Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Korea Beauty Festival returns, lighting up Seoul with latest trends
International travelers visit the Korea Beauty Festival welcome center in Seoul's shopping district Myeong-dong, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Lee Hae-rin
By Lee Hae-rin
From personal color tips to prizes, event spotlights K-beauty’s global influence
The Korea Beauty Festival has returned for its second year, turning Seoul into a bustling hub for international beauty enthusiasts and travelers eager to explore the latest K-beauty trends.
Organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Visit Korea Committee (VKC), and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the monthlong festival is attracting both local and international attention as K-beauty solidifies its status as a must-experience attraction for visitors to Korea.
At the heart of the festivities is the event’s welcome center, set up in front of Myeongdong Theater in Seoul’s iconic shopping district.
Despite sweltering heat that reached 30 degrees Celsius by 2 p.m. Tuesday, the welcome center was bustling with foreign visitors eager to join the festivities. Open daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through July 18, the center offers event information and multilingual tourism support.
“This year, we’re focusing on interactive events to better engage a wider spectrum of international tourists,” a VKC staff member explained, noting the shift from last year’s shopping-focused approach.
Among the visitors was Damon Zeng, 30, from China, on his third trip to Seoul for business and leisure.
“I usually come for shopping, but I recently became interested in skincare,” he said, adding that he planned to join the festival’s stamp tour at nearby stores in the evening.
International visitors try personal color diagnosis at the LG Uplus' artificial intelligence-powered ixi Color Stylist booth at the Korea Beauty Festival welcome center in Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Lee Hae-rin
Among the welcome center’s most popular attractions is personal color analysis. Using an artificial intelligence-powered color stylist booth, visitors take a quick color test and receive a customized styling image tailored to their skin tone, eye color and hair color.
Outside, visitors played a game of Jenga with jumbo-size blocks marked with beauty keywords like health, fashion, hair, makeup and wellness. Mini-games about K-beauty also drew crowds, with winners receiving a prize package including scarves, cosmetic samples and fans. Shoppers who presented receipts from nearby beauty stores could claim additional gifts.
According to the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, cosmetics and perfumes were the top purchases among inbound tourists in the first quarter of this year, outpacing food and clothing.
The trend is evident in the surging number of foreign shoppers at stores like Olive Young, particularly in the bustling Myeong-dong district downtown and the trendy Hongdae area in northwestern Seoul, where up to 90 percent of customers at some stores are international visitors. Olive Young’s sales to international visitors in 2024 soared by 140 percent compared to the previous year.
The global appetite for K-beauty is also evident in exports.
Last year, Korean cosmetics exports surpassed $10 billion for the first time with a 20.3 percent increase compared to 2023, ranking third globally after France and the United States.
To meet this demand, the Korea Beauty Festival offers a range of hands-on experiences at trendy K-beauty spots across Seoul.
An international visitor tries a free makeup touch-up service at K-beauty experience center Beauty Play in Myeong-dong during the Korea Beauty Festival in Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Lee Hae-rin
At Beauty Play in Myeong-dong, visitors could enjoy free makeup touch-up services, personal color consultations and curated skincare and makeup product recommendations. The space also showcased quality skincare and cosmetics from Korean businesses, with photo zones and souvenirs for those who share their experiences on social media.
At HikR Ground, a promotion hall at the KTO's Seoul Center near Cheonggye Stream, festival-goers tried skin analysis devices and snapped magazine-style photos in a themed booth. In Seongsu, the festival hub inside the subway station’s culture space offers keychain and coaster-making workshops through Monday.
The festival runs through July 18 and features exclusive discounts and giveaways from 527 beauty and tourism-related companies.
A group of international travelers pose at the Korea Beauty Festival booth at HikR Ground, a promotion hall at the Korea Tourism Organization's Seoul Center, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Lee Hae-rin