EDITOR’S NOTE: K-Everything is a NCS Original Series hosted by Daniel Dae Kim that explores the international impression of South Korean tradition. The collection premieres on NCS International on May 9 at 8 a.m. ET. You may stream the series on the NCS app.
These days, attend any K-pop live performance – whether or not it’s Blackpink or BTS – and also you’ll discover a crowd of various followers coming from throughout the world and singing alongside, though the songs are primarily in Korean. It’s a telling image of South Korea’s push to diversify and reboot its economic system by way of the international unfold of Korean tradition – often known as “Hallyu” or the Korean Wave. Yet, regardless of at this time’s outsized worldwide curiosity in Okay-culture, one side that some new, keen followers haven’t been ready to totally take pleasure in is K-beauty.
Despite being one among the nation’s prime cultural exports, K-beauty has struggled at occasions to cater to a broad demographic. When it comes to concealers, foundations and different make-up merchandise by Korean magnificence manufacturers, the shade vary has traditionally been restricted, specializing in light-to-medium pores and skin tones. They’re additionally virtually completely promoted by skinny, younger, extraordinarily fair-skinned fashions. It’s a slender strategy that is arguably outdated amid the progress made by international magnificence firms, the place inclusive advertising and product design have turn into important to buyer loyalty and income.
It additionally feels at odds with the developments made by K-pop idols in difficult stereotypes. From the colourful, floppy hairstyles of Korean boy band Stray Kids, or the non-binary wardrobes of trailblazing singers like G-Dragon of Big Bang and Seonghwa of ATEEZ, K-pop’s male idols have lengthy fostered various expressions of masculinity. They haven’t any qualms about sporting garments largely considered as female – like skirts, corsets or heels – and overtly use make-up and skincare. (Indeed, BTS members V and Jungkook had been final yr appointed ambassadors for Korean make-up model Titir, and Chanel Beauty, respectively.) They additionally typically specific vulnerability and emotion, difficult conventional Western associations of manhood with stoic toughness.
Yet range and inclusivity in the nation extra typically have lagged. A 2025 report by South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism discovered that simply over 38% of respondents (4,974 adults nationwide) didn’t know what cultural range meant. Meanwhile, 54% had developed stereotypes or prejudices in opposition to sure cultures or teams by way of media.
When it comes to magnificence requirements in South Korea, there are a number of elements to contemplate, equivalent to the nation’s ethnic homogeneity, due partially to its traditionally strict perspective in direction of immigration, and cultural preferences. Whether K-beauty needs to be extra inclusive is a subject that has sparked a lot debate lately. While some assert that every one manufacturers ought to undertake inclusive practices, others argue that it may be performative and doesn’t actually serve folks’s wants.
As one person on Reddit wrote, “I have a friend who works as a data analyst at a luxury makeup company, and of their 30+ shades of foundations/concealers, only six shades make up 95% of foundation/concealer sales. So, for their brand, investing in this wide shade range costs way more money… and the sales from these shades is frankly not worth the cost to develop and produce.” They added: “Even when they produce fewer units of the unpopular shades, those still never sell out.”
Speaking to NCS, Hye Jin Lee, scientific affiliate professor of communication at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in Los Angeles, mentioned: “It’s important to consider the context in which Korean beauty products were initially developed and marketed. They were primarily created for the domestic Korean market. K-beauty (and Korean culture more broadly) has only become a global trend in more recent years, which has, in turn, raised new questions about inclusivity… as it is increasingly exported and marketed to consumers worldwide.”
South Korea is regularly turning into a extra heterogeneous society, with worldwide marriages and a extra international workforce main to an growing foreign-born inhabitants (which in 2025 exceeded 5%, nearing the nation’s threshold for a “multicultural society”). The reputation of pop teams born out of South Korea has additionally created huge, worldwide fanbases which have turn into a significant driver of tourism (BTS’ upcoming “Arirang” world tour, for instance, is anticipated to generate tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} for native economies.)
Links may be seen between the reputation of K-beauty – a sector estimated by analysis agency Mintel to be value greater than $90 billion – and the rise of Korean tradition internationally. “The visibility and visual culture of K-pop and K-dramas reinforce perceptions of K-beauty’s effectiveness and help sustain popular narratives around Asian skincare and aging, as demonstrated by the internet slang, ‘Asian don’t raisin,’” mentioned USC Annenberg’s Lee – a phrase implying that individuals of Asian descent age slowly and preserve youthful pores and skin.
When White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt visited Korea final yr for the APEC Summit, she made certain to buy K-beauty merchandise at native retail big Olive Young – and share her expertise on social media. “This generated significant media and public attention in Korea, and it was widely discussed as a sign of K-beauty’s growing global visibility beyond traditional K-culture audiences,” mentioned Lee.
The growing ubiquity of K-beauty merchandise exterior Korea is additionally enabling a broader following. In 2024, South Korea overtook France as the prime exporter of magnificence merchandise to the US, with shipments hitting $1.7 billion. Today, Korean magnificence manufacturers are bought extensively in shops throughout America, together with Costco, Target and Sephora – the latter in January 2026 signed a notable partnership with Olive Young, prompting the K-beauty retailer to open its personal shops in the US for the first time this yr. Dedicated K-beauty idea shops have additionally been opening in European cities starting from Paris to Warsaw, whereas native retailers and pharmacies have been increasing their K-beauty choices.
The Beauty Edit Mayfair, an impartial magnificence boutique in central London, launched K-beauty masterclasses and facials for the first time in 2025. Founder Sherille Riley, who beforehand labored as a facialist for high-end manufacturers like La Prairie and Crème de la Mer, had till just lately struggled to store for K-beauty in particular person and initially purchased the merchandise on-line – solely to run the threat of lengthy delivery occasions or unknowingly shopping for a pretend.
A rising variety of prospects had been additionally asking for K-beauty merchandise, she mentioned, which prompted her to search them out for her retailer. A false impression, Riley notes, is that there is solely curiosity from prospects of Asian heritage. Despite The Beauty Edit Mayfair’s worldwide clientele, K-beauty is requested “predominantly by Western women,” Riley mentioned.
As K-beauty turns into more and more wanted worldwide, it’ll want to tackle a broader vary of shoppers past Korean, and even East Asian, pores and skin tones.
For Melissa Alfer, it was her kids’s love for K-pop that finally impressed her to go away her job as a expertise agent and staff up with Hugo de Mondragon, a former duty-free marketing consultant, to set up Okay+Brown, a Seoul-based skincare model for melanin-rich pores and skin. “At every K-pop concert or event, I see so much diversity in the crowd. Girls with darker skin tones, with hijabs, Latinas, Afro-Americans,” Alfer mentioned. “There is a lot of enthusiasm from people of color for K-pop and K-culture, but they’re not always represented when it comes to K-beauty.”
Okay+Brown’s first product is a biomimetic serum, designed to enhance moisture in darker pores and skin. And whereas it gained’t launch till the finish of February, it has already amassed a waitlist of a number of thousand, in accordance to Alfer. Her choice to launch skincare aligns with conventional K-beauty regimes, which prioritizes long-term pores and skin well being, hydration and barrier safety over protecting imperfections with make-up.
The plan is to promote instantly to prospects by way of its web site and ultimately broaden into third-party retail (already, there is curiosity from shops in the UK and US, mentioned Alfer). She added that the model has additionally acquired over $500,000 from traders, in addition to help from the South Korean authorities – which, after reviewing their marketing strategy and pitch, supplied an workplace in Seoul and visas to work in the nation.
Homegrown manufacturers are starting to adapt, too. K-beauty model Tirtir has been working since 2016, however in 2023 it gained international consideration for its Mask Fit Red Cushion Foundation – then solely accessible in three shades: “porcelain,” “ivory” and “sand.” In the native Korean market, a three-shade providing was commonplace, however as Tirtir was increasing throughout the US and Europe, it drew ire from influencers in the West struggling to discover a shade match. By 2024, the model introduced it might add six extra shades for a complete of 9. Today, Tirtir’s cushion basis is available in 40 shades, although customized choices (accessible on request) imply it may well go up to 150, making it one among the most inclusive in the K-beauty sector.
The enlargement of basis shades was “a direct response to listening more closely to our customers,” Monica Park, head of Tirtir’s international enterprise division, instructed NCS over e mail, acknowledging that the preliminary shade vary “did not fully reflect the diverse community engaging with our brand.” The upshot has been “broader adoption, stronger consumer trust and increased repeat purchase behavior,” Park mentioned. “As we continue to expand internationally, inclusivity has become an even more important guiding principle in how we scale.”
Elsewhere, Amore Seongsu, an experiential multi-brand retailer in Seoul that includes labels owned by K-beauty big the Amorepacific Group, has a bit for creating foundations and lipsticks in customized shades – making it a must-visit vacation spot for vacationers lately. Meanwhile, Jung Saem Mool Beauty, named after its well-known founder – a Korean superstar make-up artist – just lately launched cushion foundations designed for darker pores and skin tones. Seoul-born SPF specialist Beauty of Joseon has resonated with prospects internationally for its sunscreen that caters to darker pores and skin tones.
As Mintel’s director of insights for magnificence and private care Andrew McDougall notes, K-beauty has “become this mainstream global force.” However, “outside of Korea, you have a much bigger demand for diversity and representation. If the K-beauty market can adapt, that will see it grow even more,” he mentioned.
For Okay+Brown’s Alfer, creating an inclusive model is a no brainer. “Historically it’s been quite complicated to find your way as a person of color when it comes to K-beauty,” she mentioned. “We want to be the Katseye of beauty,” she added, referring to the girl group featuring members from diverse backgrounds. “A brand that’s going to talk to all these people.”