South Korean beauty brand, Innisfree, opened its first India store in New Delhi in 2013 around the same time the world started to take notice of Korean or K-beauty products. Named after the poem, The Lake Isle of Innisfree, by WB Yeats, in the next few years, the brand set up shop in various cities across the country. With the world still under the grips of Korean skin care and make-up, Bengaluru finally got its first Innisfree store last month.
“Our journey started in 1997 as a natural brand focused on herbal skincare. At that time, there was no brand based on naturalism, using natural ingredients in Korea. It was launched in the year 2000 in South Korea and it went global in the year 2012,” shares Doyoul Lee, Country Head, Innisfree India. He tells us more about what to expect:
Tell us about your Bengaluru store.
Located in Mantri Square Mall, it is spread over 600 square feet. The interior features a vertical garden to give consumers a feeling of being close to nature and allows them to breathe clean air, creating an eco-friendly ambience at the store. The shelves are stocked with all our latest launches across skincare and make-up, like Advanced Beauty Green Tea and Volcanic Color Clay Masks.
What are some of your key products?
The two most popular products are, Volcanic Pore Clay Mask 2X (a super effective product for intense pore care, it is enriched with Volcanic Sphere, Innisfree’s volcanic ingredient with an excellent sebum absorbability) and Green Tea Seed Serum (our global bestseller, it has been recently relaunched in celebration of its 10th anniversary. The new version has a special ingredient, beauty green tea, which is enriched with 16 kinds of amino acids).
What would you recommend for the current weather in Bengaluru?
I think the Innisfree Green Tea range is very good for the current weather. Customers can also opt for the Innisfree Pomegranate range. I would also recommend the Innisfree Volcanic Range, which controls sebum and minimises pores.
What sets Innisfree apart from other beauty brands?
Innisfree’s USP is its ingredients. We source all ingredients from Jeju Island — a volcanic island off the Southern coast of the Korean Peninsula, 73-km wide and 31-km long. We have also created a clean green tea farm, from where we produce healthy beauty products that our customers can completely trust. Innisfree as a beauty brand also believes in building a greener world. We have global campaigns like the Empty Bottle Recycle Campaign, Green Christmas and the Eco Handkerchief Campaign.
What are your expansion plans in India?
As of now, we have 12 stores in Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, and Bengaluru and two online stores. By 2022, our target number of stores is more than 50 across India. We will soon be launching India exclusive products, such as hair oil and kajal. We are also launching a variety of foundation shades to match different skin tones.
Rs.100 upwards. At Sampige Road, Malleswaram