The popularization of Korean culture, known as the Korean Wave or ‘Hallyu’, began in 1997 but shows no signs of subsiding just yet. Korean fashion and beauty brands are just becoming more and more coveted in South-east Asia, including in the Philippines. Korean beauty brands have been pioneers in coming up with numerous novel makeup and skincare products and technologies. If you’re a noob about all things Korean, check out this list of must-try K-beauty brands!

Etude House

Stepping into Etude House is like being transported to a castle from your favorite fairytale, a treasure trove full of treats and pleasures for your skin. The brand is best known for its concept stores that are designed to look like little castles and their extremely saccharine pink-based interior décor. Established in 1985, it has now expanded to more countries in asia!

Skinfood

Skinfood, as its name suggests, is a brand that uses a whole range of edible natural ingredients in their skincare products. It has gone as far as to claim that its products are so natural and harmless that you can eat them. High quality ingredients such as Brazilian black sugar, South Asian royal black honey. French grapes, Cheojeong-ri mineral water as well as organic tomatoes, lettuce, and cucumbers are some of the components of its skincare products.

Innisfree

Innisfree is regarded as South Korea’s first all-natural brand, using ingredients derived from the opulent island of Jeju, brimming with natural riches such as green tea, nutmegs, gulfweed, camellia, tangerines and volcanic clay. It is also involved in a wide variety of green initiatives in order to reduce its ecological footprint, which is another major selling point of the brand. K-pop star Yoona and K-actor Lee Min-ho have endorsed the brand helping to fuel its popularity over the years.

The Face Shop

With its beginnings in Korea in 2003, the brand now operates more than 2300 stores in 29 countries around the world. Seemingly, the Korean counterpart of The Body Shop, it emphasizes the use of natural ingredients in all its products and prides itself as a “brand that shares the benefits on nature”.

Which other Korean beauty brands do you love? Shop them now on ZALORA today!