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With the number of UK-based K-beauty retailers ever increasing, getting hold of Korean makeup and skincare products in the UK has become easier than ever.
Tried-and-tested global marketplaces like Stylevana and YesStyle have been around for a while and are great for big K-beauty hauls. But what if you’re just looking to pick up a few new bits here and there?
Local retailers tend to be a tad more pricey than their international counterparts. However, if you don’t want to run into custom charges or wait months for your products to arrive, they’re a godsend!
So, if you’re thinking about buying a few Korean makeup or skincare products, here are the top UK-based K-beauty retailers I suggest checking out. Whenever I’m looking for a specific Korean beauty item I always turn to the places below!
The best UK retailers for Korean skincare and makeup:
PURESEOUL
PURESEOUL is a London-based K-beauty specialist that sources their products directly from Seoul. They’ve got a huge online offering, as well as brick-and-mortar stores in London, Oxford, and Brighton, with another one due to open up in Birmingham soon too!
At PURESEOUL you’ll find a selection of your favourite Korean brands like Etude House, Innisfree and Laneige. They have a mix of fun, new makeup stuff AND skincare classics so you’ll always find something that takes your fancy!
Delivery is super quick – my PURESEOUL parcel came in 2 days! And they include a couple of free samples so you can test out other K-beauty products before buying.
Also, be sure to check out their skincare bundles that are specially curated to suit different skin needs e.g. brightening, anti-ageing etc. A lot of the time they’re discounted so the value for money is amazing!
Shipping: Free when you spend over £30; £3.99 for orders under £30.
Likeskin
Founded in 2019, Likeskin’s ethos is all about making Korean and Japanese products more accessible to UK beauty lovers. They have a small makeup selection, but skincare is really the main focus here.
Likeskin encourages shopping by skin concern so if you have oily or sensitive skin, for example, it’s really easy to find which products are best suited to you.
If you’re serious about skincare, and want to discover some new brands, I definitely recommend taking a look.
Shipping: Free on orders over £35; £3.80 for UK tracked delivery on orders under.
Skinsider
Skinsider is another London-based retailer that’s making K-beauty more widely accessible in the UK. As with Likeskin, the makeup selection is quite a bit smaller than the skincare range, but you’ll still find a fair few gems in there!
They sell a good range of popular K-beauty favourites, alongside products from some lesser known brands. I also like that they have a whole section dedicated to vegan skincare.
Shipping: Free on orders over £20; £4 for orders under £20.
Discount: Use my code thesummerstudy15 for 15% off full-price products.
Skin Cupid
Skin Cupid was created to help K-beauty lovers across the UK gain access to their favourite makeup and skincare products in the smoothest, simplest way. All products are sourced directly from Korea and dispatched from Skin Cupid’s base in London.
The Skin Cupid team ensures customers that they only stock products they love, and they test nearly all the products they sell to make sure that they’re the best quality. Plus, they have a really informative TikTok account that’s super useful if you’re stuck deciding which products to buy.
Shipping: Free on orders over £35; Royal Mail Tracked Standard Delivery for £3.99
Glam Touch
Glam Touch was founded by Sen Vu in 2017. Searching for a solution to her breakouts, she found that Korean skincare seemed to hold many of the answers. And, luckily for us, she wanted to share this with the rest of the world.
All products stocked by Glam Touch come straight from the manufacturers. And the company has been lucky enough to partner with some of Korea’s top beauty brands, like Heimish, Dear Klairs, d’Alba and Banobagi.
The makeup selection is a little limited, but their skincare range has all you could want!
Shipping: Free over £50; UK standard delivery for £3.95.
TONIC15
TONIC15 does a little bit of everything, including hair and body care. The site is definitely more skincare-focused but if you search hard enough you’ll discover a few makeup bits here too.
The brands on offer are subject to a strict judging criteria so you know you’re getting the best of the best. TONIC15 places a massive focus on natural, plant-based ingredients and, on top of this, all of the products they sell are completely free from parabens! We love to hear it.
Shipping: Free over £25; £4.95 for Royal Mail Tracked 48hrs.
Beauty & Seoul
Beauty & Seoul was founded by Korean adoptee Maree who came up with the business idea after travelling to Seoul in search of her birth family. While there, she realised that there were very few K-beauty options back in the UK, so took on the challenge of making Korean skincare more mainstream and accessible here.
You’ll find loads of popular brands on the website, alongside quite a few that I actually hadn’t heard of before! I love discovering new brands and products so I’m super excited to try some of these out.
In addition to their integrated blog, Beauty & Seoul has a YouTube channel which lets you get to know more about the founder and the business. This makes the company feel a lot more personal which I absolutely adore!
Shipping: Orders over £25 are free; £4.99 for Royal Mail Second Class Delivery.
Other K-beauty stockists:
Cult Beauty
Most people are probably used to shopping Cult Beauty for general skin and makeup goods. However, their K-beauty selection is worth a browse too. Here you’ll find cult favourites like Dr. Jart+ and Glow Recipe.
I wouldn’t say the range is huge, but the products they do have are some of the best!
Shipping: Free over £20; UK tracked delivery for £3.95.
LOOKFANTASTIC
LOOKFANTASTIC has a whole section dedicated to the 7-step Korean skincare routine. By clicking on the type of product you want (e.g. cleansers, toners, moisturisers, etc.), you can shop all the Korean products in this category. Really useful!
What’s great about LOOKFANTASTIC is that while they stock the drugstore classics like Holika Holika and Oh K!, they also have more elusive brands like Huxley and J.One.
Shipping: Free over £25; £2.95 for tracked delivery.
Boots
UK retailers used to be lacking on the Korean skincare front, but now you can even find your K-beauty favourites on the high street. Although the selection isn’t massive, Boots still stock famous brands like Tonymoly and COSRX so it’s worth a look!
Shipping: Free over £25; £3.50 otherwise.
Sephora
Sephora’s K-beauty range is quickly expanding and now there’s a whole page dedicated to Korean skincare and makeup. Here you’ll find classic brands, like Oh! K and Holika Holika, and also some newer names, such as G9 Skin.
Shipping: Free for orders over £20; £3.95 for tracked delivery.
Where do you buy your K-beauty products from? Are there any other businesses I should add to the list? Let me know in the comments.
Have you tried Lador Dermatical hair loss shampoo for thin hair from Pure seoul please?
Hi Carole, I haven’t sorry! Lador is definitely a brand that I need to try out!