As a comparative analysis on the latest research trend in cosmetology-related journals, this study aims to determine the future direction for cosmetology by looking into its past. For this, the papers written over the past three (3) years from 2011 to 2013 were examined. Then the data collected through a literature survey were analyzed by journal and classified by the number of papers and topic. According to analysis of the research trends of 887 papers, the focus differed by journal. In terms of the percentage of papers published in the Journal of Korean Beauty Society by topic, ‘hair’ was the highest with 41%, followed by ‘skin (30%)’, ‘others (14%)’, ‘makeup & body painting (11%)’ and ‘nail (4%)’. In the case of the papers in the Korean Society for Aesthetics and Cosmetology, ‘skin (53%)’ was the highest, followed by ‘hair (21%)’, ‘others (17%)’, ‘makeup & body painting (6%)’ and ‘nail (3%)’. Among the papers in the Korean Society of Beauty and Art, ‘hair’ was the highest with 43%, ‘skin (24%)’, ‘makeup & body painting (20%)’, ‘others (9%)’ and ‘nail (4%)’. In other words, in the Journal of Korean Beauty Society, the broadest distribution was found in ‘hair’-related studies with little difference in ‘skin’. In the Korean Society for Aesthetics and Cosmetology, on the contrary, ‘skin’-related studies were greater than ‘hair’ more than twice. In the Korean Society of Beauty and Art, lastly, ‘makeup & body painting’-related studies were more than two times greater than other journals. In addition, ‘hair’-related studies were greater (two times or greater) than ‘skin’-related ones. In sum, the studies relating to ‘hair’ or ‘skin’ accounted for more than half of all papers while the remaining topics revealed a similar distribution in all three journals.