3LAB

3LAB is an American luxury skincare company founded in 2003 by Erica Chung together with her husband, David Chung [2][9]. Based in the United States, with a manufacturing facility in New Jersey [8], the brand specialises in high-priced, science-led anti-ageing products and is unusual in owning the laboratory and factory where its formulas are developed and made. According to Korean-language sources, the name "3LAB" refers to the three professionals behind it — two chemists and one dermatologist [8]; the company's own materials do not explain the figure.

The brand positions itself at the intersection of laboratory research and prestige beauty, summed up in its long-running tagline "Merging beauty with science since 2003." It remains privately held and commercially active, publishing regular editorial content and appearing in fashion press into the mid-2020s.

By the company's account, 3LAB was created as a deliberate counter-example to an industry it saw as chasing trends rather than results. The brand says it was "built on a belief that most skincare brands had it backwards — chasing trends instead of results, prioritizing packaging over performance, and compromising on the very ingredients that matter most." Erica Chung, described by 3LAB as the company's founder and creator, has said she approached cosmetics as "the most skeptical customer," and that combined she and David Chung brought several decades of beauty-retail experience to the venture.

Sources differ on two points of record. The founders' surname is romanised as Chung by the brand and English-language press, but as Jung (David Jung and Erica Jung) in the Korean Wikipedia entry; the two spellings refer to the same Korean-American couple [2][8]. The company's base is also recorded inconsistently: Wikipedia identifies a New Jersey manufacturing facility, around 2,415 square metres as of 2009 [8], while a founder interview describes the company as "based in New York" [9] — most likely an office or market reference rather than the production site. The brand's own contact page lists only an email address and no street location.

A retailer interview adds that 3LAB was founded alongside "two well-known chemists and one celebrated dermatologist," echoing the meaning later attached to the name.

3LAB describes itself as a privately owned company operating on the principle "results first, cost second" — a stance it contrasts with publicly traded beauty groups answerable to shareholders. The company frames its independence as the reason it can prioritise ingredient performance over margin, stating that founder Erica Chung "built 3LAB with honesty and integrity at its core." Its stated mission, recorded in the Korean Wikipedia entry, is "Perfect Science, Perfect Product, Perfect Skin" [8].

Central to the positioning is vertical control over formulation. The company says it runs its own research-and-development and manufacturing facility with more than 40 in-house chemists, giving it oversight "over every stage of the formulation process — from raw ingredient sourcing to final product testing." The same in-house operation also functions as a contract manufacturer: in an interview, Chung said the business produces "for more than 100 brands," which makes it a significant customer for raw-material suppliers [9]. The brand argues this scale lets it incorporate higher concentrations of active ingredients than competitors, though such claims are the company's own.

Commercially, 3LAB sits in the luxury tier, with hero products carrying prices that place it among prestige skincare. The company describes itself as "one of the few luxury skincare companies in the world with full control over every stage of the formulation process." Editorial coverage has characterised its audience as affluent consumers focused on visible anti-ageing results.

The brand's prose centres on a small group of signature products. Its Super "H" Serum is presented as an antioxidant treatment built around apple stem cells; the company says it has been "lauded by the editors at Allure and recognized as a 'top splurge' award winner" in the magazine's Best of Beauty issues. The Super Cream is described as using a "smart" delivery system that the brand likens to a GPS, identifying where skin needs support and delivering encapsulated collagen- and elastin-supporting peptides to those areas. The range also includes an "M" Mask, built around a clinically studied peptide complex, and an "H" Cream among its higher-priced moisturisers.

Much of 3LAB's identity rests on named proprietary technologies. These include a Bio-Engineered Renewal Complex, a plant-based active the company says supports the skin's visible renewal cycle, and Apple Stem Cell Technology (PhytoCellTec Malus Domestica), an extract from the rare Swiss Uttwiler Spätlauber apple. The brand cites laboratory figures for the latter — a 15 percent reduction in wrinkle depth over four weeks and a 6.9 percent improvement in firmness over 28 days [3]. A further active, the X-50 Intelligent Targeting Device, uses what 3LAB trademarks as "Cosmetic Drone" technology to deliver peptides to targeted areas; the company has called it one of the most expensive actives in the world, and a founder interview notes the technology was originally developed in Spain for use with cancer patients [9]. A Marine Repair Complex, described as drawing on algae and marine ingredients, is listed as patent pending.

The wider ingredient catalogue spans both well-known and proprietary actives, including hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, astaxanthin, squalane, ceramides and a range of retinol alternatives such as bakuchiol-based Sytenol A.

3LAB states that it has been cruelty-free since its founding, saying it "has never tested its products on animals" since 2003 [7]. The company also formulates without added fragrance, alcohols, artificial colouring or mineral oils, which it presents as making the products suitable for sensitive skin. The brand lists no formal third-party certifications, and makes no specific vegan or organic certification claim. Manufacturing is based in the United States, at the New Jersey facility.

The Super "H" Serum is the brand's most frequently cited product in editorial contexts, repeatedly referenced in connection with Allure's Best of Beauty recognition, though a specific award year is not independently documented. The company's press listings record coverage in Vogue and British Vogue in 2025, Harper's Bazaar in 2022, and earlier features in outlets including New Beauty and Who What Wear. In 2007, the trade publication Women's Wear Daily designated 3LAB a "rising star" [8]. Korean Wikipedia names Kate Hudson, Donatella Versace, Helen Mirren and Jennifer Lopez among Hollywood figures reported to have used the products, a third-party attribution rather than a company claim [8].

3LAB expanded internationally within a few years of launch, entering the South Korean market in 2005. According to Korean Wikipedia, the brand reported approximately 30 million US dollars in retail sales by 2008 and distributed through department stores and retailers across the United States, Europe and Asia [8].

Korean Wikipedia records that in 2006 the South Korean television programme PD수첩 raised allegations of false or misleading advertising against the brand. 3LAB subsequently withdrew from the Korean market and re-entered it in 2008 [8]. The account is sourced to a single, machine-translated entry and is not independently corroborated in the available material.

3LAB remains active. The company publishes blog content on a roughly monthly basis, with articles dated into June 2026 [6], and its most recent press features run through 2025. It sells directly to consumers within the United States and, according to its own materials, works with distributor and retail partners across Europe and Asia, making its reach multi-regional rather than fully global.