Home > Business > Industry

K-beauty brands go toe to toe in Britain as market serves as regional launch pad

Published: 03 Feb. 2026, 18:48

Medicube products are sold at K-beauty specialty retailer Pure Seoul in Britain. [APR]

Britain is emerging as a new battleground for K-beauty, as Korean brands move rapidly into the country’s online and offline retail channels, drawn by its role as a cultural and geographic gateway to broader European trends.

Amorepacific’s premium skincare and cosmetics brand Sulwhasoo recently launched on the British-based online beauty platform Cult Beauty and is reviewing plans to expand into offline retail channels as well, according to beauty industry sources on Tuesday.

“We plan to step up our push into the European market using Britain as a foothold,” an Amorepacific representative said.

APR’s beauty device brand Medicube has expanded across both online and offline channels in the European country. The brand entered Pure Seoul, Britain's largest Korean beauty retailer, and drugstore chain Boots, and also launched on Amazon UK and TikTok Shop UK in October of last year.

“Britain has a well-developed online and offline distribution infrastructure, so we see it as a key base for our expansion into Europe,” an APR representative said.

Gudai Global’s skincare brand Beauty of Joseon now sells products at about 700 Boots stores across Britain and plans to debut at the beauty retailer Space NK later this month. Beauty of Joseon ranked among the top five brands by sales out of roughly 200 skincare brands that joined Boots last month, Gudai Global said.

Shinsegae International’s wellness beauty brand Amuse has also expanded its retail footprint by entering the beauty and health retailer Superdrug, while LF’s vegan beauty brand ATHE currently sells hand creams through Pure Seoul and is preparing for European cosmetics certification to introduce skincare products later this year.

Amuse products line the shelves at K-beauty specialty retailer Pure Seoul in Britain. [AMUSE]

"Britain presents relatively lower barriers to entry than traditional beauty powerhouses such as France, while offering a well-established premium market," a beauty industry source said. “Securing recognition in Britain significantly boosts brand value and helps expansion into markets such as France and Germany. This has fueled a boom in British-bound expansion across the beauty industry.”

Industry watchers also point to Britain's growing interest in natural ingredients such as ginseng, green tea and fermented extracts, along with strong demand for antiaging products, as favorable conditions for K-beauty. Social media has accelerated the spread of trends and further driven interest.

British retailers have also stepped up efforts to attract K-beauty brands. Alongside the rise of K-beauty-focused stores such as Pure Seoul, more major retailers now operate dedicated K-beauty sections.

Cosmetics exports to Britain jumped more than threefold in four years, rising from $56.26 million in 2021 to $188.22 million last year, according to the Korea Customs Service, a trend the BBC picked up on with in-depth coverage of K-beauty's popularity last month.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LIM SUN-YOUNG [[email protected]]