2% of #pdrn, 33.8% of #koreanpharmacy: two fast-growing K-beauty brands picked tags they could own
When an ingredient takes off, it is easy to assume the brands leading its main hashtag will take the market. On Instagram in September 2026, Dr.Reju-All ranked seventh on #pdrn with 2.0% but first on #koreanpharmacy with 33.8%, and ilso held 2.8% of #blackhead but 99.3% of #porescaling posts.
- Glowcast (Global Beauty Intelligence, powered by WHOTAG AI) data for Instagram in September 2026 shows that Dr.Reju-All and ilso, two K-beauty brands growing fast in North America, hold small shares of the big tags: 2.0% of #pdrn and 2.8% of #blackhead.
- They own narrower tags instead. Dr.Reju-All leads #koreanpharmacy with 33.8%, and ilso accounts for 99.3% of the 435 #porescaling posts.
- A challenger brand should pick a small tag it can own before it fights for share on the big one.
When an ingredient or a skin concern takes off, it is easy to assume the brands leading its main hashtag will take the market. On Instagram in September 2026, leaving out retailers, Medicube, VT Cosmetics and Mary & May each held 9.1 to 10.8% of #pdrn posts.
Two K-beauty brands that grew fast in North America did not chase that share. Dr.Reju-All, a pharmacy skincare brand, and ilso, a pore-care brand, picked smaller tags and use them almost alone.
Big brands split the big tags
In September 2026, Medicube appeared in 1,214 #pdrn posts (10.8%) and VT Cosmetics in 1,125 (10.0%). The top three brands each held 9.1 to 10.8%, and from fourth-placed Abib down, shares fall below 4%. Dr.Reju-All ranked seventh with 221 posts (2.0%).
| Rank | Brand | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medicube 1,214 posts |
10.8%
|
| 2 | VT Cosmetics 1,125 posts |
10.0%
|
| 3 | Mary & May 1,017 posts |
9.1%
|
| 4 | Abib 440 posts |
3.9%
|
| 5 | Anua 400 posts |
3.6%
|
| 6 | Centellian24 334 posts |
3.0%
|
| 7 | Dr.Reju-All 221 posts |
2.0%
|
| 8 | L'Oreal Paris 210 posts |
1.9%
|
Source: Glowcast, powered by WHOTAG AI
#blackhead looks the same. Manyo held 28.8% (51 posts), and ilso ranked third with 5 posts (2.8%).
Both brands grew while staying small on the big tags
Dr.Reju-All's Instagram posts rose from 445 in November 2025 to 1,067 in September 2026. ilso climbed faster. The chart below counts ilso's US Instagram posts each month; a higher point means more posts. They went from 20 in February to 426 in September, 21.3 times the February level in seven months.
Each brand owns a narrower tag
Narrow the scope on the same metric in the same month and the order flips. In the table below, share is the percentage of posts on a tag that mention the brand. The last two rows show each brand on its big category tag.
| Rank | Hashtag and brand | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #pdrncopperpeptides Dr.Reju-All · 35 posts |
100%
|
| 2 | #porescaling ilso · 435 posts |
99.3%
|
| 3 | #ilsohelpmynose ilso · 135 posts |
99.3%
|
| 4 | #koreanpharmacy Dr.Reju-All · 107 posts |
33.8%
|
| 5 | #copperpeptides Dr.Reju-All · 46 posts |
15.4%
|
| 6 | #blackhead ilso · 5 posts |
2.8%
|
| 7 | #pdrn Dr.Reju-All · 221 posts |
2.0%
|
Source: Glowcast, powered by WHOTAG AI
Dr.Reju-All narrowed by ingredient pairing and pharmacy
All 35 #pdrncopperpeptides posts belong to Dr.Reju-All. On the adjacent ingredient tag #copperpeptides it holds 15.4%, ahead of COSRX in second at 3.7%. On the sales-channel tag #koreanpharmacy it holds 33.8%, well ahead of THOME at 8.5%. Leaving out its brand-name tag, the tag Dr.Reju-All used most was still #pdrn (221 posts). It kept the big tag and added tags it owns.
ilso narrowed from the category to the nose
ilso's leading US tags changed three times between April and September. In April, category tags led: #pores (11 posts) and #blackhead (10). The product tag #sebumsoftener rose in June (76 posts) and the new term #porescaling in July (71). In September the nose tag #ilsohelpmynose joined them (95 posts), and #blackhead dropped out of the top 15 tags. Over the same months, US posts went from 44 to 426.
Pick a tag you can own before you fight for the big one
The tags these brands picked fall into four kinds. #pdrncopperpeptides pairs two ingredients, #koreanpharmacy names a sales channel, #porescaling coins a new term and #ilsohelpmynose points to the nose. Each brand ranked first on these tags.
Three things to take away
- Pick a tag you can own first: Narrow the scope by ingredient pairing, sales channel, new term or area of the face.
- Keep the big tag alongside it: Dr.Reju-All used #pdrn on 221 posts while adding its smaller tags.
- Narrow in steps: ilso moved from category tags to a product name, a new term and then the nose.