MASSTIGE TIME

It wasn't Amorepacific's Sulwhasoo, nor LG H&H's ‘The History of Whoo.' The product that took the top spot was 'Absolute CellActive Skincare,' a collaborative creation between Kolmar Korea and Atomy, which became the first in the cosmetics industry to win the 'King Sejong Award,' a prestigious technology patent award given by the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO).

Kolmar Korea's patented technology, exclusively applied to Atomy cosmetics, earned this unparalleled recognition in the domestic cosmetics market. This product, which won the highest technical award, is priced at 198,000 won for a 6-piece set, averaging only 33,000 won per unit.

Lee Hyun-sook, Managing Director of Kolmar Korea R&D Center, reflected on the development process back in 2017, saying, “I almost cried because the prices of Absolute CellActive Skincare weren’t that high given that we poured our heart and soul into developing it. But, I had to agree because it was Atomy's philosophy to offer the best products at a reasonable price.” Researchers worked tirelessly to integrate patented technology with the highest-quality vegetable EGF ingredients, ultimately creating 'Absolute CellActive Skincare.' Even though its quality surpassed ultra-expensive luxury cosmetics priced at 500,000 won and 1 million won, the affordable pricing did not meet initial expectations.

Atomy and Kolmar Korea embarked on a research and development project in 2016 with the question, “Do differentiated functional cosmetics really exist?” They aimed to create the best cosmetics that would offer the most dramatic changes in the market. They used the finest ingredients and the most advanced formulation and delivery technologies to create ‘miracle cosmetics.’

Managing Director Lee stated, “The core of functional cosmetics is to allow good ingredients to be absorbed in the right place between the epidermis and the dermis,” and “after dozens of meetings, we decided to develop a technology that targets and delivers whitening ingredients to cells involved in whitening, regenerating ingredients to regenerating cells, and barrier-strengthening ingredients to skin barrier cells.”

This technology, which received the King Sejong Award from KIPO, is CellActive™ Code & CellActive™ Technology' (a peptide design technology specialized for binding to each skin cell receptor). This technology first encapsulates effective ingredients for whitening and anti-wrinkle effects so they can be effectively absorbed into cells, and then attaches peptides with enhanced adhesion to the specific receptors on these cells. Much like targeted cancer treatments selectively destroy cancer cells, ‘targeted cosmetics’ maximize efficacy by delivering whitening and anti-wrinkle ingredients directly to the specific cells that need them.

Lee Eun-young, Director of Atomy's Product Management Division, confidently stated, “It's a masterpiece created through joint efforts with Kolmar Korea since 2016 to surpass the idea that 'all cosmetics are the same',” adding, “there are many Korean cosmetics better at advertising and marketing than Atomy, but there are no products that surpass the values shown by Absolute CellActive Skincare when evaluating overall anti-aging functionality, such as moisturizing, skin density, and improvement of wrinkles and elasticity.”

That's how Atomy Absolute Skincare was born in September 2017. Director Lee noted, “There are some people who refuse to use network marketing products without even trying them,” but “even though Absolute CellActive Skincare has never been advertised, it still sells for 100 billion won each year.” By 2022, Absolute CellActive had achieved cumulative global sales of 500 billion won.

She continued, “Absolute CellActive Skincare, first introduced in 2017, is a skincare product that will remain effective for the next 10 years,” and “although it was developed six years ago, it currently has the highest level of functionality in 2023, and it seems difficult to surpass this product for the time being.” She described Absolute CellActive as “there are people who have never used it, but no one who has only used it once” and emphasized, “People eventually come back to Absolute even if they try a new product.”

Atomy Absolute CellActive broke the stereotype of network marketing products and is now exported to 24 countries, generating 100 billion won in annual sales. It embodies the Atomy principle of 'Absolute Quality, Absolute Price' by reducing production costs while using the highest quality ingredients. A KIPO official commented, “Absolute is expected to greatly enhance K-beauty's status and help Korean cosmetics brands enter overseas markets in the future.”