Korea placed itself in the last years as ‘The‘ place for beauty and skincare. K-beauty, which stands for Korean beauty has been sweeping the cosmetic industry by storm, from BB creams and cushions to face masks. Korea is changing the way we view skincare.
While K-beauty sections have sprung up worldwide, nothing beats the authentic experience of shopping at the origin of it all: Seoul, South Korea. Thus, we put together a k-beauty Seoul shopping guide. And as a bonus, we even included some online stores!
Nothing better than finding everything in one place right? Korea has a few of these all-in-one heavens where you can get lost discovering new products and forgetting why you came there in the first place.
The K-beauty store i swear by! They have stores practically everywhere, you can not miss it!
Olive Young has a wide selection of skincare, makeup, accessories, perfumes and even healthy food and supplements. You can find here Korean as well as international brands.
They regularly have really good sales! And their point system is interesting as it gives you some good reductions and sometimes gifts and samples ~
Check out their website, they now ship internationally to all countries. Free shipping for orders with a total purchase amount of $60 and more.
Chicor is a luxury cosmetics chain launched by the venerable Korean department store Shinsegae. Similar in concept to Sephora, it’s a multi-level beauty playground that speaks to the young, stylish and curious.
Just like Olive Young, Chicor has many k-beauty products and a selection of more luxurious brands. Check out their website to see the brands available in stores.
After a long wait, the one and only Sephora finally launched in Korea. It opened around Seoul in different locations like Myeongdong, Coes Mall and Lotte Malls.
According to Sephora Korea, it has put extra attention into introducing exclusive brand lineups. This will allow customers to directly purchase overseas items at Sephora, instead of overseas shopping, which the beauty retailer said is the key competitiveness of Sephora Korea over local health and beauty stores.
Some of those 40 exclusive brands include Tarte, Huda Beauty, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Zoeva and Smashbox.
K-beauty Flagship stores are mainly located in Myeongdong shopping district. As you stroll around you can find many brands such as Innisfree, Etude House and Laneige.
Innisfree has a four-story flagship store in Myeongdong:
@joanday ##JOANDAY tour to ##innisfree flagship shop! ##이니스프리 is one of my fav ##kbeauty brands. I’m a huge fan of their products & cafe. A must visit in ##Seoul 🍃
♬ Jasmine – DPR LIVE
Innisfree’s natural skin-care products and cosmetics on the ground floor where you can customize your own eyeshadow palette and cushion foundation case, or get a skin analysis via a device that recommends products for your exact needs.
Upstairs, the Green Cafe offers organic snacks and drinks served in a plant-filled oasis and the brand’s ingredients and café foods are sourced from none but Jeju Island. They even have free luggage storage on the top floor.
Location: Innisfree Flagship, 64-2 Myeongdong 1(il)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea; +82-2-776-0117.
Laneige is a South Korean cosmetics brand launched by Amore Pacific in 1994. Its name comes from the French “la neige“, which translates to Snow.
@joanday ##JOANDAY tour to ##라네즈##laneige! We’re back in ##명동##myeongdong for another ##kbeauty tour. Here are my top 3 from @laneige_kr ##seoul 💙
♬ Lofi – Domknowz
The brand is popular for its skincare, i tried their best selling Lip sleeping mask and i loved it. They also have really good foundations, definitely worth the visit!
For my people out there not in Korea or who prefer to shop online, i’ve got your back!
Yesstyle is a very popular website/app where you can find all the K-beauty products you need.
You can also get free samples with your order, you can also use different coupon codes from Kbloggers to get a reduction.
Another popular website with a selection of Korean skincare products with reasonable prices. Shipping is free for orders over 20$ (to the US) otherwise there is a flat 4$ delivery fee which is quite reasonable.
You can also find health products, supplements, vitamins, etc. Check out their website here.
I love this shop as it offers a selection of vegan and cruelty free skincare! One of my favorite brands there is Klairs~ Wishtrend ships to around 30 countries worldwide including countries in South East Asia, Europe, Oceania and the USA.
Although they don’t have a very wide selection of brands and products like YesStyle or iHerb, but they have high quality products that are especially suitable for people with sensitive skin.
Check out what Skin expert Hyram has to say about it:
