K-Makeup Couldn’t Go Global. Now It’s Trying Again.

LOS ANGELES, CA — While skincare may have defined the K-beauty boom of the early 2010s, the second wave descending on retailers this year is considerably more colourful.

As two of South Korea’s most popular exports – K-pop and K-beauty – converged at the annual KCon at the Los Angeles Convention Center over the first weekend of August, tens of thousands of fans lined up not only to see acts like the girl group Aespa, but also to check out rows of branded beauty booths. Heavily represented were brands including Amorepacific-owned Cosrx and Olive Young, South Korea’s top beauty retailer and the event’s headline sponsor.

Beyond the lineup of snail mucins, PDRN and sunscreens, a small but notable presence of K-makeup was on the scene. Taking up a corner of Olive Young’s massive multibrand booth was its in-house brand Colorgram with candy-coloured packaging, where a line of attendees sampled glosses and the signature K-beauty matte blur lip. Colorgram will be available at Olive Young when the retailer opens its first US location in Los Angeles in 2026, one of a number of makeup brands looking to get in on K-beauty’s second global wave.

“Over the past seven to 10 years, Korean makeup failed to make a presence in the States,” said Jaden Choi, chief executive of K-beauty distributor Hansung.

Long popular in Asia, Korean colour cosmetics previously struggled to translate in wider global markets more than the comparatively universal skincare category. But in the past year, brands quickly adapted to the US market, propelling cushion foundations and blurring blushes to TikTok virality alongside sheet masks and cleansing oils. US retailers are now in on the action: Hansung helped bring viral makeup brands Tirtir and Fwee to Ulta Beauty, the major US retailer with the widest assortment of K-makeup. “Ulta Beauty is very confident with the new Korean makeup brand launches,” said Choi, owing to the boosts the brands get from viral moments and Amazon sales spikes.

Tirtir and Fwee each have their own four-story gondolas in over 400 Ulta Beauty stores. They follow the July Ulta Beauty debut of makeup labels Unleashia and Rom&nd that are part of an eight-brand curation in partnership with distributor K-Beauty World. Nordstrom added Rom&nd and Dinto to its roster this year. In May, Fwee, known for its viral Lip & Cheek Blurry Pudding Pot, opened its first US standalone store in New York’s SoHo.

In the early 2010s, the foundation-moisturiser hybrid known as BB cream kicked off K-beauty’s first global wave. But in the ensuing 15 years, K-makeup took a backseat to skincare outside East Asian markets. Earlier makeup labels from the first wave have struggled to take off globally: South Korea’s Chosun Daily reported in May that L’Oréal Groupe-owned K-makeup brand 3CE, which it bought in 2018, had undergone layoffs after a sales decline.

“Korean colour brands haven’t really ventured very far from home. They have very strong Asia businesses, but not internationally,” said Sarah Chung Park, the founder of K-Beauty World and distributor Landing International. A new generation of brands is hoping they can overcome the challenges of their predecessors as they figure out what parts of the K-beauty aesthetic resonate abroad, and which ones they need to adapt for foreign markets.

Catching Up With Skincare

While K-beauty is synonymous with skincare in the United States and Europe, Korean makeup has long been popular in Asia. A cushion foundation craze started by Amorepacific-owned brands in 2008 took hold across East Asian countries like China and Japan. Attempts to make it a hit in other countries fell flat, however, even when international brands like Tom Ford, Lancôme, La Mer and Dior launched their own versions that were a success in China. Lancôme’s ​Teint Idole Ultra Wear cushion foundation launched in 2015 was listed as “phased out” on its US site by 2020.

“Korean brands often struggled to match Western preferences in shade range, finish, and wear,” said Aiyana Sharif, the global market team lead for Unleashia. Unlike skincare, international expansion would require not just marketing, but new formulations and product launches.

But China challenges have led K-makeup labels to pursue growth in other overseas markets. The most successful so far has been Tirtir, a makeup brand owned by Goodai Global, the parent company of viral skincare brand Beauty of Joseon. With a widened shade range and investment in US influencers, the brand experienced a 3,000 percent increase in sales in 2024 driven by its TikTok virality, said Lyla Kim, Tirtir’s global head of marketing.

After Tirtir’s Mask Fit Red Cushion launched with only nine shades, the brand was called out in March last year by TikTok beauty influencer Darcei Giles, known as Miss Darcei, for its lack of inclusivity. But it responded quickly, working with feedback from Giles to expand to 20 shades within four months, and then collaborating with influencer Golloria on a further expansion. It eventually reached 40 shades by August 2024, and Giles is now a brand ambassador. (Tirtir’s success stands in stark contrast to US-based, made-in-Korea Youthforia, which botched its own rush shade range expansion so badly it shuttered a year later.)

This has paved the way for broader expansion: Tirtir will have gondolas at Ulta Beauty Mexico when it opens later this year, and just launched into Sephora in the UK on Aug. 5.

The K-beauty “blurred matte” makeup aesthetic is also taking off thanks to the popularity of K-pop stars and minimalism. While K-makeup is known for being cutesy – a theme brands like Colorgram, Fwee and Sephora-stocked Kaja don’t shy away from – lines like eight-year-old Rom&nd feel more akin to the clean girl moment in the US.

“How we do makeup in Korea is completely different. I don’t want to look like I’m wearing makeup,” said Daniella Jung, the founder of K-beauty distributor Most Inc. “These days, a lot of influencers in the US are showing minimal makeup, so Korean makeup brands have potential in the US market.” In May, she curated five makeup brands including influencer-founded Two Slash Four, Amuse, Entropy, Unleashia and Dinto for a Los Angeles K-beauty pop-up by Most Inc.’s US arm Muskat.

Other categories show growth potential as K-beauty continues to evolve. Fragrance labels like L’Oréal Groupe-funded Borntostandout and Gentle Monster’s Tamburins are starting to see international buzz, but hair care may be likelier to take over next as Seoul’s viral head spas have global retailers seriously eyeing the category.

“We are focusing on makeup as of now,” said distributor Choi. “Then, we will introduce more hair-care brands in the US market, so we can complete the spectrum.”

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