The secrets behind the South Korean cosmetics boom

Jo Min-Su was working toward a computer science doctorate at one of South Korea's best universities when he stumbled on his calling: building a better lip gloss.

- Max Kim, Tribune News Service

Kim Kardashian

The 30-year-old sat near his booth at Seoul Beauty Week, pulled out a stick of his brand — named Blup — and gave his upper lip a dewy pink glow-up. “Nobody trusts a founder who doesn't use his own product,” he said, smacking his lips. Jo is one of the tens of thousands of entrepreneurs looking to strike it rich on the seemingly insatiable global demand for beauty products from South Korea.

Following in the slipstream of the superstars of K-pop, K-beauty has become a massive global business. Los Angeles fans of South Korean imports flocked to KCON LA 2095 at the LA Convention Center in August. At the music and cultural festival, they saw top K-pop idols and lined up for K-beauty at skincare booths. The three-day convention — which had more than 35O booths and attracted more than I00,000 people from around LA and the country — was sponsored by South Korean health and beauty giant Olive Young, which plans to open its first US outlet in LA early next year. The secret of K-beauty’s success has been the unlikely alliance of big manufacturers and small entrepreneurs to develop and supply a steady stream of new products to consumers and the “skinfluencers” who help them lock in on the latest lotions.