"Korean Indie Beauty Brands See Explosive Sales on Amazon Worldwide"[Click eStock]

Sales Rankings Surge on Amazon in the U.S. and Europe

On the 13th, customers, mostly foreigners, are choosing cosmetics at a cosmetics shopping mall in Myeongdong, Seoul. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

Korean indie beauty brands (cosmetics brands independently operated without backing from major corporations or large capital) are making significant strides in Amazon’s major global markets. This trend is expected to highlight both the expansion in scale and profit improvement for Korea’s cosmetics sector.

On July 2, Shinhan Investment Corp. maintained its “overweight” recommendation for the cosmetics sector, citing this background. At the end of last month, “K-Indie Beauty” brands showed strong performance across various Amazon marketplaces. The Amazon sales rankings of Korean indie beauty brands in key countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany all rose simultaneously.

This year, Amazon Prime Day was held earlier than last year, running from June 23 to 26. While some of the figures reflect short-term event-driven sales, the number of Korean products entering the top 100 increased compared to last year’s Prime Day in July. In the skincare category, more than 14 products were added, while in the color cosmetics category, over two items entered the top 100. Compared to April and May of this year, the number of Korean skincare products in the top 100 increased by more than 15, and color cosmetics by more than six.

APR’s growth trend is particularly notable. The number of APR’s Medicube products in the top 100 on Amazon US grew from 6–7 in January this year to 16 by the end of last month. Several products, including the Medicube Zero Pore Pad, Collagen Jelly Cream, PDRN Pink Peptide Serum, and Collagen Wrapping Mask, ranked high on the list.

Among manufacturers, Cosmax remains dominant, but Korea Kolmar’s expansion is particularly striking. The number of skincare products manufactured by Korea Kolmar that newly entered the top 100 on Amazon US has increased, indicating that new indie beauty clients are expanding. In the sunscreen category, many products manufactured by Korea Kolmar also made the list.

By category, Korean brands continued to show strength in cleansing, essence/serum, mask packs, and sunscreen. It was also noted as a new trend that moisturizing products in balm stick form are rising in the rankings within the skincare category.

The spread of K-beauty was also evident in the European market. APR products maintained a presence of 5–7 items within the top 100 on Amazon in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy. Amorepacific’s eye patch, sunscreen, and cream products also newly entered the top 100, signaling category expansion. Dalba Global also maintained its ranking.

Park Hyunjin, a research fellow at Shinhan Investment Corp., emphasized, "Attention should be paid to the trend of growing export demand shifting from the United States to Europe, and from skincare to personal care."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.