Bit of an odd one, this Cosme Tokyo show. Ever since Japan’s biggest retail beauty trade fair returned to Tokyo Big Sight expo centre from Makuhari Messe (Chiba prefecture) in 2021, the show has taken place in the expo centre‘s East Halls. This year, Cosme Tokyo and its associated Cosme Week Tokyo shows (Cosme Tech, Hair Expo and Beauty Marketing Expo) were relocated to Tokyo Big Sight’s West Halls – a much more cramped and a very confusing layout. According to the organisers 32,563 attendees visited the four Cosme Week shows (Cosme Tokyo, Cosme Tech, Hair Expo, Beauty Marketing Expo).
I’m not a huge fan of the West Halls (although they are closer to the main entrance), the East Halls are much easier to navigate. I also felt that the number of retail beauty exhibitors at Cosme Week was considerably smaller this year – I mean, Cosme Tech (ingredients, packaging, OEM/ODM) is always the biggest fair within the Cosme Week cluster, fair enough; it was also the very first Cosme Week show ever (Cosme Tech first took place in 2009, I believe; the first edition of Cosme Tokyo was held in 2012).
However, compared to the last few years I was missing quite a few of the big Japanese exhibitors that I’m used to seeing at Cosme Tokyo (Korean beauty, on the other hand, was more ubiquitous than ever!) No official stats to back me up here although the exhibitor/halls map does show the Cosme Tokyo section of the show (including Hair Expo) taking up only about a third of the ground floor halls. The rest were supply chain exhibitors (i.e. Cosme Tech) and a small cluster of Beauty Marketing Expo exhibitors.
I went back through my previous Cosme Tokyo blog articles: My first Cosme Tokyo visit was in 2014 (Tokyo Big Sight), Cosme Tokyo 2018, Cosme Tokyo 2019 and Cosme Tokyo 2020 took place in Makuhari Messe. In 2021 and 2022 I attended the digital editions of the fair; Cosme Tokyo 2023, Cosme Tokyo 2024 and Cosme Tokyo 2025 were in-person fairs again (Tokyo Big Sight).
Last year, Cosme Week Tokyo also included a professional beauty section (Esthec Japan) and a supplements showcase (Inner Beauty) neither of which returned this year. Hopefully 2027 will see more retail/finished beauty again. Oh, and in 2027, the show will take place in February, NOT January, which is a bold move. I wonder if the organisers will use the opportunity to further restructure the fair?
Anyway, after this veeery long introduction let’s dive into my favourite launches at Cosme Tokyo 2026!
JAPANESE BRANDS AT COSME TOKYO 2026
SPA TREATMENT / WAVE CORPORATION (Japan)
Wave Corporation is one of the biggest Japanese salon beauty manufacturers and they have more than a dozen salon, home care and spa brands across different product categories. The company is also very active in NPD and always present interesting new launches whenever I see them at a fair.
This year, my favourite Wave Corp launches were in the Spa Treatment brand. Wrapping Mask is a dry sheet mask, the material is freeze-dried hyaluronic acid. You apply the mask on damp or wet skin – spray or pat your favourite toner/essence on first; the dry hyaluronic acid layer will melt and the top layer of the mask is then gently pulled off. Wait until the moisture has been absorbed into the skin and then apply a cream or facial oil on top.
The second launch is really liked at the Wave Corp booth, also in the Spa Treatment umbrella brand, was Hot Shell Healing, a ceramic shell-shaped massage device that is filled with a self-heating powder (metal salts, the same compound you have in these hand warmers that you have to bend to release the heat) and a dash of water.
The salts heat up really quickly and the ceramic material will retain the heat for at least 110 minutes. After the massage shell has cooled off you can simply tip out the powder and refill with a new sachet. The shells look pretty (and surprisingly realistic) and are a pleasure to handle – form and function in perfect harmony.
RAVISSA / ALEN INTERNATIONAL (Japan)
Alen International is another prominent Japanese beauty exhibitor that I see at Cosme Tokyo (and Beautyworld Japan) every year. Like Wave Corp, Alen owns over a dozen beauty and personal care brands – makeup, face care, body care, inner beauty, hair care.
This year I was particularly impressed by a new eye makeup remover serum in the Ravissa brand. The texture of this makeup remover is amazing considering that the formula contains a lot of fatty plant oils. Looking at the INCI I expected the texture to be quite oily but nope, the squalane and C12-15 alkane (emollient, solvent) turn the formula into a silky, clear gel-serum like texture. Once you gently massage it into the skin the texture turns even more liquidy, you then take it off with a tissue. No residue, just really soft hydrated skin.
DR. MEDION (Japan)
I always enjoy trying out Dr. Medion’s new launches – the company specialises in carbonated (i.e. foamy/bubble) beauty and personal care so the textures are playful and fun. The brand line-up offers carbonated face masks, moisturisers and serums, body products, shampoos and conditioners.
And these are not your average aerosol-driven foam canisters either; Dr. Medion cabonated products usually consist of two separate phases that need to be mixed together. Often the two phases are packaged in dual-chambered containers, you press the applicator nozzle which then dispenses the two phases simultaneously so it starts foaming in the palm of your hand.
Amongst the latest launches in the Dr. Medion range is a Matcha Bubble Mask and in this product the phases are blended manually. The product set contains individually packaged gel and powder phases, mix these together in the small (provided) bowl and wait until the texture turns into a creamy foam.
The mix of plant ingredients are interesting: The formula contains green tea leaf powder, of course, but also sake rice lees extracts, fermented rice extract, hydrolyzed job’s tear extract, saxifraga sarmentosa extract (rich in arbutin and quercetin, i.e. skin-brightening) and an alga-derived polysaccharide.
COCOCHI COSME (Japan)
Interesting launch at the Cocochi Cosme booth: The Japanese skin care brand has introduced a new 2-sku face care range for skin aged 40+. The Stem Cells range offers a serum packaged in what looked like a solid-glass aftershave bottle and sheet masks, both products are packed with pretty much every trending cosmetic active.
The serum in particular has an impressive INCI list, starting with fermented rice filtrate. Then we have umbilical cord-derived human stem cells as conditioned media and exosomes, peptides, urea, EGF (epidermal growth factor), FGF (fibroblast growth factor), different sizes of hyaluronic acid, arginine, betaine, polysaccharides….
I can never resist these kind of INCI (and I do like human stem cell beauty!) and the trade show discounts offered at the booth were considerable so I bought both serum and sheet masks. I ended up decanting the serum into a Muji plastic bottle prior to flying back to Berlin because 95 gr of serum packaged in a heavy glass bottle is, well, really heavy. I’ve been using the serum for a few weeks now and really like it.
DR. TOUHI (Japan)
More trending ingredients at the Dr. Touhi booth. I first came across iPS (induced pluripotent stem cells) at last year’s Cosme Tokyo. iPS is a fascinating medical technology, first discovered (or rather, turned into a substance that can potentially be used in medical treatments) by a Kyoto University based research team in 2007 (I think? Might have been 2006). Feel free to google it.
Besides the medical applications, iPS has also turned into a popular anti-ageing active in Japanese beauty. Cosme Tokyo 2025 only had a couple of exhibitors with iPS-based products but this year, I saw the ingredient on numerous expo booths.
Salon hair care brand Dr. Touhi, for example, recently launched a scalp serum with iPS. iPX Scalp Serum contains iPS cell conditioned medium, its companion product Scalp Serum EX is formulated with placenta exosomes. Although both of these serums are primarily designed to be applied to the scalp, improving blood circulation and reducing inflammation and thus boosting hair growth – or at least slow down hair loss! – I was told that the formula can also be used as an anti-ageing and hydrating face or body product.
DR. SOIE (Japan)
Anti-ageing face care brand Dr. Soie’s new launches also include an iPS face cream. The Pro & iPS Re: Cream (yes, that’s the product name) is a facial moisturising cream formulated with senolytic ingredients. These type of ingredients tackle ageing (senescent) skin cells and therefore help rejuvenate the skin, or at least that’s the theory.
The leading senolytic ingredient in this cream is, of course, the induced pluripotent stem cells but the formula also contains various peptides (especially hexapaptide-6), anti-ageing lotus germ extract and anti-inflammatory sphingomonas extract.
B NO SOL (Japan)
Such a fun-looking pore care device from No Sol! This is beauty tech for the nose, the booth lady very kindly showed me how to use the device (picture taken with her permission).
Nose Beauty Device is an EMS/infra-red beauty device, you place it on top of your nose so the panels rest on the nostrils and the red light waves/electric impulses then work to decrease inflammation and thus help to reduce pore size and minimise impurities. B
KAORIUM (Japan)
At first glance I thought this was yet another AI-driven mix-your-own-fragrance device but I was so wrong: Kaorium is a device to help translate olfactory sensations and emotions into language, essentially providing vocabulary to help fragrance buyers express what they are looking for in a perfume.
The service is aimed at novice fragrance buyers in particular (although it can also used to train perfumery staff to ask the right questions when a customer is looking for a fragrance). If you are a perfume fan and know which fragrances you like (and why you prefer one fragrance to the other, which notes/accords smell particularly pleasant to you, which fragrance brands you already have at home), selecting a perfume is an enjoyable experience.
Customers who aren’t as familiar with fragrances but want to treat themselves to a new perfume are usually a lot more hesitant. Fragrances tend to be on the expensive side and no one wants to spend 50 Euro on something you end up not liking after all; trying out perfumes (or even entering a perfumery store) can also be overwhelming and stressful.
Example: A customer wants to buy a perfume, they tell the sales assistant that they want something that smells sweet. However, they can’t elaborate on whether they prefer sweet-spicy notes, or a sweet-sensual fragrance, sweet-fresh, sweet-floral or sweet-fruity; they want something that smells good to them. And sweet.
And this is where the Kaorium device can help. The device is suitable for both multi-brand and single-brand retailers, there is space for 16 perfume samples and each sample is associated with certain emotions (expressed by nouns or adjectives) across a kind of fragrance matrix.
The multi-lingual AI-driven interface guides you through the decision making process by asking a series of questions and providing adjectives/terminology to more precisely express what you might be looking for in a fragrance. And yes, there is a distinct game-ification aspect to this so the selection process is a lot of fun.
You begin by selecting whether you are buying a perfume for someone else or for you. For example, if you are looking to buy a fragrance for a friend the interface first asks you to select three words describing the recipient (“youthful”, “chic”, “funny”, “graceful”, “adventurous”, “energetic”, “devoted”, “unique”…). If you want to buy a perfume for yourself, Kaorium will ask how you want to feel when you are wearing the fragrance (“go for it”, “stay calm”, “so nostalgic”, “break free”, “get excited”, “time to relax” (or “none of the above”).
The AI database then recommends three of 16 perfume samples (scent strips in tiny, numbered glass bottles), you smell one after the other and the database will ask you to describe the scent in one word (“stylish”, “invigorating”, “serene”, “sparkling”, “confident”, “imposing”, “refreshing”, “airy”, “bright”…).
You then select one or more of the samples and the database will help you to further narrow down your choices, ending with a recommendation of three different perfumes and a rather lyrical expression of the scent that the database believes that will be your favourite.
In my case (I went through both guided menus several times with different parameters) my recommendation was described as “hushed streams move gently under open skies”, the recommendation was for Eau de Magnolia from Frédéric Malle (with Jo Malone’s Wood Sage & Sea Salt and Shiro’s Freesia Mist the other two fragrances in the final selection).
The machine is a self-service device, by the way; I saw a more compact version of the trade show model in action on the fragrance floor of the Cosme store in Harajuku – it was placed near the fragrance shelves and there was a group of giggling young females clustered around it so the playful angle obviously works well with the target demographic.
INTERNATIONAL BEAUTY AT COSME TOKYO 2026
YOUR SOLIS / NATUREMARY / WILD PRAIRIE SOAP (Canada)
The majority of Cosme Tokyo exhibitors were from Japan or Korea, with just a handful of non-Asian companies at the fair. One of these was the Alberta/Canada communal expo pavillion which I last saw at Cosme Tokyo 2020 (the last in-person trade show before the pandemic), check out my trade show article for the 2020 fair and some of the Edmonton brands here!
It was so good to see some of the Alberta brands again; the 2026 pavillion was a bit smaller than Alberta’s 2020 trade show presence but one of the returning brands was Wild Prairie Soap which I remember well from the 2020 fair. Since I covered this brand in the 2020 article I’ll focus on the two other companies at this year’s Alberta pavillion, both of which were unknown to me.
Let’s start with Your Solis which launched in 2025 and offers a really clever portable infra-red/UV beauty tool sanitiser. You stick your makeup brushes etc. into the sanitiser, push down the lid and UV/infrared radiation does the rest. Your Solis can also be used to disinfect eyeliner pencils or lipsticks, basically any elongated/stick-type product that can be fitted into the sanitiser’s slots. Sounds to me like every beauty retailer that offers makeup testers needs to purchase something like this!
Herbal pain relief brand Naturemary was introduced in 2020. Starting out as a classic kitchen-table brand, Naturemary’s balms, creams and oils are infused with herbal actives (natural terpenes) to help treat muscular aches and pains, cuts and bruises of joint inflammation and improve mobility. Today the brand is already in 3,000 pharmacies across Canada and they are currently also expanding into the Middle East.
UOGA UOGA (Lithuania)
I was very excited (and surprised) to discover organic beauty brand Uoga Uoga at Cosme Tokyo 2026. Although I usually go through the exhibitor database prior to visiting a trade fair I must have missed the Lithuanian company in the exhibitor list. But Uoga Uoga’s bright green expo booth design is unmistakable.
This is a brand that I used to see at every single Vivaness beauty trade show since 2016. My initial introduction to Uoga Uoga was during a visit to Riga (Latvia) in May 2014. I just went through my old blog articles and yes, the brand’s first appearance at Vivaness was at the 2016 show. The final edition of Vivaness took place in 2024 and it was just a shadow of its former glorious self; RIP Vivaness, the biggest and best organic beauty international trade show ever.
Anyway, I think Vivaness 2024 was also the last time I saw Uoga Uoga in person so it was extra awesome to meet them at Cosme Tokyo 2026. So! Lots of new products (i.e. launched in the past 18 months or so) to discover here, such as the super colourful 4-sku lip balm range. Four colours/flavours inspired by gourmand foods/cocktails: Spritzberry is the orange-coloured balm, Virgin Mojito is green, Matcha is red and Crème de Cassis is purple.
Other new products include the Serum Foundation which was introduced in February 2025 and is available in 10 shades, and a range of seven creamy Cheek & Lip Tints which are packaged in refillable metal container (the magnetic lid makes the most addictive clicky sound!).
KOREAN BEAUTY AT COSME TOKYO 2026
KOCOSTAR (Korea)
Kocostar needs no introduction, it‘s always so much fun to see the brand at trade shows. Here is one of the launches that caught my eye at Cosme Tokyo 2026: Three scented skin care shimmer serums, an interesting hybrid of body care product and personal fragrance.
The Stardust Glow Essence line-up offers Jupiter, Mars and Venus: Each serum features different levels of shimmer/glitter (and a different fragrances, obvs) in a very light, hydrating gel formula and can be used on face, body or hair. A charming, playful product.
LINDSAY (Korea)
Lindsay is another brand I enjoy seeing at trade fairs. This brand kicked off the modelling mask trend all those years ago and although the Korean company has long since branched out into other face mask (and skin care) product categories they still have an extensive line-up of modelling masks. I feel like I’ve seen every iteration of Lindsay’s modelling masks during the past decade, from the classic mask plastic cups over travel-friendly fold-out sachets that are used to mix the mask to two-part or even three-part mask formulas (mask powder + serum or powder-serum-active) in sachet form packaged with square mixing bowls.
Quick side note in case you’re not familiar with modelling masks: These are alginate powder masks that you mix with water, the rubbery texture hardens on the face (it does not dry) and you can simply pull the mask off. Because you always have to mix the mask powder with at least one liquid phase modelling masks then to be one of the messier types of face masks. The Lindsay masks always include a plastic measuring spoon and a mixing container with the mask powder but you still have to mix it by hand.
You’d think that there is no angle left to explore in terms of modelling mask innovation but Lindsay actually did it: The Glucose Modelling Mask is a sachet mask that promises to make the mixing process almost completely hands-off. You tear open the sachet along the reclosure line, use the measuring spoon to add the water, then reclose the sachet and shake it thoroughly. The mask powder will blend with the water to create the modelling mask texture. Then you tear off the bottom right-hand corner of the sachet and squeeze out the mask.
I was given one of the new masks to try out, I did so in my hotel room that very evening and the shaking process did work pretty well although the pulling off bit was messy as always.
EQULIB (Korea)
I first met Equlib at one of the post-pandemic Cosmobeauty Seoul trade shows; the brand launched in 2020 and has built up a solid online and offline footprint both in Korea and internationally. At Cosme Tokyo 2026, Equlib presented a new powder cleanser in its Eau Briller.
I think powder cleansers are a bit of a niche format in Korea (and in Germany as well, btw). In Japan, on the other hand, individually packaged powder face washes can be found in every drugstore, mostly from Kanebo’s Suisai brand but there are a number of other mainstream drug store brands that also sell powder face washes.
Anyway, Equlib‘s Eau Briller Poudre Nettoyante Enzymatique is based on cornstarch, charcoal powder, lava clay, cica extract, ceramides, hyaluronic acid and papain (the enzyme), packaged in a large plastic bottle. The grey powder does foam up nicely and can be used to cleanse face or body.
MELA-K (Korea)
This was one of the most interesting launches at Cosme Tokyo 2026, I’ve never seen a product like this at any of the trade fairs I’ve visited over the past 15 years (and I go to a lot of trade shows!).
Mela-K is a Korean face care brand specialisting in products for vitiligo sufferers. This is also the first face care brand I’ve come across that focuses on this skin condition. Vitiligo is a chronic skin condition where melanin production is interrupted or blocked, resulting in lighter coloured patches of skin. It is particularly visible on darker skin tones.
Mela-K’s line-up offers three products: The Brightening Anti-Dark Spot ampoule is formulated with a melanin recovery formula to help encourage melanin production in the skin rather than lighten existing skin tone.
The product I was particularly fascinated by was the Perfect Cover Liquid foundation. It is available in two shades and here is the twist: Rather than the high-coverage cream formula you might expect in a skin-covering product the Mela-K foundation is a liquid skin tint, much like these long-lasting watery lip stains. Packaged in an angled felt-tip pen applicator you can precisely colour in lighter patches of skin to make them less immediately obvious. The colour will last up to three days.
FRANZ SKINCARE (Korea)
I remember when Franz Skincare first introduced its iconic iontophoresis sheet mask at Cosme Tokyo 2018. Tissue X mask was a paper sheet mask (maybe a blend of tencel and paper?) with integrated touchpoints that generate an ion energy flow similar to an electric current but without any battery.
The company was also an exhibitor at this year’s Cosme Tokyo and one of their major new launches is a trio of pimple patches, three different patch ingredient formulas for the different stages of impurities. I came across a similar launch at last year’s Cosmobeauty Seoul (from a different brand) so this is not super innovative but it’s still a good illustration of how K-beauty is leaps and bounds ahead regarding the AC (acne care) category and especially the pimple patch sector.
Pimple patches are currently a bit of a trend in the German skin care market (driven by the immense popularity of K-beauty, of course). Many of the drugstore brands – especially the own labels – are launching colourful pimple patches. However, these are usually straight-forward basic pimple patches; I’ve yet to see such a highly targeted patch launch from a German brand.
Franz’s Naked Spot Patches are super-thin and almost invisible patches (no micro-needle tech either, by the way, these are patches with regular anti-impurity actives) and there are three different types to chose from depending on the stage of your pimple. Naked Early Spot Patches are formulated with bee venom and cica extract to soothe skin for when the pimple is just becoming inflamed.
The key ingredient in Active Spot is anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory tea tree oil to treat angry, inflamed spots. And Dark Spot is for when the pimple has gone but some skin discolouration remains – these patches contain niacinamide and madecassoide to gently brighten the skin.
SCENTED BEAUTY AT COSME TOKYO 2026
I also saw a lot of scented beauty, fragrance flankers and functional fragrances at Cosme Tokyo 2026, all from Korean brands. Which isn’t a major surprise as fragrance flankers/ancillaries and scented home care are very popular in the Korean market. Especially the category of fabric fragrances/sprays which is huge in Korea and that I find utterly fascinating. Different topic though and I’m fairly certain that I’ll cover that sector in my Cosmobeauty Seoul 2026 review.
RACONTEUR (Korea)
I noticed quite a few hair fragrances at the show. This is another interesting product category – not just as a logical line extension for hair care/styling brands but these products also directly reflect the fragrance layering trend. Hair perfumes in Germany (very much a niche category) are usually quite awful, targeting the teen demo with gourmand fragrances, fruity, cotton candy, vanilla, or heavy florientals. The Korean hair perfumes I saw at Cosme Tokyo 2026 featured more sophisticated fragrance blends; I especially liked the new hair perfumes from Raconteur, Rosy Bloom and Blanc Pure.
Home fragrance/personal fragrance brand Raconteur launched in 2022 as a sister brand to K-beauty men’s care brand Unstraum. I’ve written about Unstraum several times ( andyes, the brand name is a hybrid of the German words “unser” and “traum” which translates as “our dream”); I like the brand’s stream-lined men’s care products. Anyway, Raconteur’s two new hair perfumes are sophisticated and easy-to-wear fragrances, packaged in stylish heavy glass flacons.
RE:NOIA (Korea)
Another interesting hair fragrance launch came from Korean brand Re:noia, a brand that is primarily sold through the Korean subsidiary of Daiso (the Japanese 100-Yen store chain). And online, of course. The Re:noia hair care range was launched a year ago and I really liked their three perfumed hair serum mists.
Unlike most hair perfumes which tend to be straight-forward alcohol-heavy fragrance sprays, the Re:noia Perfume Hair Serum Mists are actual hair care products. A moisturising dual-phase cream-in-water formula helps to counteract the drying effects of the alcohol.
There are three fragrances and, again, these are sophisticated scents. I particularly liked Aqua Sea Salt, a blend of lemon, sea salt and cedarwood; I would absolutely wear this fragrance as an everyday body cologne.
OVMENT (Korea)
Feminine wellness brand Ovment launched in 2022 (and I do enjoy seeing more femcare beauty brands in the market – so glad this is finally happening!). Most of Ovment’s product line-up is classic inner/intimate care – washes, sprays, oils, lotions etc. – but recently the brand launched a range of four functional fragrances, the Scent Therapy line.
The Scent Therapy fragrances are based on processed plant oils and essential oils and packaged in rollerball applicators. My favourite was Into the Forest which features notes of sandalwood, camphor, cedarwood and lavender but really I liked all four of the fragrances. Greenery Mood, for example, is a blend of orange, bergamot, lemon peel, jasmine and rose essential oils. Very nice products.
And this is it for me from Cosme Tokyo 2026! I’ll leave you with some more images from the show. Thanks for reading.
TRENDS. TRAVELS. AND BERLIN 