskincare | K-Beauty | Routine discovery |
| 4 | #glassskin | K-Beauty | Aspirational finish |
| 5 | #skincareroutine | Education | Routine building |
| 6 | #retinol | Ingredient | Active research |
| 7 | #niacinamide | Ingredient | Active research |
| 8 | #sunscreen | Product | Daily SPF |
| 9 | #slugging | Trend | Barrier repair |
| 10 | #skincycling | Trend | Active scheduling |
Endpoint probe log
| Endpoint | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Creative Center hashtag list | HTTP 404 |
| Creative Radar hashtag ranking | gated — {"code":40101,"msg":"no permission"} |
5. Competitor Watchlist
Tracked ASINs: 6 · live metrics: TODO (PA-API) · Amazon requests made by this tool: 0
Our picks are cosmetic product recommendations, not medical prescriptions. Some links are affiliate links — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
| ASIN | Listing | Price | Rating | BSR | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B08CMS8P67 | B08CMS8P67 | TODO (PA-API) | TODO (PA-API) | TODO (PA-API) | pending PA-API credentials |
| B07ZKHPV9Y | B07ZKHPV9Y | TODO (PA-API) | TODO (PA-API) | TODO (PA-API) | pending PA-API credentials |
| B00PBX3L7K | B00PBX3L7K | TODO (PA-API) | TODO (PA-API) | TODO (PA-API) | pending PA-API credentials |
| B09DLFCB69 | B09DLFCB69 | TODO (PA-API) | TODO (PA-API) | TODO (PA-API) | pending PA-API credentials |
| B08CMVXQ9W | B08CMVXQ9W | TODO (PA-API) | TODO (PA-API) | TODO (PA-API) | pending PA-API credentials |
| B0B7XFYR23 | B0B7XFYR23 | TODO (PA-API) | TODO (PA-API) | TODO (PA-API) | pending PA-API credentials |
Why the columns are empty: Amazon presented an IP throttle after earlier scraping, so v1 makes no Amazon requests at all. Price, rating and BSR will be populated through the official Product Advertising API (PA-API) in a later version — the ASINs above are pre-wired for that switch.
6. Auto-Summary
- Source health: 5/6 sources produced data · degraded (documented fallback): Reddit community (SkincareAddiction + KoreanBeauty), TikTok Creative Center · failed: Google News RSS (EN + KO)
- Ingredient interest: 16/16 tracked ingredients measured (Wikipedia pageviews, 2026-09-17 vs 2026-09-16). Biggest rise: Salicylic Acid (BHA) +68 views (+8.8%). Highest volume: Salicylic Acid (BHA) (838 views). Secondary Google Trends signal: none today (12/12 markets answered, 120 items scanned, 0 skincare matches).
- Community pulse: 25 posts analysed; the most-discussed ingredient is Retinol / Retinoids (5 posts), with Anua the most-mentioned brand (2 posts).
- News pulse: no skincare-matching headline in today's news feeds — the per-query log in section 3 shows what each feed returned.
- Biggest mover (pageviews 2026-09-17 vs 2026-09-16): up — Salicylic Acid (BHA) +68 views; down — Centella Asiatica (Cica) -49 views. Community mention deltas: up — Retinol / Retinoids +5, down — none.
- Next action: watchlist holds 6 ASINs with price/rating/BSR still TODO (PA-API); while those wait, prioritise content around Retinol / Retinoids, the strongest demand signal available today (source: community mentions; social source: static-fallback).
Source status
| Source | State | Detail | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wikimedia pageviews (ingredient interest) | ok | 16 ingredient(s) measured · 18/18 article requests OK · 2026-09-17 vs 2026-09-16 | 21376 ms |
| Google Trends RSS | ok | 12/12 markets answered · 120 items · 0 skin matches | 2174 ms |
| Reddit community (SkincareAddiction + KoreanBeauty) | partial | 25 posts analysed · Atom fallback used (public JSON blocked) · failed sub(s): KoreanBeauty | 31190 ms |
| Google News RSS (EN + KO) | failed | no skincare-matching headline in either query | 32196 ms |
| TikTok Creative Center | partial | curated static fallback (endpoint gated) | 602 ms |
| Competitor watchlist (static) | ok | 6 ASINs listed · 0 Amazon requests by design | 0 ms |
Methodology & caveats
- Trends: the primary signal is ingredient interest measured as English Wikipedia pageviews for 18 tracked articles (Wikimedia pageviews API: public, no key, no cookie), comparing two complete days. Pageviews are a curiosity proxy — not sales, not search volume. Google Trends RSS is kept as a secondary signal only: it publishes no global feed and no per-keyword RSS, so "worldwide" is 12 markets queried individually, and its daily feed is news/sports-driven (0 skincare matches on 2026-09-15 → 2026-09-17). Google Trends' informal keyword endpoints were re-probed on 2026-09-17:
/trends/api/dailytrendsanswers 404 (retired) and/trends/api/exploreanswers 429 (throttled), so neither is used. - Community: the public JSON endpoint is currently blocked (HTTP 403 for non-browser clients); the Atom feed is the documented fallback, Score shows engagement (upvotes + comments) where Reddit shares both counts; "—" means Reddit shared no counts for that row.
- Social: TikTok Creative Center hashtag rankings are gated behind an authenticated session, so the curated list in
src/lib/lexicon.mjsis used and the probe verdicts are printed as evidence. - News: Google News RSS headlines (English + Korean queries) are filtered against the same ingredient/brand lexicon and printed with publisher and timestamp. Editorial coverage is a coverage signal, not consumer demand or sales volume; unmatched headlines are counted as read-but-skipped, never padded into the table.
- Watchlist: price/rating/BSR stay
TODO (PA-API); this tool never contacts Amazon. - Summary: rule-based only — every line derived from the values above, never generated prose.
Next report: 2026-09-18 + 1 day at 06:00 UTC via GitHub Actions.