'Scalp is skin': Kolmar Korea targets $98.5B global hair care market with first-ever scalp sunscreen

"Brands across the board are moving into hair care as the next big market after skin care."

Lee Hyun-sook, executive director and head of Kolmar Korea's Personal Care Research Institute, said that when she joined the company 19 years ago, daily sunscreen use was not yet the norm — but it has since become indispensable. "The same shift is happening with the scalp," she said. "The idea that the scalp is skin has taken hold, and it is emerging as an entirely new area of care."

Kolmar Korea has moved to capitalize on that shift, developing a UV-protection product specifically for the scalp. The Scalp Sun Essence is applied directly to the scalp, much like a facial essence. The company's strategy is to use the product as a beachhead for capturing global markets under the K-scalp care banner.

Kolmar Korea runs four in-house cosmetics research institutes — covering skin care, UV technology and innovation, makeup, and personal care — all dedicated to advancing K-beauty. Lee, who became the company's youngest executive at 39, has led the Personal Care Research Institute, which handles hair and body care, since 2022. She said the institute was spun off from the skin care division because the two areas demanded fundamentally different approaches. "The volume, application methods, and price points consumers expect are completely different," she said. "We needed a different development playbook, so we separated."

Kolmar Korea is already a dominant force in sun care, holding a 70 to 80 percent share of the domestic market. The company is now leveraging that strength to pioneer a scalp sunscreen category. Lee said staffing at the institute has grown 30 percent since it was established as an independent unit in 2022. "Hair will be the next 'sun,'" she said.

The numbers back that ambition. Korea Customs Service data show that cumulative exports of hair care products from January through April this year reached $190.13 million, up 33 percent from the same period last year. The global opportunity is even larger: according to Euromonitor, the global body care market was valued at $53.6 billion last year, while the hair care market reached $98.5 billion — growing 13.4 percent year on year, one of the highest growth rates in the beauty sector.

Interest in hair and scalp care is rising within the K-beauty market, moving well beyond traditional skin care. With the number of people experiencing hair loss in Korea approaching 10 million, the idea of treating the scalp with the same rigor as facial skin is gaining mainstream traction. Kolmar Korea spotted the trend early, developing the Scalp Sun Essence — the first scalp UV-protection product to receive approval from Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

Lee said the scalp and facial skin are structurally distinct. "The pores on the scalp are much larger than those on the face, and hair is present," she said. "Even the same formulation produces a completely different feel when applied to the scalp."

Development took close to a year. Adapting existing sun care technology to the scalp alone required six to seven months, followed by additional research to achieve a clean, non-sticky finish. Inorganic UV filters left a white residue resembling dandruff, while some organic filters raised concerns about scalp irritation — each issue had to be resolved one by one. The result is a proprietary formulation that leaves minimal stickiness or buildup after application and sits naturally on the hair as well.

Market response has been positive. More than 10 domestic and international brands have expressed interest in adopting the product, and inquiries have come in from the United States. To pursue global markets, Kolmar Korea has tailored the formulation not only for general skin types but also for hair characteristics specific to different ethnicities, including Black hair.

Kolmar Korea sees scalp sun care not as a passing trend but as a new beauty category with lasting growth potential. Just as the skin care market expanded from toners, lotions and creams into ampoules, pads and prep products, the company expects the hair and scalp segment to grow well beyond shampoos and conditioners into a broad range of functional products.

"The scalp is the highest point of skin on the body and the starting point of hair health," Lee said. "Caring for the scalp ultimately benefits the health of both skin and hair." She added that the day is coming when consumers will apply dedicated prep products, ampoules and sun care to their scalps just as they do to their faces. "We plan to keep developing new categories so that the concept of the scalp as skin becomes a natural part of everyday life," she said.