Klairs Skin School

Why Do So Many K-Beauty Products Have the Same Ingredients?

Spend enough time comparing ingredient lists and you'll notice something odd: two products from completely different brands, at completely different prices, with nearly the same first six ingredients. It's a genuinely confusing experience, and the usual explanations — "they're all the same" or "one is copying the other" — are both wrong. The real reason is structural, it's specific to how the industry is built, and once you understand it you become much harder to mislead. The brand on the label usually isn't the company making the product In Korea, cosmetics manufacturing and cosmetics distribution are registered as two separate business categories. A company that wants to sell a finished product registers as a responsible distributor — the entity accountable for the product on the market — while the physical production happens at a manufacturing company. The two are frequently different businesses entirely. Most of those manufacturers operate on an ODM model (original design manufacturing). That means the factory doesn't just produce to a brand's spec; it maintains its own library of developed formula bases that brands can adopt, adjust, and launch under their own name. It's efficient, it's why a brand can go from idea to shelf quickly, and it's a large part of why so many products became available so fast. It's also, straightforwardly, why ingredient lists overlap. If several brands build on related formula bases from the same pool of specialized manufacturers, the top of their ingredient lists will look similar — because at that level, it partly is. Worth saying plainly: none of this is a scandal, and it doesn't mean a product is low quality. Specialized manufacturers bring real scale, equipment, and quality-control capability that most brands couldn't build alone. Plenty of excellent products are made this way. The point isn't that the model is bad — it's that the ingredient list alone can't tell you as much as you think it can. So if two ingredient lists match, are the products the same? No — and this is the part worth internalizing. Three things differ underneath an identical-looking list: Concentration. An ingredient list tells you the order of ingredients, not the amounts. Two products can both list the same ingredient in the same position while containing very different quantities of it. Below roughly 1% of the formula, ingredients can be listed in any order at all, which is why the bottom half of a list tells you almost nothing about how much of anything is present. Everything around the headline ingredient. The base, the thickeners, the emulsifying system, the humectants — these determine texture, weight, how it layers, and how it feels four hours later. Two products sharing a marquee ingredient can feel nothing alike. Testing and stability work. Whether a finished formula was tested for irritation, tested on sensitive skin panels, or assessed for comedogenicity is a real difference between products, and none of it appears anywhere on the ingredient list. What you can actually check as a shopper Practical habits that hold up: Read the top five or six ingredients, not all forty. That's the bulk of the formula and most of what you'll feel. Find the 1% line. Preservatives, fragrance, and most extracts are used at low percentages. Once you spot them, treat everything after as present-but-minor, regardless of how prominently it's advertised on the front. Notice whether concentrations are disclosed at all. Most brands never state them. When a specific figure is published, you can at least evaluate the claim instead of guessing. Understand what testing labels mean. "Dermatologist tested" or "non-comedogenic tested" indicates a test was performed — it isn't a guarantee about your individual skin, and it isn't a medical claim. Useful signal, not a promise. Match texture class before marketing language. A "hydrating serum" and a "hydrating cream" are different products no matter how similar the ingredient lists look. Our guide on how to read a skincare ingredient list covers the mechanics in more detail, and if a favorite product recently changed on you, what to do when a product is discontinued or reformulated applies the same reading skills. How we make ours Since we've just explained a structure we're also part of, it's only fair to say where we sit in it. This isn't a claim that our approach is better than anyone else's — comparisons like that aren't something we can substantiate, and we're not making one. It's simply what we can tell you about ours. Klairs is operated by Wishcompany, which acts as the brand owner and responsible distributor. We set the product concept, the ingredient standards, and the safety-verification criteria, and production is carried out with specialized cosmetic manufacturing partners. Our formulas are Klairs proprietary formulations, developed by the Klairs team in collaboration with those manufacturing partners. Where we can, we publish concentrations rather than leaving them implied: EGF Blue Youth Activating Drop — guaiazulene at 1,000ppm, with sh-Oligopeptide-1 and sh-Polypeptide-1 at 10ppm each. Freshly Juiced Vitamin Drop — 5% pure vitamin C with centella asiatica, which have remained the formula's key ingredients since launch. On testing, our formulas go through primary skin irritation testing at accredited external laboratories, with sensitive-skin panel testing and non-comedogenic testing applied where relevant to the product. For products used around the eyes, eye-irritation testing is included. These are standard industry test types, not proprietary ones — we mention them because "was this tested, and how" is exactly the kind of thing an ingredient list can't show you. And where a fragrance-free formula is the point, it's stated outright rather than left for you to infer, as with the Supple Preparation Unscented Toner. FAQ Why do different K-beauty brands have the same ingredients? Because in Korea, manufacturing and distribution are separately registered businesses, and most brands work with specialized ODM manufacturers that maintain their own developed formula bases. Several brands can build on related bases from the same pool of manufacturers, so the top of their ingredient lists ends up looking similar. It's a structural feature of the industry, not necessarily copying. What does ODM mean in cosmetics? ODM stands for original design manufacturing. The manufacturer develops and holds formula bases that brands can adopt and adjust before launching under their own name, rather than the brand supplying a formula for the factory to produce. It lowers the cost and time needed to bring a product to market. If two products have identical ingredient lists, are they the same product? Not necessarily. Ingredient lists show the order of ingredients, not their amounts, and below about 1% of a formula the order can be arbitrary. Two products can list the same ingredients while differing in concentration, in the base and texture system around them, and in what safety and stability testing was done. Does an ingredient list tell me how much of an ingredient is in a product? Only roughly, and only near the top. Ingredients are listed in descending order by amount until they fall below approximately 1%, after which they may appear in any order. So a prominently marketed ingredient sitting near the end of a long list is present in a small quantity, whatever the packaging emphasizes. Is a product made by an ODM manufacturer lower quality? No. Specialized manufacturers typically bring scale, equipment, and quality-control capability that individual brands would struggle to build independently, and many well-regarded products are made this way. Quality depends on the specific formula, its concentrations, and the testing behind it — not on whether production was outsourced. How can I tell what actually makes one formula different from another? Look for information the ingredient list can't carry: whether concentrations of key ingredients are published, what testing the finished formula went through, and what texture class it belongs to. Then judge it in your own routine, since how a formula feels and layers on your skin is the part no label can tell you in advance. This article is general education about how cosmetics are made and labeled; it is not medical advice and does not diagnose, treat, or claim to cure any skin condition. Descriptions of industry structure are general and not statements about any specific other company. Individual experiences vary — patch test new products, wear daily SPF, and consult a professional for persistent or concerning skin concerns.