South Korean actress and singer Lee Ji-eun, known as IU
North Americans love the splendid beauty and perfect skin of Korean women. Closely associated with the beauty care provided by “magical” South Korean cosmetics, K-beauty is causing a real market war between the country’s largest retailers.
As the South Korean beauty giant prepares to arrive in the US, North American retailers are vying for their share of the desirable beauty market. K-beautywhich K-pop culture and Netflix K-drama series helped popularize in the country.
Known for its Innovative formulas, gentle ingredients and beauty routines, K-beauty is a very profitable business. According to data from NielsenIQ, the industry moved 2 billion dollars between July 2024 and July 2025 — one 37% growth compared to the same period of the previous year.
This attractive business is now being hotly contested by North American retail chains — brand by brand.
Cosmetic stores like Sephora e a Ulta Beauty are acquiring Korean beauty brands and entering into exclusive sales partnerships to capitalize on the trend, says .
It currently sells several renowned Korean brandssuch as Beauty of Joseon, Dr. Jart+, Laneige, Aestura, Hanyul, among others, and Ulta Beauty announced in August that it will expand its K-beauty offering, with new brands such as Hello Peach & Lily joining the existing portfolio, which includes Medicube, Belif, COSRX, among others.
Also the skincare brand Hanyul announced its launch in the US in May, exclusively through Sephora. THE Aesturaa brand specializing in sensitive skin, made a similar announcement in February.
This dispute over the K-beauty market in the USA takes place before the so-called Olive Young’s long-awaited debut in 2026. The Seoul-based retailer, which has more than 1,300 stores in South Korea, is known for selling luxury brands K-beauty de topofocusing on affordable and fashionable products.
Quality beauty at affordable prices
Second Ashley Kangdirector of market research company Worldpanel, until the emergence of K-culture, Asian beauty outside of Japan had little recognition on a global level.
“The growing influence of pop culture and Korean dramas allowed people to see the Korean celebrities’ perfect skincreating trust and credibility in K-beauty products,” explains Kang.
A K-beauty sets itself apart from US skincare brandslike Hailey Bieber’s Rhode, in many ways.
“Brands like Rhode focus on the ethical sourcing of ingredients. In contrast, K-beauty brands specialize in preventative care and long-term skin health”, explains Larissa Jensenbeauty industry consultant at market research company Circana.
Furthermore, K-beauty presents a price advantage compared to North American brands, explains Anna Kellerprincipal analyst at London market research firm Mintel, told Business Insider. “They are super affordableand it is possible high quality and effective products without spending a fortune“.
Sephora and Ulta Beauty choose K-beauty brands that have already conquered North American consumers, adds Keller. Brands like Beauty of Joseon and Medicube have been popular on online platforms like Amazon.
“A large part of this success comes from buzz on social media, trends on TikTok and popularity of ingredients like snail mucin“, he says Keller. “Safora was Ulta are essentially surfing this wave demand, bringing brands that are already popular and have loyal followers in the USA”.
According to Ashley Kang, K-beauty is destined to gain even more strength in the North American market. “This trend is not limited to skincare — it is expected to expand to hair, makeup, fragrancesbeauty devices and much more”, he highlights.
Obviously, the K-beauty phenomenon has already arrived in our country: one of “K-beauty Portugal” on Google presents us with numerous stores that offer beauty products from the best South Korean brands. Haven’t you noticed that Portuguese women are becoming more and more beautiful?
