Sephora and Olive Young Unveil 19-Brand K-Beauty Retail Expansion

Many months in the making, Sephora and Olive Young are officially launching their major retail partnership.

Launching Aug. 20, the joint venture brings 19 Olive Young-curated Korean beauty brands to 500 Sephora stores across the U.S. and on sephora.com, with further expansion planned across key global markets. Participating brands include Cell Fusion C, Rejuran, Thome, Wellage, and Whipped, among others. Retail prices range from $4 to $69 for skincare products and up to $299 for beauty devices.

For Sephora, the move enables it to establish a dominant position in K-beauty retail, building on momentum as Sephora expands its K-beauty lineup to address growing Western consumer demand for active Korean formulations.

“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 market research firm NIQ, Amazon remains the top-ranked retailer for K-beauty sales in the U.S., while warehouse club channels—led by Costco—and TikTok Shop are recording the fastest growth rates for the sector.

The U.S. debut will feature a dedicated Olive Young K-beauty display at Sephora’s Times Square flagship in New York City. Curated assortments will also rollout to more than 500 Sephora locations nationwide under the “Olive Young K-beauty Edit” banner, as well as on sephora.com.

Approximately 50 doors will feature a two-linear display layout offering 12 shelves, while remaining locations will feature a single-linear display with six shelves.

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

While Sephora has historically brought its retail concept into outside stores—such as JCPenney from 2006 to 2022 and Kohl’s starting in 2021—this marks the first time the beauty retailer has hosted an external retail concept inside its own stores.

Addressing the timing of the expansion, Doyoung Kim, executive vice president of U.S. merchandising at CJ Olive Young, noted: “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.”

Alongside its Sephora partnership, Olive Young opened its first standalone U.S. flagship earlier this year—an 8,647-square-foot retail location in Pasadena, California, carrying roughly 400 brands and 5,000 SKUs.

On why the second wave of K-beauty demonstrates sustained growth in the U.S., 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 highlighted several ingredient trends represented in the Olive Young offering, such as PDRN (polydeoxyribonucleotide), a skin-rejuvenating fragment derived from salmon 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.”

The assortment also features Torriden, known for multi-molecular weight hyaluronic acid formulations, and Bioheal Boh, owned by CJ Olive Young, which utilizes patented probiotic technology and a 17-peptide complex.

Manyo brings fermented skincare to the retailer, while Wellage, owned by Korean medical aesthetics firm Hugel, features 93 percent hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid formulations.

Regarding how the lineup integrates with Sephora’s current skincare selection, Bojanowski added: “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.”

Concurrently, Olive Young is advancing its independent brick-and-mortar expansion 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.”

Kim noted that performance at the California locations has exceeded projections, drawing a combined average of over 2,000 visitors daily.

“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 said.

Industry data supports the retail expansion. According to NIQ, the U.S. K-beauty market is currently valued at $2.4 billion, up 47 percent year-over-year. Facial skincare represents the largest share, followed by color cosmetics, nail care, and sun care.

NIQ research indicates that K-beauty consumers spend $1,234 annually across overall beauty and personal care—$280 more than the average beauty shopper.

“Things are still pointing in a good direction because we see more households coming in,” said Anna Mayo, vice president of 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 highlighted scalp and hair care as significant growth vectors. “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.”

The participating brand lineup launching at Sephora through the Olive Young partnership includes:

• Abib
• Arencia
• Banila Co
• Beplain
• Bioheal Boh
• Cell Fusion C
• Fation
• Fully
• Heveblue
• Make P:rem
• Manyo
• Menokin
• Rejuran Cosmetics
• S.Nature
• Sungboon Editor
• Thome
• Torriden
• Wellage
• Whipped