On a recent morning in Seoul’s hip Seongsu neighborhood, a line of eager foreign tourists snaked around the corner of CJ Olive Young Corp.’s flagship beauty concept store, Olive Young N Seongsu – nearly an hour before opening.
The draw wasn’t a new product drop or K-pop idol appearance.
Instead, it was a free personalized skincare diagnosis, followed by a curated session matching visitors’ complexions to Korea’s best-selling cosmetics.
“I saw it on Xiaohongshu,” said 25-year-old Hong-yi Gong from China, referring to RedNote, or the Chinese social media platform that has become a hub for beauty enthusiasts. “I got here at 8:30 a.m. to make sure I could reserve a spot.”
Upstairs, an Indian tourist was receiving a custom shade match consultation, while in the third-floor skin and scalp analysis room, a woman from Hong Kong in her twenties was sitting surrounded by diagnostic monitors.
Their goal wasn’t simply to shop Korean-made cosmetic goods. They were here to experience K-beauty.
“All 25 appointment slots today were booked by foreigners,” said Ha Ji-young, a 27-year-old beauty consultant at the store.
FROM PRODUCT RETAIL TO IMMERSIVE TOUCH
Beauty, long a cornerstone of Korea’s cultural exports, is undergoing a subtle yet powerful transformation: from product-focused retail to immersive, high-touch service.
According to CJ Olive Young, Korea’s top beauty store chain, a staggering 93% of users of its hands-on beauty services are foreign tourists.
Word-of-mouth, powered by TikTok, Xiaohongshu and Instagram, is fueling demand, according to the franchise operator.
A video by Ellen Park, a Korean-American influencer with 1.5 million followers, showcasing Olive Young N Seongsu’s skin diagnostic tools and personalized makeup recommendations, has racked up over 460,000 views and 20,000 saves.
The results are measurable: 80% of customers using the in-store beauty consultation service hail from English-speaking countries, according to CJ Olive Young.
“Interactive beauty experiences have become the must-do itinerary item for foreign visitors, particularly those seeking the ethereal ‘glass skin’ aesthetic made famous by K-drama stars and K-pop idols,” said a company official.
Men, too, are buying in.
The “Manz Brow Bar,” a grooming-focused counter targeting male customers with eyebrow shaping and K-pop-inspired color consultations, has proven a hit among tourists from the US, China and Japan. Almost half its clientele are foreigners, according to CJ Olive Young.
AMOREPACIFIC’S SPACE
CJ Olive Young is not alone in tapping into beauty tourism.
Amorepacific Corp.’s flagship space, Amore Seongsu, has seen its foreign visitor ratio surge to 79% this year from around 30% in 2024.
It offers custom foundation and lipstick blending using its high-end Hera line products, tailored to each visitor’s skin tone and lip shade.
“We’ve had 100% reservation fill rates this summer, with strong interest from Japan, Southeast Asia, the US and even the Middle East,” said an Amorepacific official.
CJ Olive Young said nearly half of its experiential service users go on to purchase products – a high conversion rate in a competitive market.
Foreign customers contribute 70% of the franchise operator’s Seongsu flagship’s sales.
The company plans to expand these services to 100 major locations across the country by year-end.
“Customization resonates deeply with international tourists,” said a company official. “It’s beauty with storytelling, data and personalization – all bundled into one experience.”
AI MEETS LIPSTICK: TECH-DRIVEN BEAUTY BARS
High-end retail players are also stepping in.
Shinsegae Inc.’s beauty concept store Chicor recently opened in Gangnam, featuring AI-powered scalp analysis and a made-to-order haircare lab.
Its makeup bar lets professional artists demonstrate and apply looks customized to the visitor’s complexion, with K-idol styling as the top-requested option among foreign guests, according to Shinsegae.
Up-and-coming indie brands are also following suit. Whip’d, known for its cleansing packs, lets customers make their own cleanser at its Seongsu shop.
Rom&nd, the cult lip brand, opened its first outlet in the same neighborhood, offering a lipstick creation zone where tourists can blend shades to match their exact preferences.
“This isn’t just retail, it’s soft power,” said Kim Joo-deok, a professor of beauty industry studies at Sungshin Women’s University. “Experience drives memory, and memory drives purchase. As tourism rebounds, experiential beauty services are the bridge between K-beauty fandom and actual revenue.”
COSMOPROF NORTH AMERICA 2025
The formula appears to work outside Korea as well.
CJ Olive Young’s recent debut at Cosmoprof North America 2025 in Las Vegas, one of the world’s top three beauty trade shows, drew over 4,000 visitors to its booth.
To enhance its presence in the world’s largest beauty products market, CJ also set up a US business entity in Los Angeles in February.
CJ said visitors to its booth were drawn not just by the display of its K-beauty staples, including BioHeal BOH, Bring Green and Colorgram, but by the same “Skin Scan” diagnostic tools used in Seoul.
“It was a chance to show not just what we sell, but how we sell it – and that’s what makes K-beauty stand out,” said a company official. “In a world crowded with product lines, it’s our curated, tech-enabled approach that offers global buyers a different kind of value.”
By Solee Lee
claire@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.
