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Korean Skin Care Is Here To Stay — And These Are 2021’s Trendiest Products

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Updated: Feb. 20, 2024

Originally Published: April 14, 2021

We may receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

One thing is clear regardless of your beauty routine: Korean skin care has changed the game. “K-beauty should not be seen as a trend or a niche category. In fact, Korean beauty is now synonymous with trusted, innovative skin care,” Charlotte Cho, co-founder of Korean beauty platform Soko Glam and founder of the skin care brand Then I Met You, tells TZR over email. “This appreciation of K-beauty’s foundational elements — paired with the focus on reinvestment in self-care and skin care we’ve seen in the last year — has allowed K-beauty to grow during a challenging time.”

According to Cho, Allied Market Research projected that the global K-beauty market size will climb to $13.9 billion by 2027, a staggering increase from the already high $10.2 billion value from 2019. “The audience here has responded incredibly well to K-beauty’s investment in ingredients, skin health, education, and overall innovation — whether it be in packaging or formulation,” she adds. “Seeing as the pandemic spurred recommitments to self-care and skin care, K-beauty’s growth will not be slowing down anytime soon!”

Nor will it lose its well-deserved spot in skin care routines all over the world. Below, shop some of the trendiest K-beauty products out there, from hanbang skin care to the COSRX products you’ve undoubtedly seen all over the internet.

We only include products that have been independently selected by TZR's editorial team. However, we may receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

The True Cream Aqua Bomb

The True Cream Aqua Bomb

Hydration is always key and belif — along with its cult-favorite Aqua Bomb line — truly understands that. If you have dry, dull, or finicky skin, swap in this ceramide and glycerin gel-cream to see what a difference it can make.

Rosé Resurfacing Facial Mask

Rosé Resurfacing Facial Mask

"K-Beauty’s 'skin first' philosophy includes a belief in balance, which is driving a new acid movement — one that pairs mid-range percentages of AHAs and BHAs with nourishing and hydrating ingredients," Cho explains. "These ingredient duos provide exfoliation while still keeping the skin barrier healthy. You can see this focus on nourishing exfoliation in Then I Met You’s newest addition, the Rosé Resurfacing Facial Mask."

Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm Original

Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm Original

Banila offers up a ton of different makeup and skin care products, but here in the states, you'll probably hear about its Clean It Zero cleansing balm first. Multiple version of the makeup-removing balm are available, including a foam cleanser.

Repair Serum

Beauty of Joseon

Cho notes that hanbang ingredients — found in the traditional Korean herbal medicine practice — will continue to shine. "You can see this with the rise in popularity of ginseng and mushrooms in skin care formulations," she says. "Our favorite example of this trend is Beauty of Joseon’s Repair Serum. It taps into the youthful benefits of matsutake mushroom’s antioxidants to improve cell turnover, even out dull skin tone, and plump fine lines and wrinkles."

Age-Reversing All-In-One Concentrate

Age-Reversing All-In-One Concentrate

Like all the other skin care products on the planet, Korean beauty is only as complicated as you make it — and your routine will be *very* simple with Venn's impressive all-in-one cream. The concentrate acts like a weightless serum, moisturizer, and oil, and is formulated with Venn's patented, collagen-boosting Ginsenoside Compound K.

Advanced Snail 92 All In One Cream

Advanced Snail 92 All In One Cream

The ingredients in a COSRX skin care product — like snail secretion filtrate or propolis — are difficult to find anywhere else in general. Then factor in the wallet-friendly prices, and you can understand why this brand is a hit.

Freshly Juiced Vitamin C Drop

Freshly Juiced Vitamin C Drop

Klairs is another name you'll see a lot in the skin care world. Its products are budget-friendly and highly effective, with formulas that garner best-seller status (like this 5% ascorbic acid serum, for example).

Black Sugar Mask

Black Sugar Mask

The concept behind Skinfood is pretty simple: It's skin care inspired by, well, food. This approach allows the brand to really focus on individual ingredients (like organic black sugar) so consumers understand why and how the skin care works for them.

Cream Skin Toner & Moisturizer

Cream Skin Toner & Moisturizer

Laneige products fill the gaps in your routine you didn't even know you had, such as this creamy toner-moisturizer that makes skin feel *so* soft, or its cult-favorite overnight lip treatments.

This article was originally published on April 14, 2021