“Korean food and skincare are all bundled together because both are essential in the day-to-day,” said Nguyen. “It makes sense to have a physical footprint of that.”
While K-Beauty positions itself as essential, the cosmetic element is emboldened as the US consumers increasingly seek K-Pop and Korean entertainment.
“All these idols have porcelain skin,” said Nguyen. “We’re absorbing more Korean culture and seeing what their health looks like, and Americans are asking ‘What are they doing that we’re not doing?’’’
Medicube, a top Korean skincare brand, dominates the space by offering low prices, ingredient transparency, and basic packaging.
Medicube buyers purchased the brand 2.1 times on average over the last year with a $45.95 average total spend, according to data from Attain, signaling repeat behavior over one-off trials. The same consumers shop La Roche-Posay and The Ordinary, two brands focused on ingredients and clinical efficacy over trends.
Value for money is the top driver of loyalty (74%), according to a July 2025 Net Conversion survey.
“Here it’s all about the branding, but with Korean skincare it’s all about the products,” said Nguyen. “Even with the most luxe brands, their packaging is pretty minimal. You can have a skincare product that is $200 and the majority of it is because the bottle is glass.”
Even luxury consumers are rethinking their beauty spending. Some 45.4% of US adults were luxury beauty buyers in June 2022, which dropped to 34.6% in August 2025, according to an EMARKETER survey.
K-beauty’s growth is more about performance positioning than virality, a blueprint for brands to drive repeat spending in a saturated market.
“In Korean culture, they’re doing this as an essential, so the price point and barrier to entry is low,” she said. “[Skincare] is just a part of their everyday life.”
Overpromising immediate results
The immediate transformations that the beauty industry promises “doesn’t really make sense when it comes to skin,” said Nguyen. She advocates for “storytelling over snappy clickbait” that actually has the room to show results.
The trust and reliability from educating on science and ingredients over overpromising results have allowed K-Beauty to retain its growth, she said.
“It might not work for [your] skin because of skin compatibility, but it’s not going to be a gimmick. I can’t say that about all American skincare and beauty products,” said Nguyen. “That friction is much lower with K-Beauty.”
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