How did South Korea become the world’s second-largest exporter of cosmetics?
The promise of pore-free, glassy, youthful-looking skin has made Korean beauty products a global phenomenon.
Americans spent as much $1.7bn (£1.3bn) on K-beauty in 2024, according to industry estimates, and the US now imports more cosmetics from South Korea than any other country.
Asma Khalid from The Global Story podcast speaks to Elise Hu, the host of TED Daily Talks host and author of ‘Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital’.
You can listen to new episodes of The Global Story every day on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
If you’re in the UK, you can listen on BBC Sounds. https://app.magellan.ai/listen_links/…
Chapters:
00:00 The South Korean cosmetic boom
01:50 Elise Hu 04:30 What is K-Beauty?
06:50 The commercialisation of K-Beauty products
10:12 The soft power government strategy
14:10 K-Beauty stores in America
16:10 How effective are the products?
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