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Olive Young Announces US Expansion
There’s a lot going on in the K-Beauty-sphere right now; Olive Young is expanding to the US, Aestura is launching at Sephora and multiple global beauty brands are exiting the Korean market due to increasingly tough competition in the domestic market. Plus, what are the cultural attitudes about plastic surgery in Korea and just how common is it? All these and more answered in episode 261 of the Korean Beauty Show podcast.
K-Beauty powerhouse Olive Young recently announced that it has established a subsidiary and that it plans to open a California store as part of its ongoing expansion into the US market.
I posted this on TikTok and to say it blew up would be an understatement. That post has almost half a million views.
People are obviously very excited about the plans but are worried aboutwhether the prices will be the same and whether Olive Young will be able to carry the same formulas as they do in Korea. I think it would be very unrealistic to expect the prices to remain the same given all the additional costs that will be incurred with exporting, transporting, warehousing, staffing and taxes in the US.
I don't see why the formulas would need to change for most of their products though. The sunscreens would be the exception. They will probably need to relabel a lot of their products to make them compliant with US regulations, which is no small feat having done it ourselves in Australia when STYLE STORY used to distribute other Korean beauty brands.
Source: https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10411575
The Amore Pacific Research Team has revealed that their latest research found that aged ginseng exhibits stronger anti-inflammatory properties than fresh ginseng.
Amore Pacific and the many brands under its umbrella are well known for their use of ginseng in their formulas; it was the ingredient upon which the brand was originally built.
Source: https://www.cosmeticsdesign-asia.com/Article/2025/02/18/amorepacific-aged-ginseng-extract-exhibits-stronger-anti-inflammatory-properties-than-fresh-extract/
L'Oreal has backed luxury Korean fragrance house Borntostandout.
The investment, via the BOLD corporate venture capital fund, was part of a series A financing round led by US venture capital fund Touch Capital. BOLD stands for ‘Business Opportunities for L'Oréal Development.
Source:https://cosmeticsbusiness.com/l-or%C3%A9al-vc-fund-invests-in-k-beauty-fragrance
L'Oreal Group's "Maybelline New York" will end its business in Korea & stop selling products at Olive Young & Coupang.
"Wella" will also end Korean sales after 44 years to the surprise of many in the Korean hairdressing industry.
Fresh (which is owned by LVMH) also said it would end business in Korea. Industry sources believe sales will conclude around April this year.
The exits are being blamed on the growth & competitiveness of the domestic beauty market.
Source: https://www.bizhankook.com/bk/article/29000
Amorepacific announced that it will accelerate its global business expansion by launching derma beauty brand Aestura in the U.S. market through Sephora. The move aims to tap into the growing demand for derma skincare products in the United States.
Source:https://www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=234163
A little context to this question: It came to me through one of our Instagram followers after I put the call out for people to let me know what questions they wanted answered by our next guest.
She runs her own agency for foreigners looking to do plastic surgery in Korea. We had a lot of interest in the topic so I thought I would break down some of the stats.
Plastic surgery is quite common in Korea and most people aren't opposed to it:
However, that’s not to say everyone has done surgery. In a lot of other surveys, only about 20-30% of the respondents had actually had plastic surgery; the remainder had not.
I don't think it would be wrong to say that people generally view plastic surgery as a personal choice and public attitudes towards are overwhelmingly positive.
Certainly, most people I know are very happy to share if they’ve had work done and they don’t really attempt to hide it. I’ve seen people come along to social activities with bruises and bandages on after surgery because you don’t really get a lot of time off work in Korea. Chances are high that if you have surgery, your colleagues and people around you are going to know about it.
Research also suggests that most Koreans, if asked, would tell you that they want to change their eyes and noses.
In terms of the reasons Koreans get surgery, this might surprise you. For a lot of people, the answer is that having a pleasant appearance through plastic surgery can give a positive first impression when interviewing or meeting new people. This is seen as helpful for employment and study. In a competitive society where getting a job is difficult, this is seen as a real advantage.
One product I have been lovely lately (unfortunately for my wallet) is Hera's Sensual Nude Gloss. I bought it as a little treat for myself and I fell in love with it.
It's much more expensive than the types of glosses I usually buy but the packaging is perfection, it's really nice to wear, not sticky and the Shade 422 Lingerie has been a good fit for my shade. This product won a Glow Pick Award in the 2024 awards.
This week I'm sharing my Korean Pharmacy finds. Now, keep in mind these products are all sold in pharmacies in Korea so they're not going to be easy to access from overseas. But if you're in Korea and looking for a few different options then chat to the pharmacists about these:
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All products recommended on the Korean Beauty Show podcast are selected by us. Some of our Show Notes include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links we may earn an affiliate commission. This helps offset the costs associated with producing the podcast.
People are obviously very excited about the plans but are worried about whether the prices will be the same and whether Olive Young will be able to carry the same formulas as they do in Korea. I think it would be very unrealistic to expect the prices to remain the same given all the additional costs that will be incurred with exporting, transporting, warehousing, staffing and taxes in the US.
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