Young hopefuls knock on the beauty industry's door, seeking a way into the global trend

K-beauty is an exception to usual marketing rules: Its leading players are small, independent brands that first took off overseas and then “re-entered” the Korean market riding global fame.

People shop at an Olive Young store in Seoul on March 12. [YONHAP]

As the number of indie brands continues to rise, young hopefuls are diving headfirst into the market, launching their own labels in hopes of becoming the next big name amid the global Korean beauty boom.

A woman surnamed Park has been personally handling marketing for the beauty brand she launched a year ago. Her candid product reviews on her personal blog had already built a loyal following, and she says she decided to create her own products to address the frustrations subscribers often expressed.

“It’s a brand I started with a friend, and the response on social media has been pretty good. Until we really get it off the ground, weekends are basically canceled,” said Park, who has worked at a major Korean cosmetics conglomerate for seven years and now leads a secret double life.

“My company absolutely doesn’t know about this,” she said. “Because I only use my personal time, it doesn’t interfere with my job at all. But if the brand grows well, I plan to quit and focus entirely on my own business.”

In this photo unrelated to the story, a visitor tests cosmetics at a booth during the 2025 Seoul Beauty Week at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Jung District, Seoul, on Aug. 28. [YONHAP]

According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, some 4,000 companies this year alone have launched beauty brands in partnership with original design manufacturing (ODM) manufacturers, which handle everything from product planning to distribution. Many are dreaming of a “beauty jackpot” akin to APR, which grew from 50 million won in initial capital to a company with a market cap of 10 trillion won in just 11 years.

One big reason it has become easier to launch a beauty brand is the global competitiveness of Korea’s ODM and original equipment manufacturing powerhouses. With just a rough concept, specialized manufacturers like Kolmar and Cosmax will produce multiple samples tailored to desired functions, textures and price points. Even without production facilities or manufacturing know-how, a brand can bring a product to market in as little as six months.

Foreign customers shop for cosmetics products at an Olive Young store in Seoul on Nov. 24. [YONHAP]

“Since around 2020, the beauty market’s focus has shifted from brands to individual products,” said Kim Min-woo, CEO of Fourcompany. “Consumers are willing to open their wallets even for unfamiliar brands if the product has a clear, distinctive strength. It’s a market where you can succeed without a flashy brand story if you highlight the product’s advantages and sell it well.”

“No consumers anywhere are as picky and trend-sensitive as those in Korea,” added Kolmar USA CEO Hur Yong-chul. “If you can quickly read market shifts and come up with good ideas, you can now launch cosmetics in small quantities without owning a single factory.”

The talent flocking to these rising beauty firms also comes from diverse backgrounds. The Founders, which held its first large-scale open recruitment round in 2024, created a special “CEO staff” team separate from its research and development (R&D) and business divisions. Its members include alumni of Google, Procter & Gamble (P&G) and private equity firms.

“Rather than sticking to the traditional R&D and planning formulas of legacy beauty companies, we looked for people who can quickly read fast-changing trends and accurately grasp consumer needs,” a company representative said.

“In the past, cosmetics were mostly researched by chemistry or pharmacy majors, but now business and marketing majors are taking the lead in product planning,” noted Kim Dae-jong, a business professor at Sejong University. “The very way companies analyze beauty consumers has changed.”

So how long can K-beauty keep riding this wave?

“Korea’s cosmetics industry has grown under strict regulations from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety,” said Kim Joo-deok, a professor of beauty industry studies at Sungshin Women’s University. “In other words, it has developed on the basis of strong safety standards. With reliable technological capabilities and products that set trends and hit the market quickly, K-beauty has strong potential to succeed in even more countries.”

If there is one remaining challenge, it is offline distribution. In Britain, France, Germany and Japan, department stores and drugstores are still the main sales channels for beauty brands. In the United States, offline sales still matter greatly as well, comprising about half (46.7 percent) of the beauty market last year, not far off from the 53.3 percent share held by online sales, according to market research firm Statista.

“Offline channels remain crucial spaces for consumers to experience brands and build trust,” said an industry insider. “The next task is to extend the foothold K-beauty has established online into offline channels.”

BY KIM KYUNG MI, NOH YU-RIM [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]