Skincare in Malaysia
Where Malaysia's skincare comes from, what it costs us, and
whether it works for skin that lives in the humidity.
US$624 millionof make-up and skincare imported in 2024
8,494beauty products compared
1.09 millionskincare reviews read
Malaysian beauty shelves are packed. To see what is on offer, we start with 8,494 products from Sephora, a global retailer with stores in Malaysia.
Product data comes from Sephora's US store, so prices are
in US dollars. Skin types are what reviewers reported themselves.
304 brands share the shelf, and none holds more than 8% of any category. Skincare, this page's focus, is purple. Skincare also has the most brands of any category: 143, against 115 for make-up.
15%of skincare comes from its 5 biggest brands; the rest is spread thin.
What to look forSephora's own label is the biggest brand in both skincare and make-up.
Most skincare on Malaysian shelves is made abroad. Each amber line traces a supplier; thicker lines carry more value.
South Korea stayed in the top three every year. China jumped to 3rd in 2024 as Chinese beauty brands expand across South-East Asia. Japan slipped the other way, from 4th to 7th.
6th → 1stSingapore's rank among our suppliers, 2015 to 2024.
What to look forFollow the amber line: it passes every other country by 2022.
Malaysia sells too: US$173 million in 2024, to 187 countries. Most of it stays close to home. Japan, a beauty giant itself, is our 3rd biggest buyer at US$13 million.
57%of our exports went to South-East Asian neighbours.
What to look forSingapore's bar: at 35%, it buys almost four times as much as Hong Kong.
Personal-care prices rose in every state, but not equally. Against Malaysia's 19.5% rise since 2016, darker teal states rose faster.
Since 2010, beauty products (thick line) rose 19%; overall prices rose 38%. Salon and grooming services rose 57%.
Halfas fast: beauty-product prices against all prices since 2010.
What to look forSalon prices stay flat from mid-2025: beauty services were spared a new 8% service tax.
Products got relatively cheaper, yet shelf prices still vary hugely. Is the expensive bottle worth it? We checked over a million reviews.
A typical moisturiser costs US$58, yet moisturiser prices run all the way up to US$400. Sunscreen has the tightest spread: half of all sunscreens cost US$30–42.
6.9 timesthe price of a typical moisturiser, for the dearest one.
What to look for89% of skincare costs under US$100; the far-right dots are luxury exceptions.
If pricier products were better, the dark average line would climb to the right. It barely moves. Click a price band and its products turn purple.
Brands love to advertise star ingredients. Here is what each product type puts on its label.
Darker brick-red squares mean more products advertise it. Hyaluronic acid leads; oil-free claims are rare (4%). Eye creams lean hardest on hyaluronic acid: 22% advertise it.
16%of skincare advertises hyaluronic acid, the most common claim.
What to look forRead along a row: salicylic acid is most common in cleansers.
Only about 1 in 9 skincare products is fragrance-free, worth checking if your skin is sensitive.
31%carry "Clean at Sephora", the most common label and Sephora's own.
What to look forEach filled square is 1% of products; count the rows of ten.
A product rated 4.5★ can still disappoint if your skin differs from the reviewers'. So we split reviews by reported skin type.
Whatever their skin type, reviewers give a typical product about 4.3★. But oily skin hands out top marks less often. Combination skin, common in humid weather, rates products almost exactly like normal skin.
4.33★typical rating from oily skin; the other skin types give 4.35–4.37★.
What to look forThe right-hand tails: the olive shape thins out above 4.5★.
Humid weather leaves many Malaysians with oily or combination skin. Most products please oily skin and dry skin alike, but some, especially sunscreens, split them by up to 1.5 stars.
72%of products get similar ratings from oily and dry skin.
What to look forThe biggest split: a moisturiser sold for "oil and pore control", rated 1.5★ lower by oily skin.
Need a sunscreen for oily skin? Each dot is one product, ranked by its oily-skin rating. The brand tells you more than the label: Shiseido sits near the top.