3CE

3CE (Third Concept Edition) is a South Korean cosmetics brand under Stylenanda, founded in 2009 and acquired by L'Oréal in 2018. Known for bold colors, trendy designs, and affordable prices, it offers lipsticks, eyeshadows, blushes, and more.

3CE emerged from the Stylenanda fashion and lifestyle ecosystem in South Korea. Rather than developing as an isolated cosmetics company, the brand was presented alongside a broader fashion identity, allowing clothing, retail presentation, photography, and makeup to reinforce one another. This origin helped establish 3CE as a visually coherent label with strong relevance to consumers interested in Korean fashion and beauty trends. The brand's early identity was built around color cosmetics, especially products that could be communicated effectively through editorial images and social platforms. Lip colors, eye palettes, blushes, and other compact makeup products suited a launch model based on seasonal color stories and coordinated collections. Packaging, shade naming, and campaign imagery became important parts of the product proposition, supporting recognition beyond the functional attributes of the cosmetics themselves. As Korean beauty gained international visibility, 3CE expanded its reach beyond South Korea. Cross-border online retail, beauty distributors, local retail partners, and the global circulation of Korean popular culture helped the label reach customers across East and Southeast Asia and, later, other international markets. The brand's appeal was associated with a combination of Korean trend leadership, accessible premium positioning, strong visual branding, and a broad enough assortment to support complete makeup looks. Notable product families have included the Mood Recipe color collections, Velvet Lip Tint, Multi Eye Color Palette, and Soft Lip Lacquer. These lines illustrate the brand's emphasis on curated color harmonies and contemporary makeup textures. Its assortment has also extended into complexion products, cheek color, face powders, contour, highlighter, eye products, and accessories. Product availability has changed by market, and individual lines have been updated or retired over time. In 2018, L'Oréal agreed to acquire Nanda Co., the company associated with Stylenanda and 3CE. The transaction brought the Korean fashion-and-beauty business into one of the world's largest cosmetics groups. For 3CE, the change created a combination of local cultural credibility and multinational distribution, regulatory, marketing, and operational resources. The brand continued to operate as a distinct Korean makeup label rather than being absorbed into a generic corporate identity. In its current positioning, 3CE is best understood as an active, internationally distributed color-cosmetics brand within L'Oréal's portfolio. Its differentiation rests on fashion adjacency, highly recognizable visual merchandising, trend-sensitive color development, and digital communication. Publicly available reference material does not establish a complete chronology of founding dates, leadership appointments, product launches, or current market-by-market operations; those details require verification from corporate announcements and local official channels.

• 2018

  L'Oréal agreed to acquire Nanda Co.

  [1]L'Oréal signs an agreement to acquire Stylenandaloreal.com

  L'Oréal announced an agreement to acquire Nanda Co., the business behind Stylenanda and the 3CE cosmetics brand, bringing the Korean label into L'Oréal's brand portfolio.

A fashion-oriented Korean color-cosmetics brand focused on expressive color, coordinated collections, visual design, and trend-led makeup for digitally engaged consumers.

• Color cosmetics collection

  Mood Recipe

  A coordinated color-cosmetics family associated with 3CE's fashion-led approach. The collection has included complementary shades across products such as lip color, eye makeup, and cheek color, allowing the brand to market complete looks built around a common palette.

• Lip makeup

  Velvet Lip Tint

  A liquid lip-color line associated with a soft, velvety finish and strong shade-driven merchandising. It represents 3CE's emphasis on expressive lip color and highly shareable product presentation.

• Eye makeup

  Multi Eye Color Palette

  A multi-shade eye-makeup format designed around coordinated color combinations. The palettes support the brand's approach of packaging several complementary tones into a visually unified, fashion-oriented product.

• Lip makeup

  Soft Lip Lacquer

  A liquid lip product family positioned around a smooth, lacquer-like color effect. It extends 3CE's lip portfolio beyond traditional bullet lipstick and reinforces the brand's focus on finish, shade, and contemporary application formats.

• 2018

  Joining L'Oréal's portfolio through the Nanda acquisitionM&A

  Background

  3CE was part of the Stylenanda business operated by Nanda Co. when L'Oréal announced its acquisition of that company.

  Action taken

  L'Oréal agreed to acquire Nanda Co., including the Stylenanda and 3CE businesses.

  Aftermath

  The transaction placed 3CE within L'Oréal's international brand portfolio while retaining its identity as a Korean cosmetics brand.

  Source

• 2018

  L'Oréal acquired Stylenanda, including the 3CE cosmetics business[1]L'Oréal signs an agreement to acquire Stylenandaloreal.com

  M&A

  L'Oréal announced the acquisition of Nanda Co., the company behind the Stylenanda fashion and lifestyle business and its 3CE cosmetics brand. The transaction expanded L'Oréal's portfolio of Korean-origin beauty brands and provided 3CE with access to the group's international capabilities.

1. 1L'Oréal signs an agreement to acquire Stylenandaloreal.com
2. 23CE official website3ce.com