Linh For The Huynh
Bay Area Based Food & Travel Creative
Travel

How Cheap is Skin Care in Korea?

Skincare haul

Recently, I embarked on a journey to South Korea, a country that I grew infatuated with since I was 10 years old. I remember being obsessed with Kpop (Big Bang VIP’s where you at?!), K-dramas, Korean cuisine, and now, Korean skincare. 

It is no joke that skincare in Korea is more than just cleaning your skin. It is a lifestyle that became a global phenomenon that consists of 10-steps! Yes, you read that right. A total of 10 steps in order for your face to feel clean, nourished and protected. To read more about the 10-step process, I recommend reading this article by Soko Glam. The article gives an explanation as to why each step is beneficial and crucial for your skin. 

Let me tell you now that no matter where you are, especially if you are staying in Seoul, there will always be a shop nearby that will sell skincare. However, if you are looking for the best place to shop for a variety of products or not sure where to look, I recommend going to Myeong-dong. Myeong-dong is a shopping area that will consist of everything you might need from clothes, makeup, street food, and definitely skincare.

In this post, I am going to tell you some of the best shops to check out while you’re in South Korea, as well as the products I bought. I will also give you price comparisons, sales, conversion rates and show you just how cheap skincare can be if you buy in South Korea compared to buying in the United States. All products will be hyperlinked with prices that you would find in America and next to it are the prices I purchased them for.

Before I dive in, I would also like to mention that when you are shopping in South Korea, if you spend more than ₩30,000(~$25.72) in a single transaction, you are eligible for a tax refund if you present your passport at checkout! Tax refund amounts can vary, but the more you purchase, the more you will get back. Some stores will be able to give you the refund on the spot, but there will be stores that will give you a specific tax refund receipt to redeem at the airport. So, whenever you are shopping, remember to always present your passport at checkout and save the special receipt if the cashier advises you to redeem it at the airport. For more information, here is a page explaining Duty Free & Tax Refunds from the Korean Tourism Board.

Innisfree

One of my favorite places to shop for skincare is Innisfree. What I love about this brand is that they use high-quality and natural ingredients at an affordable price. Innisfree is actually one of the first all-natural and eco-friendly cosmetic brands in South Korea, sourcing all their products from Jeju Island, an island in the southern province. 

Below is a haul of some of the products that I bought. Most of these products I bought while I was in Busan in the Seomyeon area. I also bought a few more in Myeong-dong/Seoul. Between the two branches, I noticed that the Busan store associate was more helpful during my visit, while also giving me more samples and extra free products. Not sure if this is usual, but this was my experience in case you were wondering if each branch is similar/different!

In Busan, I was able to buy: 

In Seoul, I was able to buy:

I have included links to the products with American prices and as you can see, I scored such amazing deals! Innisfree was having a 1+1 free / 50% off deal on cleansers, and if you buy the Youth-Enriched Orchid Cream, you could get a mystery-free product within their orchid line. The mystery gift was in a sealed box and you could possibly score either the orchid eye cream, sleeping mask, or hand cream. I really wanted the eye cream so the store associate was very generous enough to help me feel out which box could have the eye cream. She also said I could try again and exchange the product if I didn’t get it the first time. Luckily, I did! Also, Innisfree’s best-selling product, the Green Tea Seed Serum, had a special where if you purchase the full-size serum in a gift set, it included free mini products from their Green Tea line for the same price compared to if you were to only buy the serum by itself. In the set, it included a mini foam cleanser, mini balancing skin (liquid toner), and a mini balancing lotion (lightweight moisturizer).

Olive Young

Olive Young is a VERY popular health and beauty drug store in South Korea. It is advertised as to be South Korea’s #1 store for beauty and health, and for good reason. This place sells so many products from skincare and makeup to even snacks! They carry products from brands such as COSRX, Neogen, DrJart+, Klairs, Missha, 3CE, and the list goes on. It is definitely a great place to go to try a variety of products and they have this store EVERYWHERE. By that I mean, you can find this store on almost every block, especially if you are in Seoul. It is basically a convenient store for skincare, comparable to something like a CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, and maybe Ulta here in the United States. If this doesn’t tell you how serious Koreans are about skincare, then I do not know what will.

Neogen Green Tea Set from Olive Young

Here are some products that I bought. To note, I visited several branches as some products had different deals and items in some stores. For the most part, most of the products were widely available in every branch.

A-LAND

A-LAND is another very popular store in South Korea, however, it is not as common as Olive Young as the store actually sells more clothing and accessories than skincare. The vibe of the store is very similar to an Urban Outfitters in America as the store offers a very unique, casual, and trendy style with a vintage flare. Their skincare selection is also not as abundant as Olive Young but I was actually more intrigued with A-LAND’s selection because they offer products and brands that you might not find at Olive Young such as Son & Park, Whamisca, Benten, Thank you Farmer, and more. They also had several Neogen products that I could not find elsewhere either. A-LAND is a great place if you are looking for products that are also vegan & cruelty-free. One of my close friends went vegan recently and she asked me to find skin-care products that would fit her lifestyle and I found A-LAND had the best selection for it!

Below are the items that I purchased from A-LAND:

Baviphat

Baviphat is a store I found in Myeong-dong that sells wholesale products from popular brands such as Innisfree, Neogen, Nature Republic, Missha, Laneige, Banila & Co, and more. A lot of the products you will find here are significantly discounted by at least 30% and you might wonder if it is too good to be true and if the products are actually even authentic. To my knowledge, I believe the products are because some of the products I already owned and previously bought at the original company seem to be exactly the same as the items I bought at Baviphat. I would guess since it is wholesale, Baviphat is just selling overstock products as the items they have are popular sellers in the regular stores. For example, I bought discounted Innisfree Green Tea & Honey sheet masks at Baviphat, but at Innisfree they were basically giving those scents/ingredient products for free with your purchase at the regular Innisfree stores.

With that being said, shop with your own judgment. I read reviews from other bloggers who purchased from Baviphat and didn’t have any problems with their skin after using it. A Reddit forum also mentions that Baviphat use to be a well-known brand. I would think the Korean government would shut down such a place in a very touristy area if they sold fake products.

At this place I bought:

While I was in Busan, I saw they carried the Son & Park Beauty Water at various Olive Young stores, however, it was difficult to find it in the Myeong-dong branches, so I was relieved to find it at Baviphat. I saw that they had it in A-LAND as well, but I was not able to shop at A-LAND until the very end of my shopping trip. In South Korea, I found that Son & Park actually give a free mini size of the Beauty Water with a purchase of the full size compared to in America where you only get the regular size alone. 

If you did not know, many people rave that Missha’s Time Revolution First Treatment Essence is actually a dupe of the very popular SK-II’s Pitera Facial Treatment Essence which can ring up from $99-$235 depending on the size you choose to purchase. I have not tried either product yet, but I saw that the visual appearances are quite similar as they both come in a glass bottle. In the regular Missha store, I saw they were selling the product for ₩38,000 with a deal of buy 2, get 1 free. However, I thought for my first time, purchasing from Baviphat made more sense as I wanted to try the product first before splurging on multiple. 

All Mask Story

Similar to Baviphat, All Mask Story is a shop I found in Myeong-dong that sells skincare products at a discounted rate. They carry brands such as Sulwasoo, Mediheal, Laniege, Too School for School, DrJart+, and more. I noticed they specialize more in selling sheet masks in bulk, hence the name. They even had the popular Mediheal x BTS collaboration sheet mask set! 

At this store, I bought:

– Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask in Grapefruit (₩11,600/$9.91)

– Banila & Co 4-set Mini Clean it, Zero Balms (₩4,800/$4.10)

I have heard great things about Laneige’s lip sleeping mask and was very curious how moist it could make my lips! I’ve suffered from dry lips since I was a kid so I’m willing to try any product that’ll potentially help. I also read that South Koreans are big on the double cleanse method. If you’re familiar with the 10-step method, then you will know that the first two steps will be cleaning your face will an oil-based cleanser then a water-based cleanser. The oil cleanser is designed to help melt away and remove all the makeup and any oil-based impurities on your face. I currently do not wear as much make-up as I use to, but I really wanted to try Banila & Co’s Clean It Zero balm, and the mini sizes were perfect to test out!

SK-II

When I was in Busan, I visited Centum City’s Shinsegae, which is actually the biggest department store in the world, surpassing Macy’s flagship store in NYC. I was thinking about buying SK-II’s pitera products for a while since one of my favorite influencers, Jenn Im, raves about it in almost all her skincare videos! I figured, since I am in the biggest department store in the world, why not splurge?

I ended up buying one of the Pitera full line sets that included:

  • 1 Facial Treatment Sheet Mask
  • 1 Mini Pitera Facial Treatment Essence (75mL)
  • 1 Delux Sample Facial Treatment Lotion (30mL)
  • 1 Mini R.N.A Power Cream (15mL)

For this set, I paid a total of ₩94,000/$80.33. It was originally ₩99,000/$84.60 but if you remember to show your passport, you will receive a tax refund! Purchasing this set felt very worth it because you actually cannot find a set that contains four products in America. On the SK-II American site, there are usually only three products within a set for at least $99-$110, not including tax. So, if you are in South Korea and thinking about trying out SK-II’s products, definitely try buying the full line pitera set!

Etude House/Nature Republic/Skin Food

If you are absolutely not sure what to buy in regard to skincare, my advice is to start off with buying sheet masks. Sheet masks are one of the easiest ways to treat yourself in the comfort of your own home and are very affordable if you are just starting out! Multiple stores were having sales on sheet masks and I found myself purchasing from Etude House, Nature Republic, & Skin Food. 

All three of these stores were having either the 10+10 free for ₩10,000/$8.55 or 1+1 free for ₩1,000/$0.86 deal. After the sale, each mask came out to be ₩500/$0.43 each and with a tax refund, it was a bit cheaper! I won’t share the total amount of sheet masks I bought since it is a bit embarrassing, LOL. Let’s just say I am stocked for the year, haha. 

Other products I bought were:

Nature Republic Aqua Cream

In conclusion, these were all the products that I purchased for myself and gifts for friends and family. I was very impressed by the selection of brands and products that South Korea has to offer and understand why the country has dominated the skincare industry. If you are curious about browsing through other stores that I have not mentioned yet, here are other shops/stores/brands that I have heard are worth checking out:

  • The Face Shop
  • Holika Holika
  • Tony Moly
  • Amore Pacific
  • LOHBS (Love, Health & Beauty)
  • Aritaum
  • Belport
  • Lotte Department Store
  • Chicor
  • Mamonde

I hope this post was helpful enough to encourage you to shop for skincare on your next trip to South Korea! I definitely have so many products on my list I want to try on my next visit! 

Safe Travels,

Linh