DUBAI — Beautyworld Center East shattered information and spatial boundaries from Oct. 27 to 31, consuming your entire Dubai World Commerce Middle for the primary time within the truthful’s 29-year historical past.
The sprawling occasion stretched throughout 1.1 million sq. ft — the size of 14.5 soccer fields — internet hosting 85,000 attendees from 178 international locations, a 19 p.c enhance over final 12 months. The size underscores a robust shift: the Center East’s 18 p.c magnificence market development and its rising affect on world perfume tradition.
Crowds at Beautyworld Center East.
Worldwide magnificence manufacturers surged throughout the present flooring. Korean skincare drew standing-room-only crowds, superstar make-up artist Hung Vanngo gave his first masterclass, and within the bustling perfume halls area of interest fragrance homes attracted worldwide distributors keen to know how Arabic perfume is reshaping world perfumery requirements.
Hung Vanngo debuted his first make-up masterclass at Beautyworld in Dubai.
“The world is coming to Dubai for magnificence, and the town now really stands as the worldwide capital of perfumery and sweetness,” stated Ravi Ramchandani, present director for Beautyworld Center East.
The size of the occasion displays the growth of the Center Japanese magnificence market, which in keeping with Euromonitor Worldwide, reached $44 billion in 2024 with a development fee of 18 p.c, considerably outpacing the worldwide magnificence market’s 7 p.c development. The analysis agency initiatives the area will preserve a 16 p.c compound annual development fee by means of 2029.
“The Center Japanese magnificence market isn’t just rising, it’s setting world benchmarks,” Ramchandani stated. “Customers right here spend extra per capita on magnificence than most markets worldwide.”
The power of the market is probably finest illustrated by retailer urge for food. Ulta Magnificence opened its first retail location within the area in Kuwait on Friday with a strong development plan over the following a number of months. Sephora‘s Dubai Mall flagship has lengthy been buzzed about by manufacturers as being the productive location on the planet, underscoring the area’s distinctive shopper urge for food for premium magnificence merchandise.
Perfume Steals the Present
The perfume class is especially strong within the area. In response to Euromonitor information, fragrances within the Center East and Africa grew 11 p.c in 2024, in contrast with 7 p.c globally. This cultural affinity for scent attracted greater than 100 area of interest fragrance homes, double the scale of 2024’s truthful.
Sabrya Meflah, president of High quality Fragrances at Worldwide Flavors & Fragrances, who exhibited on the truthful with its SENS Perfumery Studio, stated the Center Japanese affect on world perfume is transformative. IFF opened a inventive hub in Dubai earlier this 12 months, underscoring the area’s rising significance to world perfume improvement.
IFF’s stand at Beautyworld Center East
“Perfume is part of the tradition right here, they have a look at this like an actual jewel,” Meflah stated. “The Center Japanese affect on the worldwide perfume world is wonderful. High quality perfume is the fastest-growing class, and whenever you have a look at the affect of Arabic fragrance elements on Western perfume, it’s actually fascinating that this intersection of qualitative, it’s extra of a efficiency.”
Veronique Gabai, the previous world president of Estée Lauder fragrances who launched her personal model in 2020, made her Beautyworld debut this 12 months.
She too sees vital alternative within the area’s subtle shopper base. “It’s crucial for me to start out the dialog to distribute the model within the Center East,” stated Gabai, who spent the week standing in her model’s sales space tirelessly assembly lots of of holiday makers. “That is the one of the best a part of these occasions, what we hear and see the being near individuals.”
She stated fragrances with complexity, longevity and efficiency on each pores and skin and material resonate notably effectively with Center Japanese customers, sharing that she is already considering of fragrances particularly for the Center Japanese market. “We all know from our enterprise in London what this shopper is gravitating to inside the model. We’ll take what they love and increase on it and make it extra highly effective — extra sillage, extra longevity, as a result of I feel right here it’s so necessary.”
Wellness manufacturers are equally optimistic about regional growth. Jill Cnudde, chief government officer and founding father of the fast-growing Belgian wellness model Bbody, sees the Center East as much less saturated than established markets just like the U.S., presenting a big first-mover benefit for premium wellness merchandise. “We wish to take the world, as a result of I’ve plenty of ambition to do this. However the UAE has my coronary heart,” Cnudde stated.
Jill Cnudde provided samples of her wellness merchandise at Beautyworld.
The model’s deal with complement absorption, biohacking and longevity aligns with rising shopper curiosity within the area. Taking part in Beautyworld Center East for the primary time, she secured conferences with main retailers, together with Boots. She additionally known as out the numerous enterprise benefits to being based mostly within the UAE and is contemplating a company headquarters shift from Europe to the area.
The Okay-beauty Wave
Korean skincare manufacturers additionally generated vital buzz on the present ground, with exhibitors together with Wishtrend, VT Cosmetics and Skin1004 drawing giant crowds. The robust presence displays South Korea’s rising dominance within the world magnificence market and notably within the Center East.
Okay-beauty manufacturers are in excessive demand within the Center East.
Sarah Chung Park, cofounder of Touchdown Worldwide, which has launched greater than 200 Okay-beauty manufacturers globally, offered information on the truthful that confirmed Korean magnificence exports reached an all-time excessive of $10 billion in 2024, making South Korea the third-largest beauty exporter on the planet.
The Center East has emerged as one of many high 5 markets for Okay-beauty, with UAE exports doubling from $82 million to $171 million final 12 months, whereas Saudi Arabia noticed a 69 p.c enhance. “UAE now ranks amongst Korea’s high 4 skincare importers,” Chung Park stated.
The truthful has turn into a necessary platform for rising manufacturers searching for to ascertain themselves within the area. Haneen Odeh, founding father of Snob, a luxurious salon and spa vacation spot in Dubai, has been attending since 2021 particularly to find new manufacturers.
“I stroll the ground with a really curated lens,” she stated. “I search for efficacy, innovation and a powerful identification. The market is oversaturated, so what excites me are the merchandise that stand out both by means of a definite sensorial expertise or a formulation story that feels trendy and sensible.”
This 12 months, Odeh found a number of manufacturers she plans to carry into Snob, together with Femmue, a brand new technology Okay-beauty model that “blends flower remedy with high-performing biotech,” Remilia for its botanical formulations, and Bodyguardz for its revolutionary purple mild converter system.
“Beautyworld permits me to see what classes manufacturers are investing in, what they’re reformulating and the place innovation is occurring quickest,” Odeh stated. “It’s an incredible alternative to identify early-stage shifts earlier than they hit retail.”
As Dubai continues to place itself as a world magnificence hub, with main retailers like Ulta Magnificence launching within the area, Beautyworld Center East’s position as a connector between manufacturers, distributors and customers turns into more and more important.
“Dubai and Saudi Arabia are key development drivers, markets which might be each prosperous and trend-conscious,” Ramchandani stated. Add to {that a} predominantly younger inhabitants, the bulk below the age of 35, you could have what he describes as an viewers “ripe for experimentation and premiumization.”
Because the truthful seems forward to 2026, which may even mark its thirtieth anniversary, Ramchandani stated they plan to increase even additional, rising sustainability, wellness and make-up innovation classes. “After 2024, we thought that was our greatest version but. Then got here 2025 and we topped it. That’s Dubai for you, a metropolis that consistently evokes you to do higher.”
