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This is a final word from your humble K-beauty correspondent about Korean products that are for sale in the States. Not all K-beauty products you see in America are beauty products that Korean women use and love. When I examine the landscape of K-beauty in Korea, it differs from what’s merchandised elsewhere in the world, specifically the U.S. And much of what’s raved about in Korea has not yet made it to American shores.



To explain, I need to go into how things work over here. The domestic cosmetics industry in Korea is cut-throat, and at the bottom rung there are home shopping networks and online platforms, which I pretty much imagine to be to a gladiator pit where brands duke it out. With two huge cosmetics giants dominating the domestic industry, you can imagine the struggle for smaller companies to compete for the remaining piece of the pie. The brands that make it out alive eventually move on to more established operations, like brick-and-mortar stores or overseas expansion.



Another strategy is to jump a few rungs and push into the overseas markets prematurely, before getting established in Korea. This strategy fills me with joy and foreboding. First, it allows brands to chase the American dream. Brands that may not have as huge a presence in the Korean market, have the opportunity to expand and create buzz in new markets. Brands like Cremorlab, whose products are fantastic beyond their reach, took off globally thanks in no small part to a mention in one of Michelle Phan’s product hauls from Korea.



On the other hand, this also means that brands that don’t want to suffer through making it in Korea are jumping ship and heading for America because K-beauty is a globally growing trend, and people won’t know or care if the company is legit in Korea.



I haven’t come across any brands that are outright selling hazardous waste under the banner of “Korean beauty products are awesome,” but this is just a warning to properly research and vet products. It’s not always a bad thing that a product is virtually unknown in Korea, and if this article is any indication, not all products that are popular in Korea are that great. But just be aware that some of the products you see for sale in the States may not be all the rage in Korea, and it really falls on you to do your due diligence before purchasing.