By Cathy Rose A. Garcia,
Associate Editor
SEOUL — The Curious Case of Benjamin Button may seem like an unlikely inspiration for a Korean beauty brand.
Benton Inc. founder and CEO Lee Jang-won said he named his skincare company after Brad Pitt’s character in the film, where a man ages in reverse.
“Two years before I established the company, I watched the movie and around that time I was on a diet to lose weight and keep fit. But even though I lost weight, my skin aged and didn’t look healthy. While I was watching, I felt that being young is the most powerful tool. We cannot turn back time, but we can make skin healthier. That’s how I was inspired to name my brand Benton,” he told BusinessWorld in an interview at his company’s office.
Known for its Snail Bee skincare line, Benton uses only botanical-based natural ingredients. The company does not test its products on animals, earning it a “cruelty-free certification” from PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals).
Right when the company started in 2011, Mr. Lee and his younger brother wanted to create only natural cosmetics and skin care products.
“My brother had sensitive and oily skin, so he could not use general cosmetics. But he happened to work for a natural cosmetics brand, and he got to know how good it is and how it works well with his skin. This is why we wanted to create a natural skin care line,” Mr. Lee said.
Benton first developed the Snail Bee high content essence, which used snail secretion filtrate as a base instead of water and bee venom. The product claims to reduce wrinkles, control excessive sebum and keep the skin’s radiance and moisture.
“At the time we developed this product, snail was a big trend . . . We came up with bee venom because it worked very well with trouble care. Since this was the first product, you can understand that we were enthusiastic on how we can make this the best. We added functions like whitening and firming,” Mr. Lee recalled.
As a start-up company, Benton could not come up with a wide range of products. “Instead we just concentrated on making one good product. This was a one product addressing multiple issues. Except for winter, you can use it all year round,” he said.
Benton developed other skincare products such as the Aloe Line, Fermentation Line and Honest Line. All of its products are made in South Korea.
While still a relatively small company compared to cosmetics giant Amore Pacific known for Laneige and Etude House, Benton also benefited from the Korean beauty trend sweeping the globe.
“2013 was the beginning when people were talking about K-beauty. From that year, we found some foreign buyers who got Korean beauty products online, instead of official distributors. They just happened to know about our product and bought it. They blogged about it and had positive reviews about our products. Since then, we were riding on the K-beauty trend,” Mr. Lee said.
Asked why he thinks Korean cosmetics and skincare products are now so popular, Mr. Lee said it’s the quality.
“Many foreign buyers are enthusiastic about any goods stamped with ‘Made in Korea.’ Even if a product is produced by the same brand, but it’s made in China, they don’t like it. They really prefer Made in Korea products. Made in Korea means quality is guaranteed,” he said.
K-beauty products have also distinguished itself with its fun and attractive packaging design, Mr. Lee added.
Despite pressure in a highly competitive Korean beauty industry, Benton remains committed to using only natural ingredients and producing small quantities to ensure freshly-made cosmetics. All Benton products have an expiration date, which is 18-24 months from its manufacturing date.
“Our advantage lies in our philosophy of healthy living. Many are pursuing healthy products with healthy ingredients, but the way to introduce products, they compromise. For some ingredients, they put some preservatives, chemicals. But we are using 100% natural ingredients for these kinds of things. We were recognized overseas first and that’s because of our quality,” he said.
“To the eyes of foreigners, AmorePacific and Benton and others are just foreign brands. Because they understand we are high quality, we are recognized by foreigners.”
