Korea’s Biggest Beauty Stores

Korea Is The Undisputed Beauty Capital Of The World And With K-beauty Exploding Overseas It’s No Surprise That There Are Literally Countless Shops Devoted To Korean Beauty In Korea.

Today, we’re talking Korea’s biggest beauty stores. If you've visited Korea in the past, you might recall stores like Watsons and LOHBs. Unfortunately, those all shut down during the pandemic and post-pandemic period. Sephora also sadly exited Korea in 2024. That means there is a lot less choice for places to shop than there used to be and a proliferation of certain stores (like Olive Young) to the exclusion of others. 

BUT! It's not all bad news. Let's take a look at the K-Beauty landscape in 2025: 

K-beauty In Korea

In a country with an estimated 13,000 skincare companies, shopping K-Beauty in Korea can be overwhelming - there are department stores stocking all the high-end brands, endless pop-ups in places like The Hyundai Seoul (더현대 서울), Hong Dae (홍대) and Seongsu (성수동) and a range of flagship stores for various beauty brands around the city.

To maximise your shopping time, our Seoul Team is introducing us to Korea’s biggest beauty stores. These are the best K-Beauty stores to hit up if you’re shopping in Seoul!

The Must Know

In 2025, Korea has much fewer ranges of chain stores than in previous years. These days, the big players left in the market are Olive Young and Chicor. Other retailers also stock a range of Korean beauty products as well. 

If you’re wondering where to find these in Seoul, get our comprehensive Guide here.

Olive Young

Olivе Young (올리브영) is Korea’s version of Priceline (Ulta in the US).

It stocks everything frоm ѕupрlеmеntѕ and skincare, tо соѕmеtiсѕ аnd accessories. Olive Young is also a known incubator for new brands, featuring the hottest K-Beauty products before they get famous!

The selection of brands and products varies from store to store, but you’ll usually find popular Korean labels like Leaders, Son & Park, Neogen, Dr Jart, Clio, Papa Recipe and CNP.

Olive Young also stocks a range of other Asian brands, including Japanese labels like Kate, Majolica Majorca, K-Palette and Meg Rhythm.

You’ll find the big western drugstore brands there too, including Avene, Cetaphil, La Roche Posay, Physiogel, Eucerin, Nivea, Neutrogena etc.

Look out for big Olive Young stores at Ewha Women’s University, Myeong-dong and Garosugil.

Chicor

Run by the Shinsegae conglomerate, the Chicor chain is what beauty-holic dreams are made of, combining an eye-watering range of the most popular Western and Asian cosmetics.

The stores are perfect for playing, with shop assistants largely staying out of your way while you try on the products to your heart’s content. Chicor also runs demonstrations and beauty classes and you can even book in to to have your makeup done – K-style! – while you’re there.

At Chicor, you’ll find all the hottest Western labels (think Benefit, MAC, Bobbi Brown, Nars, Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, Dermalogica) Japanese brands (Kose, Kiss Me, Kenzo), Japanese labels like Dejavu and Shu Uemura, plus an impressive variety of K-Beauty favourites and emerging brands, like Klairs, Huxley, 3CE, Hera, Berrisom, Lagom, April Skin, Lindsay, Espoir, Dr Jart, Peripera, Labiotte, Neogen, Pony Effect, I’m Meme and Erborian.

You’ll find Chicor stores throughout Korea in popular tourist locations like Gangnam, Shinsegae Centum City, COEX, Yongsan and Times Square (Yeongdeungpo). Take a look at our Chicor store tour vlog from back in 2020 here.

Aland

Although not strictly a cosmetics store (it stocks a wide range of clothes, shoes and accessories), Aland (에이랜드) has become a must-visit beauty destination for lovers of indie brands, particularly K-Beauty brands that are big overseas, like COSRX, Klairs, Benton, Heimish and more.

Not all the stores stock cosmetics, so if you’re only interested in those head to the big stores in Myeong-dong (명동) and Garosu-gil (가로수길) They offer K-Beauty indie wonderlands, with plenty of testers to boot.

BeautyPlay

This is a new government sponsored cultural space focusing on Korean beauty. There are two locations in Seoul, Myeongdong (명동) and Hongdae (홍대). 

While they don't actually sell products here you can try a variety of indie beauty brands and they have QR codes everywhere linking to the brands' websites. 

In addition, they offer a range of experiences like self color analysis, skin analysis and classes teaching makeup application.  

Don’t Forget To Claim Your Tax Refunds!

Korea charges sale tax (10%) on all products, but as tourists we are exempt from paying it!

There are two ways to claim your tax refund – in person at the store in bigger tourist areas like Myeongdong and Ewha Women’s University (don’t forget to bring your Passport), or at the airport on your way out. Just let the checkout staff at the counter know that you’re a tourist (if it isn’t already obvious!) and they’ll give you a special receipt to show at the airport so you can claim your refund – woohoo!

HAPPY SHOPPING!

STYLE STORY – Your Go-To for K-Beauty Since 2014