12-08-2025
Snail face serum, anyone? How K-beauty took over the high street
W hen I started writing about beauty the most sought-after appointments on Harley Street were with French doctors. Whether Botox, lasers or peels, everyone wanted them with a touch of Gallic je ne sais quoi. Some 25 years on, it's all about the Korean doctors — or at the very least Korean technology.
K-pop fever may be sweeping the nation — the girl band Blackpink will be taking over Wembley this weekend and KPop Demon Hunters is No 1 on Netflix — but this other, quieter Korean revolution has been taking over the beauty industry, and now, your make-up bag.
That 'salmon sperm facial' everyone's raving about? Korea started it. Exosomes, the hot new ingredient popping up everywhere? Big in Korea ten years ago. Lasers that create tiny holes in the skin then squirt skin-boosting ingredients straight in? Korean. You get the picture.
