Sephora and Olive Young Unveil K-Beauty Brand Lineup for U.S. Launch

Many months in the making, Sephora and Olive Young are ready to show off their partnership.

Launching Aug. 20, the joint venture brings 19 Olive Young-curated Korean beauty brands to 500 Sephora stores in the U.S. and sephora.com, with expansion planned across key global markets. The participating brands include Cell Fusion C, Rejuran, Thom, Wellage and Whipped, among others. Prices range from $4 to $69 for skin care and up to $299 for devices.

For Sephora, the move enables it to become a serious player in K-beauty retail.

“It’s definitely one of the biggest launches that Sephora is planning for this year, and certainly over the course of time will be one of our biggest,” said Carolyn Bojanowski, executive vice president of merchandising at Sephora. “It’s also a super unique way to bring Korean beauty to the U.S. consumer. Lots of retailers are playing here. But what makes this stand out is the credibility. We know this is the best of the best.”

According to data from NIQ, Amazon is the top ranked retailer for K-beauty sales while the club channel — led by Costco — and TikTok Shop are seeing the fastest growth rates for the sector.

The U.S. debut will launch with a dedicated Olive Young K-beauty space at Sephora’s Times Square flagship in New York City, while curated assortments will also be available in more than 500 Sephora stores nationwide under the Olive Young K-beauty Edit banner and on sephora.com. 

Around 50 doors will have a two linear structure, which means 12 shelves, while the rest will have one linear space, meaning six shelves.

Following the U.S. launch, the partnership will expand to additional global markets including Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, and more later this year, with further expansion planned for the Middle East, the U.K. and Australia in 2027.

While Sephora has imported its concept to outside retailers such as JCPenney from 2006 to about 2022 and then Kohl’s in 2021, this is the first time the retailer has brought another concept to its stores.

On why now, Doyoung Kim, executive vice president of U.S. merchandising at CJ Olive Young, said: “K-beauty has evolved from an emerging trend into a global beauty category, and consumers today are looking for authentic, high-performing Korean brands — not just individual hero products. Partnering with Sephora allows us to bring that curation to broader consumers through one of the world’s leading beauty retailers.”

In addition to its partnership with Sephora, Olive Young opened its first freestanding door in the U.S. earlier this year, an 8,647-square-foot flagship in Pasadena, Calif., that stocks about 400 brands and 5,000 products.

Asked why the second wave of K-beauty appears to have much staying power, Bojanowski said: “Korean culture has seeped into the American subconscious in a great way, whether it be ‘K-Pop Demon Hunters’ or all the music that comes out of [South] Korea. There’s just a lot more awareness of the culture, and a piece of that culture is an obsession with beauty. This is where the innovation is happening.”

Bojanowski said the brand offering for Olive Young in Sephora is representative of many of the beauty trends coming out of South Korea such as PDRN, a naturally occurring fragment derived from salmon sperm DNA. “One of the brands, Rejuran, has PDRN and will now come under the Olive Young umbrella,” she said. “What’s exciting is all of it together. Instead of a brand story, which we love telling, this is really the Olive Young what’s trending [story].”

Elsewhere in the lineup, Torriden is one of South Korea’s hottest brands, known for its multiple molecular weights of hyaluronic acid, while Bioheal Boh, owned by CJ Olive Young, has patented probiotic technology and a 17-peptide complex.

Manyo, meanwhile brings fermented skin care to Sephora, and Wellage, from Korean aesthetics company Hugel, features 93 percent hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid.

On how it will compliment Sephora’s current skin care lineup, Bojanowski said: “It just adds excitement and it adds another layer of discovery for our clients. All tides rise when you have something that is drawing excitement.”

Meanwhile, Olive Young is also pursuing its own store strategy, with a second Los Angeles location at Westfield Century City. 

“Our own U.S. stores and online platform remain the foundation of our direct relationship with customers, allowing them to experience the full breadth of Korean beauty and wellness,” Kim said. “The Sephora partnership complements that strategy by bringing a curated introduction to Korean beauty to a much broader audience. Together, these channels create multiple ways for consumers to discover K-beauty while serving different shopping needs.”

She said the California stores have exceeded expectations, welcoming an average of more than 2,000 visitors per day combined. 

“We’ve also been encouraged to see customers traveling from across California, neighboring states and overseas, reinforcing the strong demand for authentic Korean beauty experiences in the U.S,” Kim added.

The opportunity is certainly there. According to NIQ, K-beauty is worth $2.4 billion in the U.S., up 47 percent versus a year ago. The top three largest categories are facial skin care, followed by cosmetics and nail and sun care.

Its research found that K-beauty buyers are spending $1,234 per year on total beauty and personal care, $280 more than the average buyer.

“Things are still pointing in a good direction because we see more households coming in,” said Anna Mayo, vice president for NielsenIQ’s beauty vertical. “We see people spending more. We’ve seen people shift from buying prestige skin care products and shifting to K-beauty because the products are affordable, they’re great quality, they’re ingredient forward, they’re innovative.”

Mayo also sees a growing opportunity in hair care. “K-beauty facial skin care has really embedded itself,” she said. “We’re seeing hair as a real area of growth potential. Hair care is up 172 percent. There’s a lot around like scalp health and hair regrowth expertise that seems to be doing well.”

Here are all the brands launching at Sephora via its partnership with Olive Young: