Not the US, not Korea, but Brazil: where 61.3% of Kerasys posts came from, and 3 campaigns to try next
When people cite K-haircare's overseas success, they usually point to Sephora brands in the US. From November 2025 to September 2026, Brazilian accounts published 61.3% of Kerasys posts on Instagram, and this piece proposes 3 Brazil campaigns built on K-pop cover dancers, a Korean hair schedule and expert reviews.
- From November 2025 to September 2026, Brazilian accounts published 61.3% of Kerasys posts on Instagram. Korea, its home market, accounted for 14% and the US for 2.7%.
- Kerasys never entered Sephora. It held a K-pop random play dance challenge in Brazil, and most commercial signals on its September posts from Brazil pointed to retailers such as Amazon Brasil and Ela Usa.
- We propose three next campaigns: a post-practice hair care challenge with K-pop cover dancers, a Korean hair schedule series with curly and wavy hair creators, and comparison reviews with hair experts.
When people cite K-haircare's overseas success, they usually point to brands sold at Sephora in the US. Glowcast (Global Beauty Intelligence, powered by WHOTAG AI) groups September 2026 Instagram posts about K-haircare by the poster's country, and the US tops the markets outside Korea on reactions. Sephora brought in UNOVE as its first K-beauty haircare brand in 2026.(Source: Glossy)
Kerasys never entered Sephora. Aekyung files the shampoo under household goods(Source: NewDaily), and the country that talks about it most on Instagram is Brazil, not the US and not Korea.
The US gives K-haircare the most reactions outside Korea
In September 2026, US posts about K-haircare drew 178,777 likes and comments, the most outside Korea. Sponsors stood behind 353 of the 585 US posts (60.3%). Brazil ranked sixth with 8,233.
| Rank | Country | Likes + comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States US |
178,777
|
| 2 | Canada CA |
21,524
|
| 3 | United Arab Emirates AE |
16,634
|
| 4 | Italy IT |
13,818
|
| 5 | India IN |
11,440
|
| 6 | Brazil BR |
8,233
|
Source: Glowcast, powered by WHOTAG AI
61.3% of Kerasys Instagram posts came from Brazil
From November 2025 to September 2026, Brazilian accounts published 1,101 of the 1,796 Instagram posts that mention Kerasys (61.3%). Korean accounts posted 252 (14%) and US accounts 49 (2.7%). Sponsors stood behind 93.3% of the Korean posts, and 30 of 36 Korean posts in September carried Aekyung's product-tester tag (#AKLover). In Brazil, 98.8% of posts carried no ad label.
Brazilian creators kept posting month after month. The chart below shows monthly posts, and a higher point means more posts. The count rose from 79 in November 2025 to 130 in July 2026 and stayed at 105 or more each month from April to September.
TikTok shows the same tilt. From April to September 2026, Brazilian accounts published 1,542 of the 1,923 Kerasys TikTok posts (80.2%).
Kerasys has sold in Brazil for years
In 2012, Korea's inews24 reported that Kerasys had grown sales in Brazil and Paraguay by more than 40% a year for 4 years in a row, with no advertising.(Source: inews24) In 2019, the Brazilian outlet Metrópoles called Kerasys, priced below other imported brands, a hit in Brazil.(Source: Metrópoles) Today the brand appears on the online store of Drogasil, a pharmacy chain.(Source: Drogasil)
Over 11 months, Kerasys in Brazil out-posted UNOVE in the US
Compare the posts one brand gets in one country, and the result changes. From November 2025 to September 2026, Brazilian creators posted about Kerasys 1,101 times, and US creators posted about UNOVE, Sephora's K-haircare launch brand, 735 times. Kerasys led in 10 of the 11 months. UNOVE won on reactions: 1,071,561 likes and comments in the US against 381,585 for Kerasys in Brazil.
In September alone, Kerasys had 111 posts from Brazil, UNOVE 102 from the US and Dr. Groot 575 from the US.
| Rank | Brand and country | Posts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dr. Groot United States |
575
|
| 2 | Kerasys Brazil |
111
|
| 3 | UNOVE United States |
102
|
| 4 | Kerasys South Korea |
36
|
| 5 | Kerasys United States |
32
|
Source: Glowcast, powered by WHOTAG AI
Kerasys's event in Brazil and the retail signals around it
Kerasys held a K-pop random play dance challenge in Brazil in 2026.(Source: Insight) On March 4, Aekyung announced the event for March 14 at São Paulo's Korean Saturday market with the Korean Cultural Center in Brazil, and planned prizes for the top 3 dancers and a zone for trying the Propolis Hair Bonding and Oriental Premium lines.(Source: Star News) In June, Kerasys held a random play dance challenge in Tashkent and served as main sponsor of a K-pop event in Almaty.(Source: Herald Economy)
September posts carried many retail signals. We ran rules over the captions of the 113 Brazilian September posts: 69 (61.1%) carried a commercial signal such as a discount code, an event invite or a where-to-buy line, and 50 of those named a retail channel. Of 9 invite posts, 7 came from Amazon Brasil events and 1 from a Magalu event. Ela Usa, a Brazilian online beauty shop, appeared in 35 posts from 14 accounts.(Source: App Store)
Among posts with no commercial signal, the two with the most reactions were a heat-protectant comparison by a creator who introduces herself as a doctor (4,945) and a hair-routine video whose caption promises "a hair reset with Korean products only" (2,216).
Three campaigns Kerasys could run in Brazil
Kerasys held a K-pop event in Brazil, and retailers appeared often in its September posts. The three campaigns below connect both to the way Brazilians care for their hair.
A post-practice hair care challenge with K-pop cover dancers
Extend the random play dance challenge into a year-round hashtag challenge. Work with Brazilian K-pop cover dance crews and dancer creators. The content is a short video in which a dancer treats hair damaged by sweat, flat irons and blow-drying with the Propolis Hair Bonding line after practice. Post the videos on both TikTok and Reels: from April to September 2026, Glowcast counted 1,542 Brazilian Kerasys posts on TikTok and 711 on Instagram. Launch it in concert season: Rock in Rio set September 11, 2026 as its first K-pop day in 41 years.(Source: Rolling Stone Brasil)
A Korean hair schedule with curly and wavy hair creators
Brazil has the cronograma capilar, a hair schedule that rotates hydration, nutrition and reconstruction over a 4-week cycle.(Source: Droga Raia) Assign a Kerasys line to each of its 3 stages and you get a Korean hair schedule: Moisturizing for hydration, the camellia-oil Oriental Premium line for nutrition and Propolis Hair Bonding for reconstruction. Work with curly and wavy hair creators and salon stylists. One September post already used the phrase "Cronograma Capilar Coreano", yet #cronogramacapilar appeared on 3 Kerasys posts. Few Kerasys posts cover this topic yet, so a 4-week series can start first.
Comparison reviews with doctors and hair experts
The Brazilian post with the most reactions and no commercial signal was a heat-protectant comparison by a creator who introduces herself as a doctor. Work with doctors, hair-science experts and hairdresser creators. The content is evidence-led: damage checks, ingredient comparisons and heat-protection tests. It can reach viewers over 40 who care about results.
- Make K-pop a standing challenge. Carry the random play dance participants and cover crews into a year-round hashtag challenge.
- Match Kerasys lines to the Brazilian hair schedule. Assign a line to each stage (hydration, nutrition, reconstruction) and run it as a 4-week series.
- Let experts run the comparison. The top post with no commercial signal was a comparison review by a creator who introduces herself as a doctor.
- Route purchases through retail programs. 50 of the 69 posts with a commercial signal named a retail channel. Attach campaign coupons to the Amazon Brasil and Ela Usa creator programs.
You can browse curly-haired K-pop creators in Brazil on the WHOTAG creator board. For other profiles, such as hair experts, use WHOTAG creator search.