It’s called “Hallyu” — the Korean Wave. First it was K-pop, then K-dramas, and now K-beauty, riding the rising popularity of South Korean culture globally.
That wave has well and truly reached Australian shores in the highly competitive cosmetics and personal-grooming market, with K-beauty products flooding in.
Beauty stores specialising in Korean skincare and cosmetics have popped up around the country, while mainstream retailers like Sephora and Adore Beauty have expanded their K-beauty shelves.
Blackpink member Jennie is among the K-pop stars promoting South Korean beauty brands. (ABC News: Kate Ryan)
It has become one of the fastest-growing sectors in the Australian cosmetics landscape — and one of the most lucrative markets for Korean skincare firms.
Australia is now the second-highest spending K-beauty market per capita globally, behind only South Korea itself, according to data from Future Market Insights.
What’s K-beauty? How big is the market?
Once considered niche, K-beauty products have become extremely accessible — found everywhere from luxury department stores to local pharmacies and even supermarkets.
Unexpected ingredients such as snail mucin (essentially, snail slime) and salmon sperm, the promise of glowing “glass skin,” elaborate skincare routines and the influence of social media have lured shoppers.
Ingredients like snail mucin and the DNA from salmon sperm have been popularised by K-beauty. (ABC News: John Gunn)
K-beauty refers to South Korean beauty products, spanning from skincare to make-up and hair care.
It has become a major export industry for South Korea — its Ministry of Food and Drug Safety reported that cosmetics exports hit record high of more than $US10 billion ($15.2 billion) in 2024.
In Australia, the market for K-beauty has been projected to grow from nearly $160 million in 2023 to more than $320 million by 2032, according to Credence Research.
Lauren Lee, an Australian entrepreneur based in Seoul, has been working in the Korean beauty industry for over a decade.
Ms Lee, who owns K-beauty brand Jelly Ko, told The Business it had been “a meteoric rise” for the industry.
Lauren Lee is a Korean beauty expert and the founder of Jelly Ko. (ABC News: Daniel Irvine)
“America was one of the first Western countries that really did see this big wave or influx of K-beauty products in the early 2010s,” she said.
“Exports from Korea to the US just overtook French cosmetic exports for the first time last year, which is a monumental shift.
“Even the way that people in the global beauty industry are talking about Korean products, and looking to Korea to see what’s coming next, pretty much tells you the shift that we have seen in that time.”
Ms Lee recalled that she used to receive pushback from Australian customers due to concerns about products that were not made in Australia.
“They were curious, or maybe a little bit doubtful, about the quality or the standards that were being used to make the products,” she said.
“We just don’t see that anymore.”
South Korean beauty brands have gone global, helped by viral social media moments. (Reuters: Kim Hong-Ji)
The K-beauty industry has matured over the years, to now include globally sought-after formula labs, research and development facilities, and trained cosmetic chemists, to innovate, mass produce, and package products.
On top of that, it has unique aesthetics, reminiscent of what has been portrayed in K-dramas and by K-pop bands.
“We love really fresh, clean, smooth-looking skin,” Ms Lee said, referencing the “glass skin” trend, describing a flawless, radiant complexion.
“We love hydrated skin as well … barrier care is another thing that really sort of sets K-beauty apart.
“We really come at it more from a preventative perspective, rather than ‘everything’s gone wrong and how are we going to fix this.'”
A crowd gathers for a K-beauty product launch in Sydney. (ABC News: John Gunn)
Who is buying K-beauty?
The K-beauty philosophy has resonated especially with younger Australians, helping businesses such as retail chain W cosmetics expand.
W cosmetics, which primarily sells products made in Korea, has opened 43 stores nationwide in just over a decade.
Narae Ko, head of brand and marketing from the company, said it has plans to open more by the end of the year, taking the total number to 55.
“The demand for K-beauty in Australia is insatiable, especially in the last five years. It has grown at an exponential rate,” Ms Ko told The Business.
W cosmetics’ Narae Ko describes an “insatiable” demand for K-beauty in Australia. (ABC News: John Gunn)
Ms Ko cited figures from Future Market Insights, which showed Australian shoppers among the biggest spenders on K-beauty.
In South Korea, the per capita spend on K-beauty products was just under $US200 ($302) last year.
“In Australia, it’s about $US130 ($197), maybe a little more,” Ms Ko said.
“Compared to the US last year, it was about $US25 ($38). So you can really see the demanding market from those statistics.”
Ms Ko noted that her clientele has also changed over the years.
“If you asked me 10 years ago, the majority of our customers were Asian customers,” she said.
W cosmetics is one of the fastest growing K-beauty retailers in Australia. (Supplied: W Cosmetics)
Now, the cosmetics chain has moved beyond inner-city locations into more suburban centres.
“We’re opening stores in Woden in Canberra and Miranda [in Sydney], so we’re seeing that our audience is becoming more and more diverse.
“Our current demographic would primarily be young Millennials and Gen Z.”
One big reason for the skew towards younger customers is affordability — attributed to lower labour costs and production efficiency in South Korea, and fierce competition among K-beauty brands.
K-beauty founders reeling at tariff shock
“If we look at a common product in Western [beauty] and Korean beauty, like hyaluronic acid, you will most likely see, if it is an Australian-made product, probably something between $80 and $100,” Ms Ko explained.
“For a K-beauty, hyaluronic acid 30ml, same product, you can get one for $40 to $50.”
US President Donald Trump has imposed a 15 per cent import tax on goods from South Korea, prompting brands to pivot to other markets, which Ms Ko said is “a great opportunity” for Australia.
“We have conversations with Korean brands and they want to explore the Australian consumer and the further opportunities that are available here.”How has K-beauty become so popular?
W cosmetics’ rivals have also experienced the rising demand for K-beauty from their customers.
Adore Beauty currently sells 20 K-beauty brands across skincare, hair care, and make-up.
Sacha Laing runs a mainstream beauty retailer but has seen demand for K-beauty products. (Supplied: Adore Beauty)
Adore’s chief executive, Sacha Laing, told The Business the retailer will introduce more South Korean brands in the future to meet the demand.
“One of the defining characteristics of K-beauty is that there is a steady stream of newness, so there’s always a new brand to discover,” he said.
“Many of our K-beauty brands, especially within our skincare, saw growth that far outpaced some of our largest and most established skincare brands.
“We’re starting to see this expanding into other categories like make-up and hair care too.”
Global K-beauty chain Olive Young has ranked Australia as one of its top five markets.
Tourists flock to beauty retailer Olive Young in Seoul. (Reuters: Kim Hong-Ji)
“In 2024, sales from the global mall in Australia increased by 40 per cent compared to the previous year,” an Olive Young spokesperson told The Business.
As of July, Olive Young said cumulative sales to Australia had risen 85 per cent compared to the same time a year ago, ahead of the overall growth rate for the company.
Industry observer Brittany Ferdinands said the rise of K-beauty in recent years had been supercharged by “sensory” marketing strategies and social media such as TikTok.
Academic Brittany Ferdinands says the “sensory” aspects of K-beauty have resonated with consumers. (ABC News: Scott Preston)
The lecturer in digital content creation at the University of Sydney told The Business a lot of K-beauty marketing leans on “sensory descriptors” such as “glass skin” and “strawberry glazed lip”.
“All of these elucidate really beautiful imagery that is really appealing to the consumer, particularly when it comes to their skin … and it makes something that’s intangible tangible,” Ms Ferdinands said.
“K-beauty is a type of beauty that’s selling an aesthetic and a lifestyle.”
The lifestyle element has been captured in viral beauty content on social media, for example, sharing skincare routines.
“What Korean beauty allows its consumers to do is romanticise their skincare routine,” Ms Ferdinands said.
“It’s a form of democratised skincare and ritualised skincare, and leaning into this femininity and the thinking of looking after yourself as something that should be celebrated, rather than something that derives from vanity.”
The content has been highly consumed and shared on TikTok due to its unique algorithm.
“TikTok has a content-based algorithm, so it doesn’t matter how many followers you have, unlike on Instagram, which is a social-based algorithm,” Ms Ferdinands explained.
Influencers sharing skincare routines on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram has helped fuel the rise of K-beauty. (ABC News: Stephanie Chalmers)
“TikTok will push your content out to people who are enjoying that type of content, regardless of how much social capital you have.
“They’re really quite therapeutic to watch, particularly end of the day, get ready for bed with me … you see these creators putting on these masks or this snail mucin and then there’s an immediate effect to the consumer.”
Skincare innovation attracts Australian brands
Beauty retailers told The Business that South Korea had cemented its position at the forefront of innovation in the global beauty industry due to its expertise in raw materials and its formulations.
The influx of K-beauty products to the global market has fuelled competition for brands more broadly.
Tweens and teens spending big on skincare
“K-beauty’s strong trend-setting influence on global beauty standards will likely accelerate, particularly abetted by social media,” a spokesperson for major mainstream chain Sephora Australia, which currently sells four K-beauty brands, told The Business.
Sephora has forecast “competitive pricing strategies” among brands, as product innovation and variety increase, to cater to diverse customers.
Some homegrown beauty brands have welcomed that competition.
“In Australia, we have a quieter market, and we also have some businesses that focus a lot around duping, which is very damaging towards a lot of Australian creatives, and that innovation piece,” make-up entrepreneur Hilary Holmes told The Business.
“For me, it’s not competition, it’s absolutely inspiration.”
Australian beauty brands, including Go-To and Ms Holmes’ Holme Beauty, have incorporated K-beauty formulas into their range.
Beauty brand chief executive Hilary Holmes says the Korean industry is faster-moving than Australia. (ABC News: Matthew Holmes)
Ms Holmes has manufactured some of her brand’s products in South Korea.
“I’ve chosen them for one, their actives [active ingredients], two, their technologies in creating those formulas, three, in the way that they deliver — they are very quick to market,” she said.The ethical dilemma at the heart of beauty duping
“I think the difference on why Korea can be a little bit more progressive compared to other Western cultures … is probably the government gives them a little more leeway in the way of being able to use different actives and different delivery systems, which wouldn’t otherwise get passed in Australia or America or UK.”
But the Australian brand founder does not hold universal praise for Korean formulations.
“Whilst amazing at a lot of things, there are some areas that they’re not very good at.
“They’re not good with pigment, they’re getting better at it, but there’s a lot things like colour cosmetics — it’s not their forte.”
Australian brands have dipped their toes into Korean formulations. (ABC News)
Challenges behind the glow
While K-beauty has earned wide praise for its innovation and efficacy, critics have raised concerns about the environmental footprint of multi-step routines and excess packaging.
“There’s sustainability concerns there for sure, because we’re seeing this really kind of fast fashion-esque movement of product,” USyd’s Ms Ferdinands said.
“Particularly online, a lot of content creators are doing these huge K-beauty skincare hauls, and there’s a lot of plastic involved in that, and they’re just trying the products that work for them and then disposing of the ones that don’t.”
K-beauty brands use popular South Korean stars in social media advertising. (ABC News: Kate Ryan)
The industry has also faced criticism for perpetuating narrow beauty ideals.
“I do think that K-beauty plays a part in reinforcing beauty ideals, and especially for women, skin is a really vulnerable topic,” Ms Kerdinands noted.
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“As a woman who’s had problematic skin, you’ll do anything if a brand or a product is promising perfect skin.
“What they present and what they celebrate is this idea of flawless, pore-less skin — glass skin if you will — and that’s not achievable for everyone.”
Beyond those concerns, K-beauty has its own industry-based challenges.
“Counterfeiting is a problem in the global beauty industry with all brands, particularly with more popular brands,” Lauren Lee told The Business.
“Brands have come up with a lot of different ways over the years to try and prove the authenticity, whether it’s stickers or registration systems with scanning and things like that, to kind of allay customers’ fears.”
She added that South Korea’s regulatory body, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, has a reputation for being tough, frequently cracking down on false advertising and unsafe practices to keep the industry in check.
“We will often get notifications and sent out some things … from them cracking down on certain companies — the marketing, the advertising, if brands are going too far.”