Glossy Pop Newsletter: What’s behind K-Beauty’s second wave

K-beauty, or Korean beauty, hit peak popularity in the U.S. around 2015. That was fueled, in part, by the rise of U.S. retailers dedicated to curating the best Korean beauty products. They included Glow Recipe, opened in 2014; Sokoglam, in 2012; and Peach & Lily, in 2012. American consumers were fascinated by the included 10-step skin-care routines, sheet masks, snail mucin and pimple patches. In 2017, Glow Recipe launched a namesake brand, which debuted at Sephora, and it ultimately ceased operations as a retailer. Charlotte Cho, the founder of Sokoglam, which still operates as a K-beauty marketplace, launched the skin-care brand Then I Met You in 2018 — it launched in Sephora this October. And Peach & Lily, which also still sells curated Korean beauty products on its site, has a namesake brand that is sold at Ulta Beauty.

According to a New York Magazine story written in 2015, in the first half of that year, Korea exported $52 million worth of beauty products to the U.S., up 60% from the previous year.

Since then, many trends and movements have taken hold of the industry. For example, Sephora launched its “Clean at Sephora” program in 2018. K-Beauty, though not unpopular, was out of the spotlight. In those years, American K-Beauty entrepreneurs have, to varying extents, recalibrated their businesses, and new Korean beauty brands have entered the U.S. market.

Since 2020, excitement about K-Beauty has been slowly growing, driven in large part by TikTok.

The K-Beauty comeback

According to creator Ava Lee, best known on social media by her handle, @glowwithava (1.7 million followers on TikTok and 767,000 on Instagram), a second spike in popularity first began to bubble up at the beginning of the pandemic. She owed this, in part, to growing interest in K-pop and other Korean culture. Addison Cain, insights and marketing lead at market research company Spate, noted that the 2020 resurgence also coincided with a spike in concern about barrier function. “You can see it in the products that have come out of K-Beauty,” she said, noting that K-beauty’s popular snail mucin ingredient is known for “hydration and a comfortable, moisturized barrier.” The comeback has also brought in new generations — Gen Z and, to some extent, Gen Alpha — allowing them the opportunity to acquaint themselves with an entire category of products.

Cain said that K-Beauty is now, again, reaching a “critical mass,” 10 years after it first swept the U.S. market. Costco carries a selection of popular Korean brands including Some By Mi and Round Lab, TikTok Shop has transformed companies like Beauty of Joseon into phenomenons, and according to industry sources, Amazon’s sales of K-beauty are doing very well. 

In Spate’s 2025 Beauty Trends Report featuring the 10 skin-care trends the company expects will explode next year, four directly connect to Korean beauty. They include milky toner, snail serum, Korean sunscreen and centella ampoule.

Lee owed K-Beauty’s popularity to its no-frills efficacy and approachable price point. “The packaging isn’t like Rhode or Summer Fridays, but it’s cheap, it’s affordable, and it works better,” she said. “People aren’t dumb. People see the results. I think they’re like, ‘Why are we paying $50 for serum? Are we just paying for the packaging?’ TikTok certainly helped with that.” In 2020, much of Lee’s content skewed educational. Today, she said, that no longer feels necessary,

According to Glow Recipe co-founders Sarah Lee and Christine Chang, American culture has progressed and people understand Korean culture with more nuance than they did 10 years ago. “There was this trend factor,” Lee said, speaking of the first era of K-Beauty. “Sometimes the ‘exotic’ aspects were spotlighted more than they should have been — with ingredients like venom, which are actually not very commonly used in Korea.” There’s been a positive change in this regard. “There’s now more appreciation and a more nuanced discussion happening around Korean culture overall,” Chang said. “Whether it’s certain musical artists [becoming popular] or people actually visiting Korea … or even the Korean food explosion in New York, … there’s more global appreciation. People understand that it’s not just about ingredients with a shock factor.”

What’s changed

Ten years ago, there was a big focus on K-Beauty’s long, drawn-out 10-step routines. Today, those routines have been have consolidated. “K-beauty has evolved and become more concise,” said chemist and influencer Jane Tsui (@janethechemist; 181,000 followers on TikTok and 41,000 followers on Instagram). For its part, Sokoglam still offers pre-curated 10-step regimens. “But we always [offer the] disclaimer that you don’t have to use 10 steps,” Chos said.

There are also elements of the 10-step regimen that have become standard parts of Americans’ skin-care routines. Those include pimple patches and double cleansing, or the practice of removing makeup with an oil-based cleanser or balm before using a traditional cleanser.

In 2024, a number of new K-beauty trends sprouted up. The brand Biodance went viral with a sheet mask that users slept in, often documenting its change from opaque to clear overnight. “PDRN” is also taking hold. In Korea, this mostly refers to an in-office treatment involving the injection of salmon sperm into one’s face. When Sokoglam sold a vegan take on the trending ingredient — a caffeine-based serum from the Amorepacific-owned brand IOPE — it flew off the shelves, Cho said.

K-Beauty in America

Glow Recipe does not call itself a “K-Beauty brand,” but rather identifies as being “anchored in Korean heritage.” Chang said this is because the brand is not sold in Korea and she and Lee wanted to distinguish itself from other brands that are entirely Korean-based. However, it is embracing its heritage. For example, at a recent consumer event celebrating its 10th anniversary, the brand served Korean food and sold sweatshirts with its name in both English and Korean.

Korean brands have taken various approaches to marketing themselves in the states. Beauty of Joseon founder Sumin Lee stated on the December 5 episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast that her brand has focused more on the U.S. market than Korea itself. And while the brand has found success in the U.S., it is not super popular in its home country. Amorepacific owns more than 30 beauty brands, but not all have big U.S. businesses like its Laneige brand. According to industry sources, U.S. offices are in the works for other brands owned by the Korean conglomerate including Illiyoon, a sensitive skin-safe brand with popular ceramide-based moisturizers.

Furthermore, today, Korea is not “distracted” by a focus on the Chinese market, Cho said, noting that exports from Korea to China have dramatically decreased as a result of larger geopolitical issues. That has opened the door for Korean brands to focus on the U.S. market. A number of Korean brands have tapped U.S. beauty influencers to create content this year including Beauty of Joseon and TirTir — it’s worth noting that the two have the same parent company — as well as Amorepacific, including for its popular, ceramide-based Aestura.

What’s to come

In the broader skin care market, K-beauty remains a small slice of the pie, said Larissa Jensen, svp and global beauty industry advisor at Circana — it represents 6% of skin-care sales. That said, its growth is outpacing the overall skin-care category, she said. While skin-care sales were up 3% year-over-year through September 2024; K-beauty brands were up 12%.