TikTok-fueled K-beauty boom sparks US retail rush

On a recent Saturday in a Ulta Beauty store in midtown Manhattan, Denise McCarthy, a mother in her 40s, stood in front of a wall of tiny pastel-colored bottles, tubes and compacts. His phone vibrated: another TikTok from his 15-year-old daughter.

“My kids text me TikToks,” she told CNBC, while packing Korean lip tints and sunscreen into her basket intended for Christmas stockings. “I don't even know what half of this is for. I just buy the ones they send me.”

Two hallways away, a group of college students compared samples of Korean cushion bases. A parent asked a store clerk if a viral Korean sunscreen was the one “from the girl who makes the 'get ready with me' videos.” Near the checkout, a display of mini-packages of Korean face masks was almost empty.

Scenes like this are playing out across the country.

Korean cosmetics, known as K-beauty, once a niche reserved for beauty obsessives, are bursting fully into the American mainstream, fueled by the virality of TikTok, younger and more diverse shoppers, and the aggressive expansion of retailers like UltaZipporah, Walmart and costco.

K-beauty sales in the United States are expected to surpass $2 billion in 2025, up more than 37% from last year, according to market research firm NielsenIQ, far outpacing the single-digit growth of the overall beauty market.

And even as trade tensions complicate supply chains, brands and retailers told CNBC that momentum is strong.

“We have no plans to slow down and see more opportunities to penetrate the market,” said Janet Kim, vice president of K-beauty brand Neogen.

In the first half of 2025, South Korea shipped a record $5.5 billion worth of cosmetics, a year-on-year increase of nearly 15%, and has become the top cosmetics exporter to the US, surpassing France., according to data from the South Korean government.

“The growth has been remarkable,” said Therese-Ann D'Ambrosia, vice president of beauty and personal care at NielsenIQ. “When you compare that to the overall beauty market, which is growing at a single-digit rate, K-beauty is clearly operating at a different speed right now.”

Facial skin care remains K-beauty's biggest revenue generator in the U.S., NielsenIQ reported. Hair care is growing faster, and hybrid items such as tinted serums and skincare cushion compacts (sponge cushions soaked with an SPF base) continue to rise, the firm said.

Retailers are racing to take advantage of the cosmetics boom and a turf war is underway.

Ulta, which has more than 1,400 stores in the United States, launched “K-beauty World” in July to highlight Korean brands and tech devices. It's the only major U.S. retailer to carry products from Medicube, a beauty technology company endorsed by celebrities like Hailey Bieber.

Ulta's first-quarter 2025 report cited a 38% increase in sales of skin care products in Korea, and executives said in August that K-beauty's new partnerships helped the company beat Wall Street earnings expectations in the second quarter.

Sephora is also leaning in. Its flagship Times Square location now features a full wall of Korean cosmetics and skincare, and the retailer has secured exclusive US launches for traditional Korean brand Hanyul and sensitive skin brand Aestura.

The big players are also joining in. Costco and Walmart have also expanded their assortment, adding essences, serums and sheet masks as demand accelerates.

“It's an arms race to see who can capitalize on the market for Korean products,” Delphine Horvath, professor of cosmetics and fragrance marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology, told CNBC. “These products are now considered one of the main drivers of growth for cosmetics brands, and they look set to continue to grow.”

Competition is heating up just as Olive Young, often called the “Sephora of Seoul,” prepares to open its first U.S. store in Los Angeles next year. Asian beauty retailer Sukoshi is also expanding, planning to open 20 new stores next year in cities including Seattle, Miami and Austin, Texas.

“Meeting customers where they can touch, feel and try what they see on TikTok is key,” Sukoshi CEO Linda Dang told CNBC. “Across the industry, companies are looking to expand in part because people really don't want to have to wait for shipping or travel all the way to Korea to get products.”

The boom comes amid the ongoing trade war.

This spring, American shoppers rushed to stock up on K-beauty favorites, bracing for price increases due to tariffs, Dang said. However, prices ultimately remained relatively stable as Korean brands temporarily absorbed the tariffs, Dang said, although many are now exploring alternative manufacturing or shipping methods.

South Korea finalized a deal with President Donald Trump last month, setting a 15% tariff rate instead of the initial 25% tax the president announced in April.

“The easy trade system is not what it was before the tariffs,” Dang told CNBC. “That said, many companies have worked with advertisers and internally to do everything they can to offset and prevent those costs from being passed on to customers in the US.”

Over the past decade, there has also been a rise in Korean entertainment in the US, from pop groups like BTS and Blackpink to this year's. netflix hit “KPop Demon Hunters,” which has helped propel South Korea's cultural exports to unprecedented popularity.

“Korean culture has exploded on all fronts, and that's really shown when it comes to K-beauty,” Dang said.

The “first wave” of K-beauty, which arrived in the United States in the mid-2010s, was defined by “glass skin,” 10-step routines, snail mucin, cushion compacts, and beauty creams for blemishes. Most products were aimed at lighter skin tones and distribution was limited to small boutiques, Amazon sellers and early test placements at Ulta and Sephora, beauty experts said.

“The first wave had some penetration, but nothing like today,” Horvath said. “It was mainly people who knew.”

The second wave has been bigger, faster and much more inclusive. It covers color cosmetics, hair and scalp care, body care, fragrances and high-tech devices.

TikTok is the core discovery driver, especially for Gen Z and millennial shoppers, who make up about three-quarters of K-beauty consumers, according to a market analyst report from Personal Care Insights. Posts tagged “K-beauty” or “Korean skincare” attract 250 million views per week, according to consumer data firm Spate. And viral products with fancy packaging often disappear from shelves faster than retailers can restock them, particularly those that combine gentle formulas and low prices, Dang said.

“TikTok has changed the game,” Horvath said. “It's easier to educate consumers about innovation and spread the word. Brands are deeply invested in paying influencers and TikTokers are talking about textures, formulas and efficacy.”

Virality has also pushed brands to be more inclusive to younger and more diverse shoppers. After TikTok creators criticized Korean brand Tirtir for only offering three shades of foundation, the company expanded to 40 shades within months and many other companies followed suit.

The trend is visible across the Americas: 61% of consumers in Mexico and nearly half in Brazil say K-beauty is popular in their country, compared to about 45% in the United States, according to Statista.

“Traditional retail and e-commerce are still important, but TikTok Shop is the most prominent disruptor,” said Nielsen's D'Ambrosia. “It's not just about direct sales on that platform; it's about how the entire discovery and purchasing process is changing.”

But the second wave brings its own risks. A heavy reliance on virality could expose brands to sudden algorithm changes or regulatory scrutiny, D'Ambrosia said.

“When you have so much growth concentrated on one platform [such as TikTok]Algorithm changes could significantly impact discoverability overnight,” D'Ambrosia said. “We've seen what happens when platforms modify their recommendation engines. … There are definitely some caution flags that we're looking at.”

K-beauty's staying power, Dang said, is rooted in an intensely competitive Korean domestic market. Trends are moving at breakneck speed and consumers are spending more per capita on beauty than in any other country, according to South Korean research firm KOISRA.

South Korea had more than 28,000 licensed cosmetics sellers in 2024, almost double what it was five years ago, creating a pressure cooker environment that forces constant experimentation, Neogen's Kim said.

“We develop hundreds of formulas every day,” Kim told CNBC. “We build the library and test the results with individual clinical tests… We develop everything that is unique and works very well for skin care.”

Korean consumers are quick to change trends, nurturing a portfolio of new brands that can go viral and, in some cases, be acquired. For example, when sticky snail mucin, a gel used to protect and repair people's skin, took off globally, skin care brand Amorepacific acquired COSRX, the small Korean brand that helped popularize the ingredient, for approximately $700 million.

Analysts predict that the next wave of products will likely be even more experimental.

Brands are betting on eye-catching ingredients such as DNA extracted from salmon or trout sperm that, according to early research, can help soothe or repair the skin. They are also expanding into biotechnology.

“K-beauty is largely data-driven. [Artificial intelligence] “It helps us get quick results in content, formula development and advertising,” Kim said. “In Korea, they started talking about delivery systems. They are very good with biotechnology.”