Even if a brand doesn’t define itself as K-Beauty per se, it promotes that it’s tapping into K-Beauty technology, innovation and ingredients. For instance, Point of View Beauty from American mega-influencer Mikayla Nogueira boasts that it uses “a potent blend of Korean-inspired ingredients.” In the mass market, British retailer Primark offers its own private-label K-Beauty line called PS…

Many K-Beauty insiders believe slapping a K-Beauty label on a brand or product doesn’t necessarily make it K-Beauty. They argue South Korea’s methodologies focused on innovation, speed, testing and consumer feedback have to be incorporated to earn the label. And some worry that the proliferation of the K-Beauty label without those properties could eventually undermine the business of K-Beauty.

To better understand when it’s appropriate and when it’s not for a brand to be marketed as K-Beauty, for the latest edition of our ongoing series posing questions relevant to indie beauty, we asked eight founders, investors and business development experts the following: As K-Beauty’s popularity grows in Western countries, how can entrepreneurs and brands best recognize and honor the difference between respectful collaboration and the marketing equivalent of cultural appropriation?

What’s your take on brands that are broadly claiming a link to K-Beauty if they manufacture in South Korea? How can K-Beauty entrepreneurs and brands try to ensure the authenticity of K-Beauty technology, innovation and ingredients? What is a benefit and a downside to the overall industry resulting from K-Beauty’s success? What’s your prediction for K-Beauty in the next two, five and 10 years?