More Beautiful Through Hands-On Experiences! Beauty Flagship Stores from K-Beauty Brands
Visit K-beauty brand flagship stores in major Seoul areas. You can test products, try experiences, and enjoy distinctive spaces.
In Korea, there is an old saying that seeing something once is better than hearing about it a hundred times. Experiencing things firsthand is important in everything. In particular, beauty products require a testing stage where you directly check the color and texture and see whether they suit you. We introduce beauty flagship stores where you can experience K-beauty, armed with quality ingredients and refined style, and conveniently located in major Seoul areas such as Gangnam, Sinchon, and Jongno. Experience stylish K-beauty at flagship stores of K-beauty brands whose members are currently among the hottest idol groups in Korea and serve as brand ambassadors. The VMD, various hands-on programs, and products presented in the elegant spaces of these flagship stores will offer a new Hallyu travel experience.
Espoir’s Get Ready with Seoul, a one-on-one personalized experience The K-beauty brand Espoir, which drew attention recently by selecting Miyeon of (G)I-DLE and Key of SHINee as brand ambassadors, is becoming a global topic through an experience program for foreign applicants that showcases K-beauty in Seoul. Held at Espoir’s Gangnam showroom, known as one of the places in Seoul where you can receive the most professional makeup service, the program presented Seoul Hallyu makeup looks (Gangnam, Hongdae, Yongsan, Seongsu, Jongno) and offered a Seoul Hallyu powder and play recipe. A self-photo booth was also installed so participants and visitors could freely take makeup photos and enjoy both experience and fun.
Foreign visitors and influencers who took part in the event also shared highly positive reviews on social media about experiencing Espoir products and enjoying the activities. At Espoir Gangnam, a space where you can comfortably and freely experience Espoir’s products in full, you can try the Skin Tone Consulting Service, which lets you apply Pro Tailor Foundation Be Glow and find a foundation that matches your skin tone, as well as Powder and Play, a service where you combine and press three shades from a total of 30 shadow powders to create a powder in your preferred design. It is also recommended that you try Touch Up, a service that lets a makeup artist do your makeup one-on-one by reservation and helps solve your makeup concerns and questions. Reservations for Touch Up can be made through the website.
Let’s go to Espoir Gangnam, the K-beauty brand where you can express yourself through stylish makeup, to enjoy a variety of makeup-related experiences, product making, and product testing. After the experience, you will discover a more beautiful version of yourself. Location: 1F, Espoir Gangnam Showroom, 415 Gangnam-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul
Hours: Mon-Sat 11:00-21:00, Sun 12:00-21:00
Contact: 02-3477-0428
Website: Website
Etude Foundation Factory, where you can make your own foundation In Sinchon, the youthful street, there is Etude’s Foundation Factory, a representative makeup brand in Korea. Entering the building, which resembles a small fairy-tale castle, you will find a bright pink space.
At Etude Foundation Factory, you can enjoy two hands-on programs: the custom foundation service “Foundation Factory,” made just for you, and the personal color experience “Palette Play Time,” where you can check your skin tone. “Foundation Factory” is a service that creates your one-of-a-kind foundation by making Etude’s signature Double Lasting Foundation into a color that perfectly matches your skin. “Palette Play Time” is a DIY experience service in which you measure your skin color and tone, then receive color draping and other consultations from experts to create an eye palette customized for you. This service, where you can receive color analysis, hear additional explanations about cosmetics, and make your own exclusive product, is available only through reservations opened at midnight on the 26th of each month.
Etude, a global brand that spreads a joyful makeup culture, recently made headlines by choosing Kazuha of LE SSERAFIM as its brand muse. If you are curious about the makeup created by the pure, clear, and mature image of Kazuha and Etude’s lovely mood, go to Foundation Factory and try it for yourself. The all-purpose Foundation Factory, where you can experience various colors, product making, and testing, will delight you. Location: 16 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul
Hours: Store 10:00-22:00, Foundation Factory 11:00-20:00
Contact: 02-313-1916
Website: Website
Capturing attention through visible senses.
Tamburins Flagship Store Since Girls’ Generation member Tiffany introduced Tamburins in What’s in My Bag, the brand’s hand sanitizer series quickly became hugely popular and established itself as an essential item in many bags. Tamburins’ flagship store, which has captivated beauty enthusiasts with its refined design and tactile fragrance, is located in Sinsa-dong. Tamburins Flagship Sinsa, located on Garosu-gil, the showcase street of flagship stores, immediately draws the eye with its large building painted entirely white and the photo of BLACKPINK member Jennie, a Tamburins model, on the wall. Once you enter the gallery-like building, a kinetic object in the shape of a moving horse, one of the signature features of Tamburins Flagship Sinsa, catches your eye again.
The lifelike horse figure you encounter in the middle of Seoul’s Gangnam district intuitively reveals the sensual direction Tamburins pursues. Tamburins’ flagship store, which blurs the boundary between retail and art, lets visitors feel fragrance as something visible through the harmony of paintings, sculptural objects placed throughout the space, and Tamburins products. Tamburins, known for its sensuous scents, has grown in popularity with the launch of perfume balms following its hand sanitizers and hand creams. In addition to the perfume balm collection, which includes four scents from the ten in the perfume collection—CHAMO, BERGA SANDAL, LALE, and SUEDE PEAR—you can find a range of Tamburins products at the flagship store, and try various scent tests to find the fragrance that suits you best.
Why not look for your own scent at the Sinsa flagship store, where you can enjoy a variety of experiences through the five senses, including sight and hearing, beyond simple olfactory experiences? It could become a precious gift to yourself at the end of the year. Location: K Building, 44 Apgujeong-ro 10-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Hours: Daily 12:00-21:00
Contact: 02-511-1246
Website: Website
Beauty from Culture. Bukchon House of Sulwhasoo In Bukchon, where the breath and value of traditional Korean culture remain alive, there is a flagship store of Sulwhasoo, which can be called the root of K-beauty. Sulwhasoo, whose model is BLACKPINK’s Rosé, can be said to be the originator of herbal science cosmetics. It pursues beauty that remains healthy and radiant over time, carrying on the tradition of premium herbal cosmetics with quality ingredients and technology.
Located among the neatly lined hanok houses of Bukchon Hanok Village, ‘House of Sulwhasoo’ is a space created by connecting a hanok from the 1930s with a Western-style house from the 1960s. The harmony of traditional beauty and modern sophistication makes this space feel like a museum. Every area is filled with Sulwhasoo’s aesthetic, from the gallery where you can view artworks and sculptures, the craft room for hands-on experiences, the boutique where you can discover various Sulwhasoo products, to Sulwhasalon and Sulwhagarden for walking and relaxation. At Bukchon House of Sulwhasoo, content is curated seasonally, and the special ‘Yunjo Essence White Porcelain Edition’ is also available only here. Visits are possible only after reserving through Naver Booking. Visit Bukchon House of Sulwhasoo to experience Sulwhasoo’s unique heritage.
Enjoy true healing along with beauty experiences in the ‘house’ where Sulwhasoo’s unique sentiment and sensibility are alive. Location: 47 Bukchon-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Hours: Tue-Sun 10:00-19:00 (Closed every Monday, January 1, and on Lunar New Year and Chuseok holidays)
Contact: 02-762-5743
Website: Website
Related article See more I can be a Hallyu star too! Makeup shops frequented by Hallyu stars Beauty Flagship Store Series The essence of K-Beauty, flagship stores ※ This article was written in December 2022, and operating status and hours may change according to government quarantine guidelines, so please check in advance before visiting.