WORDS FRANCESCA SPECTER
We have heard a lot about Korean beauty – or K-Beauty – in recent years, but less about its quieter, more understated cousin, Japanese beauty. This is about to change, with J-Beauty predicted to be a key cosmetics trend for 2018 by Victoria Buchanan, a strategic researcher at The Future Laboratory. With new Japanese brands like Decorte and Shiro launching in the UK, coupled with record-breaking Japanese cosmetics exports (predicted to exceed $2.75 billion this year), the whetted appetite for all things Japanese in the UK (think Muji and Uniqlo) and Tokyo’s increasing global presence as it prepares to host the 2020 Olympics, and it’s a perfect storm for the trend.