Skin79

Skin79 is a South Korean cosmetics company based in Seoul, best known for helping bring BB cream to a mass international audience during the 2000s K-beauty boom. The company grew out of a cosmetic-ingredient manufacturer and today sells makeup and skincare across several markets, including Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the Nordics.

The brand remains commercially active: its products continue to be stocked by K-beauty retailers through the mid-2020s [7]. Its own website at skin79.com was, however, unreachable in mid-2026 because of an expired security certificate, so recent brand-voice information comes chiefly from its UK distributor and affiliated pages.

Skin79 Co., Ltd. was legally established in Seoul in December 2004 [1]. The company describes its roots in ingredient manufacturing, saying it "originated from manufacturer of cosmetic ingredients, while accumulating skin-research know-how" [1]. Its headquarters are recorded at 66 Yeoui-daero, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. The founders' names are not documented in the available sources.

The name plays on the Korean pronunciation of "79", which the company says sounds like the word for a friend — the basis for its long-running tagline, "Friend to your skin".

Sources differ on the brand's starting point. The Korean company registry dates the firm's establishment to 2004 [1], while a brand-story page frames 2006 as the moment it "started the whole BB Creams phenomenon" [3]. The two dates describe different events — the company's legal founding in 2004 and its mass-market BB cream launch in 2006 — though some retailer copy conflates them.

The product that defined Skin79 was the Super Plus Beblesh Balm, a BB cream the company brought to the mass market in 2006 [1]. The firm presents itself as "an original pioneer of bringing the worldwide BB cream sensation to the mass market" that year, and on LinkedIn describes itself as "the 1st original brand which brought BB creams product into the cosmetic market" [6]. BB creams — tinted balms combining coverage, moisturiser and sun protection — had earlier origins in Germany but were reformulated and popularised in Asia, with Korea leading, before the wider global wave.

The brand launched in the United Kingdom in 2016 and, according to the UK retailer SOKOLLAB, was subsequently featured in publications including Glamour, Elle and InStyle [4].

Skin79's range spans makeup and skincare, with the BB cream line at its centre. Its signature product is the Super Plus Beblesh Balm, sold in variants such as the "Hot Pink" edition that the company markets as combining moisturiser, coverage and sun protection in one step. The brand-story page lists ten claimed benefits for the BB cream, from hydration and improving the appearance of wrinkles to sebum control and sun protection [3].

The company positions itself at an accessible price point, describing its goods as "high quality guaranteed and reasonably priced" [2]. Its stated philosophy centres on being a "friend to your skin": it describes its formulas as a "perfect combination of natural cosmetics and medical cosmetics" intended so that sensitive or problem skin can use them safely. Its mission, as stated on its UK site, is to "research innovative products to provide new experiences — better beauty and better life" [2].

Skin79 has reported strong sales for the BB cream, citing figures such as "1 bottle sold in every 10 seconds" and best-seller status on QVC Japan, at the Taiwanese drugstore chain COSMED and the Malaysian department store Curve [6]. Manufacturing is based in South Korea [1].

Skin79 is assessed as commercially active. Its products remain stocked across current K-beauty retailers into the mid-2020s, including vegan and cruelty-free BB cream listings in 2024–2026 catalogues [7]. As of mid-2026, however, the official skin79.com site returned an expired security certificate and could not be reached — an infrastructure issue rather than a sign of closure, given that retail distribution continued.