The US is now the biggest overseas buyer of South Korean skincare and cosmetics, overtaking China. From snail-mucin serums to moisturizers derived from salmon sperm, America’s Gen Z can’t get enough of viral TikTok must-haves.

While the K-beauty category is popular with digitally savvy skincare junkies, especially Asian Americans, it’s still not yet mainstream. US sales reached a record $2.4 billion in 20251 , but that’s just a fraction of the $110 billion overall beauty market, according to consumer intelligence firm NielsenIQ. To truly appeal to the masses in the world’s largest personal-care market, the genre needs a different approach from the one that worked in Asia.

© Bloomberg