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Skin, K-beauty, Korea trips and the beauty industry — ask and share
Haus Nowhere Dosan (formerly Haus Dosan): Gentle Monster, Tamburins and Nudake in one building
Right next to Dosan Park stands a five-story, board-formed concrete building known as Haus Nowhere Dosan. It used to be called simply "Haus Dosan," but once sister locations opened in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Seoul's Seongsu-
0 0Enjoy Myeongdong, where K-beauty and K-pop meet
Norazo, the male duo loved for their unique style, and GHOST9, the nine-member boy group, rewrote Norazo’s signature song “Superman” for Play with Seoul, a promotional video for the Seoul Tourism Special Zone. Here are t
0 0Four structures you keep seeing in K-beauty short videos that travel well abroad
Scroll through K-beauty on TikTok or Instagram Reels and some formats repeat again and again. Here are the structures brand marketers often reference. None of them guarantees results, but they make good starting points f
0 0Dry Skin in Winter: The Korean Layering Trick
In Korea, instead of a very heavy cream, many people prefer several thin layers: hydrating toner, serum, and cream. The idea is to hydrate first and seal it in afterward.
0 1Tiny bumps on the forehead: What should I do instead of squeezing them?
Tiny bumps on the forehead and chin (closed comedones) aren’t inflamed, so they may be less noticeable, but they keep bothering you when you touch them. Squeezing them can easily cause redness or leave marks, which is wh
0 3Starting retinol in your 20s or 30s: the slow-and-steady plan
Retinol is still the most studied ingredient for the look of fine lines and uneven texture. It is also the one people most often quit in week two, because of flaking and stinging. The fix is almost always less, less ofte
0 3Puffy side hair without a down perm: four alternatives from a Korean hair forum
In DCInside's hairstyle gallery, a well-upvoted post laid out ways to tame sticking-out side hair without a 'down perm', the chemical flattening treatment many Korean men get every few weeks. The writer, who says their o
0 0To start a cosmetics brand, you need to register as a “responsible cosmetics distributor” — how this differs from manufacturing
To distribute cosmetics under your own brand in Korea, you need to register as a responsible cosmetics distributor. This also applies if you outsource manufacturing instead of making the products yourself.
0 1Topics That Keep Coming Up in Ingredient Meetings Lately
I’m curious about the ingredient trends people in the industry are seeing firsthand. I’ll start by listing the trends showing up in stores and online. PDRN·DNA ingredients: Expanding into sunscreens and pads Peptides: Mo
0 1A good-value dermatologist with no English: has anyone brought an interpreter?
This thread is a few years old, but the question keeps coming up. On the Tripadvisor Seoul forum, a traveller said a friend had recommended a reasonably priced dermatology clinic with no English-speaking doctors. Clinics
0 0Parents hate white cast? Lotion-like sunscreens Korean forum users suggest
On the Korean forum theqoo's beauty board, someone asked for recommendations because their mother wanted a sunscreen that spreads like lotion instead of turning her face white (April 2025). It was a one-line question, bu
0 0Toner pads: what reviewers keep praising and complaining about
Toner pads, cotton rounds pre-soaked in toner in a tub, are one of the most visible K-beauty categories in rankings and hauls. Here is a roundup of what reviews and beauty forums commonly report. What reviewers like: Con
0 0What skincare gift set works best for an older parent?
On Clien, someone asked their mother what she wanted for Chuseok, and she said a skincare set. Searching online turned up far too many options and reviews written only by younger people, so they asked for set recommendat
0 1Can an influencer's beauty brand beat a big lab's products?
On Blind, a Korean workplace forum, someone asked a blunt question. Plenty of influencers expand into cosmetics or supplements. Can a personal brand really outdo products from a big company with hundreds of researchers?
0 1Tax taken off at the till: Korea's instant tax refund limits explained
One thing that confuses a lot of visitors buying cosmetics in Korea is the instant tax refund: the tax comes off right at the checkout, instead of being claimed back at the airport. What are the limits? The government ra
0 0New beauty brand, small budget: where does your creator money go first?
For a young brand with limited funds, splitting the creator budget is a constant headache. Talk to people in the industry and the options usually fall into a few camps. Common choices One or two big creators: awareness j
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Where would you spend your first-quarter creator budget first?
Pick one to see the results
0 0Six weeks before the wedding: should you skip a first-ever skin treatment?
On theqoo's beauty board, someone six weeks out from their wedding was thinking about getting Rejuran (an injectable made from salmon-derived DNA fragments, popular in Korea) about three weeks before the day. Searching t
0 1Sun sticks: not trusted on faces, loved for necks and hands?
On Girls Channel, a Japanese women's forum, someone asked what sunscreen sticks are actually like to use and whether they feel effective, since they'd never tried one (May 2024). The thread ran long. Here's how the repli
0 0More Beautiful Through Hands-On Experiences! Beauty Flagship Stores from K-Beauty Brands
In Korea, there is an old saying that seeing something once is better than hearing about it a hundred times. Experiencing things firsthand is important in everything. In particular, beauty products require a testing stag
0 0Olive Young's K-beauty edit is now inside 500+ Sephora stores in the US
Since August 20, 2026, Sephora has been selling an Olive Young-curated K-beauty selection across the US. The basics: 19 Korean brands, including Abib, BANILA CO, beplain, Cell Fusion C, make p:rem, Torriden and WELLAGE I
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