487The exfoliating product track is not new, but a skincare item that can sell 42,000 units in 30 days and achieve $1.7 million in monthly sales in the North American market is still eye-catching. This exfoliating essence combo set, affectionately called the “peeling essence” by users, quickly went viral on TikTok US, even topping the personal care hot sales chart for a time.
Behind its breakout is a Korean brand established in 2021,Dr.Melaxin. In just three years, this brand focused on functional skincare has entered the bathroom cabinets of more than 120,000 American consumers with its gentle exfoliating essence set, accumulating a GMV of $4.81 million.
How did it achieve this?
Image source: Facebook
01
Not a strong acid attack, but “visualized gentle resurfacing”
Dr.Melaxin’s “blockbuster gene” is clear—solving problems, but without over-stimulation.
As ingredient-focused and sensitive skin users gradually become the main consumer group, the traditional “aggressive” approach of high-concentration fruit acid resurfacing and coarse-grained scrubs is gradually fading, while the demand for gentle and safe products is rising.
The exfoliating essence combo set launched by Dr.Melaxin features the “Rice + PENTA-RICE patented formula,” using low-concentration AHA/BHA/PHA combined with rice water extract to metabolize old keratin while repairing the skin barrier. With the addition of niacinamide and hyaluronic acid, it cleanses and brightens the skin tone, ultimately providing a “visible effect, non-damaging” skincare experience.
This precisely targets the core skincare pain points of North American users:excessive oil secretion but fear of irritation, enlarged pores but fragile barriers, dull complexion but pursuit of natural radiance.
Image source: Dr.Melaxin official website
02
Starting with 10,000 influencers, 90% of sales are “grown” through short videos
According to kalodata, this product’s monthly sales on TikTok reached 42,000 units, with over 90% of transactions coming from influencer short video promotions. The brand has collaborated with over 10,000 TikTok influencers, mainly mid-tier and niche skincare bloggers, generating more than 3,400 videos in total.
Image source: kalodata
The product’s “peeling visual” has also become one of the viral points. Most bloggers use close-up shots to show the peeling process on hands or face, with blackheads and whiteheads clearly visible, creating a strong visual impact. This “seeing is believing” sensory experience quickly builds trust among ingredient-focused and mildly sensitive skin groups.
For example, an amateur blogger named @thestephtreadway posted a demonstration video on April 27, with a single video GMV reaching $175,400, selling over 4,400 orders in 30 days, with 14 million views and over 200,000 likes.
In the comments section, messages like “I placed an order immediately after watching this video” are everywhere.
This combination ofKOC + visualized real testingis exactly the standard path for TikTok content e-commerce blockbusters.
Image source: kalodata
03
Accurate user profiling, targeting the 18-34 “general skin anxiety group”
The target users of this essence are clear and stable: mainly women aged 18 to 34, with skin types concentrated between combination-oily, acne-prone, and mildly sensitive, with pain points focused on enlarged pores, excessive oil, dull complexion, but keeping away from acid products.
They are not people with perfect skin in the traditional sense, but are in a state of “not severe acne, sensitive but wanting improvement,” looking for effective solutions with low risk.
Dr.Melaxin’s content expression closely follows this user mindset, using keywords like “peeling out whiteheads,” “brightening skin feel,” “non-irritating and non-peeling” to achieve strong psychological resonance.
Image source: TikTok
04
Not relying on just one video, but a matrix layout for explosive growth
Dr.Melaxin is not a “one-shot” single video explosion on TikTok; it has built a relatively complete content + channel closed loop.
The brand currently operates multiple accounts, building a content matrix around different groups, such as “pre-makeup skincare routine,” “men’s T-zone cleansing,” “keratin accumulation test,” and other scenario-based videos to increase content diversity and communication density.
At the same time, the brand has also laid out e-commerce channels such as Amazon, independent sites, and YesStyle, allowing the seeding traffic from TikTok to be quickly converted, moving from “planting grass” to “pulling grass,” achieving efficient synergy between content and sales.
In addition, the brand topic tag #drmelaxin has generated 32,700 works on TikTok, and its volume continues to expand.
Image source: TikTok
05
Skincare business on TikTok is actually a “content business”
From QUARXERY’s 30,000 daily sales of whitening gel on TikTok, to The Ordinary’s 27,000 monthly sales of exfoliating toner, and now to this blockbuster “peeling essence,” their paths are highly similar:precise user insight + visual content expression + influencer matrix amplification + cross-platform closed-loop conversion.
The difference is that Dr.Melaxin has successfully found a balance between “efficient skincare” and “gentle safety,” turning a niche functional product into a trending topic on TikTok. This is not only a victory in product selection, but also a victory in content strategy and user understanding.
In conclusion
Skincare is something that never has an absolute end, but where there is demand, there is a market.
As competition in the overseas beauty and skincare market becomes increasingly fierce, Dr.Melaxin’s case reminds us: it’s not only celebrity brands that can break out; deeply understanding user emotions and creating products and expressions that fit the rhythm of content platforms can also allow an unfamiliar brand to quickly break through and open up a new market.
The traffic dividend of TikTok is still there, North America’s skincare demand remains strong, and the window for overseas sellers is far from closed.
