revenue of 5.83 trillion won (approximately $3.9 billion) last year, up 21.8 per cent from a year earlier, while operating profit rose 22.5 per cent. It operates more than 1380 stores across South Korea and has been selling internationally since 2019. The US has long been its most important overseas market: In the first half of 2025, more than half of Olive Young’s global online sales came from American consumers, who also accounted for more than 40 per cent of sales growth in the same period. US sales of Korean cosmetics are expected to exceed US$2 billion in 2025, up 37 per cent from the previous year, according to NielsenIQ.  The US International Trade Commission estimates that the US imported US$1.7 billion in South Korean cosmetics in 2024, a 54 per cent spike from the year before, and the US recently surpassed China to become South Korea’s leading export market for beauty. Globally, South Korean cosmetics exports reached a record $11.43 billion last year. “K-beauty has clearly evolved from a niche trend into a mainstream beauty category in the US market,” Kimber Maderazzo, professor of marketing at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School and a beauty industry expert, told Inside Retail. “Many concepts that were once uniquely associated with Korean beauty, such as glass skin, melting cleansers, sheet masks, essence layering, and skin-first makeup, are now widely adopted by domestic and global beauty brands.” Established US retailers have noticed the momentum and moved accordingly. Ulta Beauty’s Q1 2025 report cited a 38 per cent increase in Korean skincare sales, the fastest-growing segment in its beauty portfolio. Sephora has moved more aggressively still. Earlier this year, the two companies announced a strategic partnership that will bring Olive Young–curated K-beauty zones to Sephora stores and online platforms across the US, Canada, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, with further expansion into the Middle East, UK and Australia planned for 2027. Not your typical beauty store What makes Olive Young genuinely interesting as a retail proposition and what also makes its US strategy worth scrutinising is that the store model it is bringing to California is not simply a replication of what works in Seoul.  While Olive Young stores in South Korea tend to merchandise heavily by brand, the Pasadena flagship has been built around skin concerns, grouping products by brightening, hydration, or dark spots rather than by brand alone. It also features free skin scanner consultations, testing stations, and educational “Beauty Lab” programming.  Olive Young USA CEO Gaeun Kwon described the store concept to WWD as a place where customers do not have to walk through the door to buy anything: “We aim for our store to be a very, very fun and experiential platform. On top of that, it’s also educational.” Maderazzo said the strategy is “a classic example of innovation adoption and lifecycle evolution”.  “Korean beauty brands introduced entirely new rituals and product formats that differentiated the category and created excitement with consumers. Over time, those innovations were adopted by mass, prestige, and indie US brands, moving K-beauty from “trend” to category standard,” Maderazzo said.  The real test ahead The challenge in the US is that Olive Young is entering a market where K-beauty’s first-mover novelty has already been absorbed.  “Korean beauty brands introduced entirely new rituals and product formats that differentiated the category and created excitement with consumers,” Maderazzo said. “Over time, those innovations were adopted by mass, prestige, and indie US brands, moving K-beauty from ‘trend’ to category standard.” Looking further ahead, Maderazzo believes Korean brands will need to continue pushing forward.  “The future opportunity is not simply being viewed as ‘K-beauty,’ but being recognised as global beauty brands with distinct heritage, innovation capabilities, and cultural authenticity,” she said.  “Korean brands will likely need to push further into breakthrough product innovation, proprietary ingredients, biotechnology, personalisation, and new consumer engagement models.” Further reading: Why Sephora and Olive Young are building a K-beauty-powered retail alliance.