K-beauty is no longer a niche. The growth rate actually accelerated from 45% in the prior period.
Olive Young, a leading South Korean beauty retailer, opened its first U.S. store in Pasadena, California. Rena Kim, the company's global communications lead, said, "It was a natural and strategic next step in our global expansion."
Morgan Stanley analyst Simeon Gutman noted that Ulta Beauty is well positioned to gain from the growing K-beauty trend. In Ulta's latest earnings report, CFO Christopher DelOrefice said the skincare and wellness category saw low-single-digit comparable growth, with prestige skincare, such as Korean brand Medicube, maintaining strong performance. He added that K-beauty brand Peach & Lily contributed to 'healthy guest engagement,' and the 'solid' growth in mass skin care was driven by Anua's increased in-store presence.
Consumer interest in Korean beauty took off during the pandemic, when people stuck at home explored detailed skincare routines. Anna Mayo, beauty thought leader at NielsenIQ, said the rise of the "glass skin" look and the focus on healthy, glowing skin over heavy makeup primed shoppers for a skin care-first philosophy. "Consumers have already been primed in this skin care-first philosophy that they're kind of living in," she said.
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Now a second wave is here. Korean culture overall - from K-pop to dramas - keeps driving curiosity. Mayo said, "There is a huge opportunity to kind of move this segment offline and into stores and reach people that way."
Medical aesthetician and skin care educator Cassandra Bankson thinks K-beauty's rise has opened the door for cosmetics from other nations. "I think it's coming, and I think people don't see it coming," she said, predicting that products from China and Japan would follow, then from Vietnam, Singapore, and Thailand.
At New Jersey's Westfield Garden State Plaza, the collection of Asian retailers has grown in the last year, including new stores like Sukoshi, which offers K-beauty, Japanese beauty, and Asian lifestyle items. Kate Sabbag, vice president of leasing, said, "Consumer discovery has fundamentally changed. People aren't just finding brands in malls anymore - they're discovering them on TikTok, Instagram and through international travel. And once they connect with a brand, they want to experience it in real life. We're seeing that play out across our portfolio."
K-beauty products typically cost less than prestige skincare. B. Riley Securities research analyst Anna Glaessgen pointed out that the category's average selling price may be impacted because K-beauty products are cheaper. "If people who normally would have been a prestige skin care shopper spending $30 to $60 on something are now spending in the teens to in the 20s, obviously that carries downward pressure to the average spend in the category," she said.
K-beauty's rapid growth is redefining the U.S. beauty retail landscape. Olive Young's physical store and partnerships signal the trend's move offline. The shift toward affordable, ingredient-driven products is attracting younger consumers and challenging prestige pricing.
Retailers are betting big. Ulta Beauty's Q2 figures, scheduled for release Aug. 5, could give investors more clarity on how the retailer is riding the trend.
For investors watching the beauty sector, the shift away from expensive creams toward affordable, ingredient-driven routines is worth tracking.
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