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14-OCT-26 · Culture & Consumers

Last Week in Beauty & Wellness: Sephora Deals, PDRN Goes Global and Viral Advice Under Review

Five stories from beauty and wellness, and what they tell brands growing in China and Asia.

Each week we pick the stories that say the most about how consumers discover, compare and trust beauty, wellness and health products. Here are five, with our reading of each.

Watch the video on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/beauty-wellness-china-ugcPost-7516096548976439296-KszJ

1. Two brands land big deals with Sephora

rhode, the brand founded by Hailey Bieber and owned by e.l.f. Beauty, is now at Sephora online and in more than 500 stores across 19 new markets, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. It builds on the brand's 2025 Sephora rollout in the US, Canada and the UK, and the launch included a takeover of Sephora's Champs-Élysées store and a five-day Café rhode in Paris.

In the same weeks, CJ Olive Young brought its curated K-Beauty Edit to 48 Sephora stores and online in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong. Each store carries 12 to 17 Korean brands, with a skincare-led selection chosen for local climates, and a pop-up at ION Orchard in Singapore ran from 8 to 14 October.

Our reading: consumers knew both before they reached the shelf. rhode built a loyal community online and kept nurturing it. The Korean brands were already familiar to shoppers from trips to Korea and from social media. For younger brands, the lesson is to know who you are building your products for and to keep looking after those people. Consumer habits have changed, and selling habits should change with them. Build the community first, and growth follows.

2. PDRN goes from Korean clinics to global shelves

PDRN, an ingredient long used in Korean aesthetic clinics, now appears in launches from L'Oréal Paris, Dior, Clinique, The Ordinary, Medik8, Byoma and Primark. Spate's 2026 Ingredient Trends Report counts 37.2 million average monthly interactions across Google, TikTok and Instagram, up 609.8% year on year.

Our reading: a trend born in Asia has become a global category. For brands looking at China and Asia, that cuts both ways. Consumers there already know the ingredient well, so they expect more than the label: they want the story, the proof and the results. Asian consumers know the ingredient. Show them why yours.

3. The Ordinary's first eye cream arrives with a pop-up

The Ordinary's Lacto-PDRN 4% + B9 Eye Cream, its first eye cream, uses PDRN produced by fermentation. The brand introduced it in September with "PDRN: Off The Hook!", a free three-day pop-up in Covent Garden, London, with product trials, one-to-one consultations and ingredient education.

Our reading: a brand known for online education still chose to meet its consumers face to face. People learn about a product online, and trust grows when they can touch it, try it and ask questions. In China and Asia it works the same way: content builds curiosity, and experience turns it into loyalty.

4. Eucerin puts its probiotic technology on the front of the pack

Beiersdorf has introduced Eucerin DERMOPURE CLINICAL PROBIOM8, an eight-week kit for blemish-prone skin. It is built on TopiC.A, a patented cosmetic active with two viable, skin-native bacterial strains, and draws on more than 20 years of Beiersdorf's microbiome research. The name of the technology sits on the front of the pack.

Our reading: when consumers can see and name the science, they remember it and repeat it to friends. Shoppers in China and Asia research ingredients closely before they buy. Give the science a name, explain it simply, and trust follows.

5. Viral skincare advice under the microscope at EADV 2026

Research presented at the EADV Congress 2026 found that almost 95% of 38 popular Korean skincare and glass-skin TikTok videos contained at least one potentially misleading claim. A second study, covered by Allure on 7 October, followed 94 dermatology patients whose skin problems started or worsened after using products promoted on social media.

Our reading: looking for advice online is natural. The trouble is that the loudest voices are often not the most accurate, and consumers are left to sort fact from fiction on their own. When brands stay silent, their categories get explained by others.

Key takeaways

  • Build the community first. Communities open doors before shelves do.
  • Trends cross borders fast. Trends born in Asia now shape global categories.
  • Experience builds loyalty. Trying a product turns curiosity into loyalty.
  • Educate. Explain the science simply. When science is named and explained, trust follows.

In every story, the consumer came first. That is how we help beauty, wellness and healthcare brands grow in China and Asia.

Which of these stories would change how you plan your brand's next market? We would be glad to hear.

About ÉDELSKIN

ÉDELSKIN is an international commercialization company helping beauty, wellness and healthcare brands enter and grow in China and selected Asian markets. Selling direct to consumers, ÉDELSKIN combines commercial expertise, its own technology and a dedicated team close to the consumer, so brands launch fast, keep full ownership and build demand from real data. edelskin.com

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