Korean beauty products are moving from phone screens to British streets, with social media driving sales of skin care products with striking ingredients such as snail slime and salmon sperm.

Retailers hope to take advantage of Tiktok and Instagram trends in the skin care and makeup range known as K-Beauty by opening physical stores and launching brands to attract consumers to pick up products that can use Viral Viral online.

Although some ranges are already available on professional beauty sites, UK shoppers now have the opportunity to try out their skins and evaluate what they call wonderful effects.

This trend is another example of South Korea's growing culture dominance, as the company expands into large consumer markets such as the UK, food, movies, TV and K-pop and its international stars such as Boyband BTS are becoming large businesses.

K-beauty’s positive reputation stems in part from the Korean tradition of using natural substances in products, making it softer to the skin, and its strict rules surrounding labeling. The industry is also known for its novel formulas and accidental packaging (sometimes animal-shaped), although many shoppers have discovered brands such as Joseon and Laneige through influencer reviews.

Georgia Stafford of market research firm Mintel said: “Social media is the driving force behind K-Beauty’s popularity in the UK, and after seeing it on social media, 34% of users purchased beauty or beauty products, increasing 58% of Gen Z users.”

According to Mintel, one in five (21%) of ZZ consumers use K-Beauty products, compared with 8% overall. They are more likely to follow a complex 10-step skincare routine that is popular in Korea, or try to make "glass skin" look loved by the beauty industry, where your face is soaked in moisture to give a dewy, glowing look.

According to Stafford, K-Beauty products have previously had a "relatively limited audience" because they are not available on most high streets. However, online popularity can now translate into in-person purchases.

Shoppers can now buy products like COSRX's skin essence on Superdrug and Boots, which contain snail mucin-mucin-mucin mucin. The latter store also sells Anua's facial serum, which includes PDRN (Polydeeoxyroxyribonypleotide), which contains fragments of DNA extracted from salmon sperm and is said to deeply moisturize the skin.

Stafford said K-Beauty products are “usually a fraction of the cost” compared to established quality brands. "So, consumers have access to new products and ingredients. PDRN is an outstanding example. Ingredients promote collagen production and their source is the real conversation starter!"

Boots is the largest beauty retailer in the UK, selling Korean skincare products every 15 seconds in recent months and expanding the range of IT inventory products.

While consumers may have tightened belts in other areas, spending on pharmacy, health and beauty has become outliers. Barclays figures show that spending in this sector averaged 10.2% higher in the first three months of the year, compared with the same period in 2024.

South Korean retailer Moida (translated as “gathering” or “collecting”) opened its first British store in Westfield Mall in December and opened its second in the capital this month.

Installed in pink and red places, the new store is located near Leicester Square, close to its Korean beauty retailer Pureseoul, which now has eight stores throughout the UK, including Birmingham, Manchester, Oxford and Cambridge – two more opened this year.

Meanwhile, during the festival, after a two-week pop-up window was successful, South Korean beauty rival Cupid signed a 10-year lease for the British store near central London.

Electronics giant LG is known for its smart TVs and washer dryers, but the company’s first product launched in 1947 was a moisturizer called Lucky Cream. LG hopes to be interested in everything Koreans by expanding its beauty division, LG Home and Healthcare (LG H&H). It launched its K-Beauty brand Belif in the UK in early May, initially on branches of online retailers and two London retailers Glamtouch.

Steven Jeong, managing director of LG H&H UK, said LG is also looking to open a physical store. “While our initial strategy focused on online channels, we believe that in-person experiences are an important part of the skincare journey, especially in terms of texture and personalized consultation.” He said the company hopes to “build an offline presence” starting in June.

Many consumers are also attracted by K-Beauty, part of a broader interest in Korean cultural exports, known as Korea Inspur (Halliu). According to a Straits Research Report, by 2030, K-Beauty is expected to be a $18.3 billion (£13.7 billion) global business.

"I looked at K-drama," said Ike Lawson, 28, who, along with two colleagues, browsed the shelves of a Presell store in central London during lunch. She said: “K-Beauty products worked for me, such as snail mucin serum. I went to Korea in 2023 to raid skin care products, but mainly for food.”

Pureseoul's shelves are stylish tubes and bottled products, many ingredients that are not familiar with the British market, from mung beans and mugwater to beehives, extracted from bees.

Lawson’s colleague Georgia Spooner, 27, who just bought a £22 sunscreen stick for the upcoming holiday, said she noticed “more stores pop up” after she first spotted K-beauty on social media. “It’s mainstream now.”

The Charing Cross Road branch in Pureseoul is a Korean hub with grocery stores and restaurants. Matt Peters, a retail expert at the London office in Savills, said the locations attracted retailers when choosing spaces.

“While these brands want to focus their products in Western audiences, many of them want to align with other Asian-centric businesses in a certain location,” Peters said.

Savills said K-Beauty retailers were among the retailers to fill gaps on UK streets, some of which signed 10-year leases, indicating their intention to commit to a location for quite some time.

Peters said: "These retailers think it's a long-term sport, it's not a flash in the pot. K-beauty has been in the UK for over five years. It's an industry that is growing in terms of products sold by different retailers."

As shoppers prioritize spending on health and cosmetics, property analysts expect K-Beauty retailers will continue to focus on other areas outside London based on the location of their most loyal online shoppers.

Moida plans to expand further across the UK and intends to bring its snail slime and other skincare novelties to Manchester in the summer.