National K-Beauty Week

K-Beauty is far more than a trend. It is a multi-billion dollar industry that introduced the world to groundbreaking ingredients like snail mucin, cica, and propolis, along with the famous multi-step routine that turned nightly skincare into a ritual. Korean beauty shifted the global conversation away from covering imperfections and toward treating the skin with respect and patience, a skin-first philosophy that now shapes shelves and routines in the world’s largest beauty market. National K-Beauty Week gives that quiet revolution its own annual moment in the spotlight.

The week was founded to celebrate that impact and the heritage behind it. Its stated aims are to educate, by demystifying the multi-step Korean skincare routine and highlighting the science behind the products; to celebrate heritage, by honoring the traditional Korean ingredients known as Hanbang that have been used for centuries; and to promote inclusivity, by showing how K-Beauty’s emphasis on gentle, effective ingredients serves all skin types and ages. Education, heritage, and welcome: those are the three pillars the week stands on.

The inaugural celebration, held May 11 through 17, 2026, showed what the week could be. Events unfolded across major American cities, from influencer gatherings in California to in-store activations at Ulta Beauty locations where shoppers received National K-Beauty Week gift bags. The week culminated in a Nasdaq closing bell ceremony in New York’s Times Square, led by founder Sarah Chung Park alongside executives from Landing International and Ulta Beauty, a symbolic moment marking K-beauty’s coming of age on American soil.

Park, who entered the beauty business in the late 2000s and founded Landing International in 2014, has described the week as an event meant to benefit the entire K-beauty industry, almost like a dedicated shopping holiday where every K-beauty brand could gain attention. She has said the goal was to create a national moment where everyone could recognize the impact K-beauty has had on the beauty industry and on consumers, and to celebrate Korean culture with pride. Plans are already underway to bring in more retailers, so that K-beauty promotions can reach shoppers across even more channels.

What makes the K-beauty approach distinctive is its patience. Where other traditions chase quick fixes, the Korean routine layers gentle steps: cleansing, toning, treating, and moisturizing, each one preparing the skin for the next. The week invites newcomers to slow down and learn that rhythm rather than rushing it. Dermatologists, longtime enthusiasts, and the simply curious are all welcome, because the philosophy at the heart of the week holds that good skin is not about perfection. It is about consistency, kindness, and time.

The heritage the week celebrates runs deep. Long before serums came in glass dropper bottles, Korean households relied on botanical ingredients and careful preparation, knowledge passed down through generations. Hanbang, the traditional Korean approach to wellness ingredients, connects the modern industry to centuries of practice. National K-Beauty Week treats that lineage with reverence, presenting innovation and tradition not as opposites but as partners, each one giving meaning to the other.

Inclusivity is the third pillar, and the week takes it seriously. K-beauty’s focus on gentle, effective formulas has always welcomed a wide range of skin types and ages, and the observance carries that spirit forward. Events and activations are designed to meet people where they are, whether they are building their first routine or refining a tenth. The message is that there is no single right way to care for your skin, only the way that respects it.

The timing of the week, the second week of May, places it in a season of renewal, when spring routines get a refresh and summer skin prep begins. From May 10 through May 16, 2027, retailers, brands, and communities will once again mark the occasion with education, promotions, and celebrations of Korean culture. It is a young observance, only in its second year, and that newness is part of its charm: everyone discovering it now gets to be part of shaping what it becomes.

To observe the week well, start with curiosity rather than a shopping cart. Learn what the steps of a Korean routine are and why each one exists. Read about the heritage ingredients and the science behind them. Talk to people whose skin is different from yours about what works for them. And remember the founding spirit: this is a celebration of patience and ritual, of an industry that asked the world to slow down and treat its skin with respect. A week is a short time, but a ritual learned in a week can last a lifetime.

The inaugural week’s schedule showed how a celebration can also be an education. Monday opened with an influencer event in Tustin, California, Tuesday brought in-store activations at Ulta Beauty locations across California, Florida, New York, and beyond, where shoppers received National K-Beauty Week gift bags, and Friday featured both the Nasdaq closing bell ceremony in New York and a lipstick giveaway activation in Pasadena. Saturday closed things out with an immersive, sensory-driven skincare experience in Los Angeles. Each stop was designed to let people touch, try, and learn, because K-beauty has always been something you experience with your hands, not just something you read about.

Behind the celebration stands a distributor with a founder’s story of its own. Sarah Chung Park entered the beauty business in the late 2000s and founded Landing International in 2014, which began as a platform matching global brands with retailers before moving into distribution. The timing put the company at the front of the first big wave of K-beauty in the United States around 2015, when Korean skincare began capturing the attention of beauty editors and early adopters. Park has said she believes all ships rise with a rising tide, and the week is her way of lifting the whole industry at once: brands, retailers, and shoppers together.

THE STORY BEHIND NATIONAL K-BEAUTY WEEK

📆 The 2026 Inaugural
The first National K-Beauty Week was held May 11 through 17, 2026, with events across major American cities.

🌟 The Architect
Sarah Chung Park, founder and CEO of the global K-beauty distributor Landing International, created the week with Ulta Beauty.

📢 The Nasdaq Bell
The inaugural week culminated in a Nasdaq closing bell ceremony in Times Square, led by Park with Landing and Ulta Beauty executives.

🔬 The Science
K-beauty introduced the world to ingredients like snail mucin, cica, and propolis, plus the famous multi-step routine.

❤️ Skin-First
The week honors the skin-first philosophy and the Hanbang heritage ingredients used in Korea for centuries.

WAYS TO CELEBRATE

📆 Try a double cleanse
Start the K-beauty ritual at home with an oil cleanser followed by a gentle water-based cleanser, the classic first step of the routine.

👥 Host a sheet-mask night
Invite friends over for sheet masks and tea, and compare notes on which gentle ingredients your skin likes best.

🏫 Explore heritage ingredients
Visit a local beauty shop or cultural event to learn about Hanbang ingredients used in Korean skincare for centuries.

Celebrate National K-Beauty Week

From May 10 through May 16, 2027, slow down and celebrate the ritual. Learn a step of the Korean routine, explore the heritage behind it, and treat your skin with the patience it deserves. Healthy skin is not rushed. It is tended, one gentle evening at a time.