The Next Era of K-Beauty Is About More Than Just Skincare

22 new formulas defining the trailblazing category, according to one writer who traveled to Seoul in the name of research.

selection of k-beauty products

It’s a Tuesday night in the early 2010s, and you’re trying your new snail mucin serum after a thorough double cleanse. You have a sheet mask on deck to nourish your skin and leave you with that telltale “glass skin” glow. There are other products scattered around your sink, about a dozen of them. That was the overnight effect K-Beauty had when it entered the U.S. market in 2011. Products like gunk-absorbing pimple patches and night repair ampoules felt novel, and K-Beauty’s ability to deliver on its promises turned what could have been a passing trend into a lasting, lucrative category.

Fast forward to 2025 and K-Beauty seems to be bigger and better than ever before. Legacy brands like CosRx and Sulwhasoo have been part of my routine for years. But recently I noticed innovative technology and intriguing ingredients from unfamiliar K-Beauty brands, like Medicube, fwee, and Beauty of Joseon, pop up on my TikTok FYP. So I did the only logical thing and spent three months in Seoul last year, stalking the shelves of Olive Young (South Korea’s leading beauty retailer), interviewing experts at Amorepacific and LG H&H (South Korea’s major beauty conglomerates), and meeting with various Internet-famous brands.

What I found was an industry in the midst of an exciting evolution, with K-Beauty companies expanding beyond skincare to innovate in every beauty category. “It’s now making significant strides into makeup, fragrance, and haircare,” says Charlotte Cho, cofounder of Soko Glam and Then I Met You. The most obvious example is makeup. Take TIRTIR, the brand that went viral for expanding its red cushion foundation to 40 shades, a move applauded by creators of color including MissDarcei and Golloria. In a market previously known for producing three, maybe four shades of foundation, it’s a sign that Korean brands are now considering a wider, more global audience.

More inclusive makeup and haircare options aren’t all that’s changed. Korean skincare, the cornerstone of the industry, continues to make rapid advancements. Cho notes that brands now “blur the lines between clinical treatments and at-home skincare” with ingredients like PDRN, an ingredient derived from salmon DNA that was “previously available only through injectable treatments," now available in over-the-counter beauty products.

There’s plenty more to get excited about—even if you’re 500 videos deep in KBeautyTok and think you’ve seen it all. To make it easier to sort through a, frankly, overwhelming number of launches, I tested over 150 products, so you don’t have to. Below, the 22 Korean skincare, makeup, haircare, fragrance, and nail favorites leading the way.

Sarah Y. Wu

Sarah Y. Wu is a beauty editor, copy director, and consultant based in Berlin, Germany. She was previously the Beauty Features Editor at Teen Vogue, where she introduced the publication's annual Acne Awards franchise and launched its first-ever Asian Pacific American Heritage Month package. Her bylines have appeared on Forbes, Glamour, Allure, Vogue, Byrdie, Bustle, NYLON, PEOPLE, Women’s Health, WWD, and TZR. Sarah is also the contributing copy director at Milk Makeup and has crafted copy for some of your favorite brands, including Tata Harper, Hyper Skin, Ourself, Boy Smells, Gisou, Le Prunier, Glow Recipe, Dermstore, and Color Wow. See more of her work at sarahywu.com or find her on Instagram @say.wu.