SK-II launches a new serum, betting on extending the PITERA™ scientific research narrative to expand its high-end skincare business.
36Kr learned that on November 6, SK-II launched its new concentrated skincare serum at the 9th China International Import Expo, which the brand calls "FTE Lock Serum". This product is developed based on SK-II's core ingredient PITERA™, added with essence oil microbeads, and focuses on firming, anti-wrinkle, moisturizing and other core benefits. It has also been incorporated into the brand's existing "Facial Treatment Essence" product system to form a brand-new matching regimen.
From the perspective of product design, the new serum does not build an independent ingredient narrative, but extends the formulation system around PITERA™. According to official brand materials, the product adopts a compound formula of concentrated PITERA™ and essence oil microbeads, and puts forward the formulation logic of "penetrate first then lock in nourishment": the former undertakes the functions of nourishing and penetrating into the skin, while the microbeads form a protective film on the skin surface. Each 50ml bottle is claimed to contain about 16,000 microbeads with an average size of about 0.7mm. The brand matches it with the Facial Treatment Essence containing more than 90% PITERA™ (the well-known "FTE") to meet different efficacy demands such as moisturizing and firming respectively.
SK-II also released a set of research data focusing on the correlation between stress and skin aging. The brand stated that its research team sequenced 49,677 gene expressions and found that oxidative stress would disrupt the expression of 701 genes; another study targeting Asian women showed that there is a clear correlation between stress level and skin condition changes. However, these data come from the research of the brand and its parent company Procter & Gamble, and the press materials do not fully disclose the research design, control conditions and statistical details, which cannot be directly equated with the efficacy conclusion of the new product in real consumer groups.
SK-II "FTE Lock Serum"
In terms of efficacy testing, the materials provided by the brand show that after 33 Chinese women aged 35 to 54 used the new serum every morning and evening for 6 consecutive weeks, the anti-wrinkle and firming indicators improved significantly compared with before use, and showed a progressive upward trend at the 2nd, 4th and 6th week. The test of using FTE together with the new serum involved the moisturizing degree and gloss test of 36 women in 2025, as well as the firmness and delicacy test on the forearms of 32 women in 2026. The sample size is relatively small, and some tests were carried out on the forearms, so the results are more suitable to be used as product efficacy verification materials, rather than an absolute guarantee of the effect for all consumers.
Behind the new product launch, is SK-II's strategy to maintain competitiveness in the high-end skincare market by continuing to rely on its core star SKU and accumulated ingredient assets. PITERA™ has become the most recognizable technical label of the brand, and FTE is its long-term core main product. This time, bundling the new serum with FTE can not only reduce the new product education cost by leveraging the high consumer awareness of the mature star SKU, but also provide the brand with the opportunity to increase customer unit price and drive multiple-item joint purchases. As for the pricing, launch channels and sales targets of the new product, the brand has not disclosed relevant information for the time being.
Judging from the financial performance of parent company Procter & Gamble, the beauty business is still the sector with relatively fast growth across the group. In P&G's 2026 fiscal year (as of June 30, 2026), the net sales of its beauty business reached 16.023 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 7%; organic sales increased by 5%. However, the organic sales of the skincare category remained flat year on year. P&G explained that the growth of ultra-premium brand SK-II was offset by the decline in the sales volume of the mass skincare business in the Greater China region. This means that the growth of SK-II's high-end products still has certain resilience, but it is not enough to fully hedge the volume-side pressure in the Chinese skincare market.
Entering the first quarter of fiscal year 2027 (July to September 2026), the net sales of P&G's beauty business increased by 6% year-on-year to 4.41 billion US dollars, and organic sales increased by 5.4%. However, P&G did not separately disclose SK-II's revenue, sales volume or independent performance in the Chinese market, so it is impossible to judge how much incremental revenue the new product can bring to the brand. The group's total net sales in fiscal year 2026 was 87.032 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 3%; the Greater China region accounted for about 7% of the group's total net sales.
For SK-II, the significance of the new serum is not only adding a new SKU, but also converting existing ingredient research achievements into new product portfolios and diversified consumption scenarios. Against the background of intensified competition in China's high-end skincare market and consumers' higher requirements for verifiable efficacy evidence, the brand needs to prove that the scientific research narrative of PITERA™ can be continuously converted into perceptible product differentiation advantages. Whether the new product can really drive performance growth ultimately depends on the repurchase performance, channel sales momentum after launch, and whether it can effectively alleviate the sales volume pressure faced by the brand in the Greater China region.