Hugel Accelerates North American Expansion with Olive Young's U.S. Launch

Hugel is accelerating its North American strategy by launching its cosmetic brand, Wellage, in Olive Young's U.S. stores. Pharmaceutical companies are diversifying their growth engines by expanding core medical technologies like fillers and Botox into the dermacosmetic market.

On June 1, Hugel announced that Wellage completed its entry into the Olive Young store in Pasadena, California, on May 29, marking its first physical presence in the U.S.

The Olive Young U.S. locations will feature nine core products from the Wellage brand, which are formulated with high concentrations of active ingredients. The lineup includes the flagship product, the 'Real Hyaluronic Blue 100 Ampoule,' along with six products from the Real Hyaluronic line, two from the Cica Calming line, and one from the PDRN line.

Wellage is now present in 12 countries, having established a foothold in U.S. offline retail following its presence on Amazon and in Costco Canada. A Hugel representative stated, "The entry into Olive Young in the U.S. is significant as it expands our offline distribution network to the U.S. mainland, following Costco Canada, thereby increasing our engagement with North American consumers. We aim to rapidly enhance brand recognition and consumer connections in the global market based on Wellage's unique clinical technology."

The rapid pace at which pharmaceutical companies are entering the cosmetics sector is driven by the explosive growth of the dermacosmetic market. According to Euromonitor, while the domestic skincare market grew at an average annual rate of 2.1% from 2020 to 2025, the dermacosmetic market expanded at an average annual rate of 15.7%, outpacing general cosmetics by seven times.

A similar trend is observed globally. The global dermacosmetic market surpassed $74.14 billion last year and is projected to grow at an average annual rate of over 10.3% until 2035.