“Why do we want Korean foundations to match our skin tones?” a user on the subreddit r/kbeauty innocently asked. “Considering that there are few dark-skinned people in Korea, why do we seek out those specific foundations?”​ This question isn’t an uncommon one. Given that Korea is an ethnically homogeneous country with about 96 per cent of Koreans identifying as ethnically Korean, why would a Korean beauty company make products to suit various skin tones? 

I asked the inverse of that question when I first discovered K-beauty several years ago. I bought into the hype after seeing some of my favourite beauty gurus on YouTube rave about cushion foundations. But after an extensive, futile search online to find a cushion foundation that would match my skin, I concluded there were none. I was bummed. Why couldn’t this cool, new product be available to me?

K-beauty is now a behemoth industry: its exports were valued at $7.65 billion in 2023, and the market has significantly grown since it was first introduced to a Western audience. But while the brands are expanding to become more global and internationally available, the shade ranges don’t seem to be expanding alongside them.

Laila Cross, a 26-year-old medical student and fan of Korean skincare, often finds herself frustrated with the lack of selection when it comes to Korean make-up. “I love K-beauty because the formulations often incorporate skincare,” she says. “But I can’t use many of the complexion products. The shades are just too light.”

Essence Whitaker says she’s received PR packages of brands’ whole ranges which didn’t include any complexion products suitable for her skin tone. When she spoke up about it online, the 27-year-old Black K-beauty influencer and make-up artist says she received many comments from people who have always wanted to try Korean make-up products but haven’t been able to due to the lack of shades for darker skin (including from Korean people themselves). “There’s women in Korea who are slightly tan [who have] never been able to find [their] foundation shade,” says Whitaker. “A lot of people didn’t complain about it because they didn’t know that they had the right to ask for darker shades.”

However, she also experienced backlash and negative reactions, with people questioning her right to comment about the lack of inclusivity. While in the Western market calling out brands for limited shade ranges has become common among influencers and consumers, when it comes to Korean brands there seems to be a hesitancy to do the same. But as K-beauty grows and expands across the world, this is changing. “We’re in the second wave of K-beauty right now,” says Fama Ndiaye, CEO of AGASKIN, a social marketing agency that connects K-beauty brands to global audiences and content creators. “It’s all about diversity.”

When diversity efforts are prioritised in beauty, it not only leads to increased accessibility among a wider consumer base, but increased sales too. TIRTIR, a Korean make-up brand, expanded its line of the Mask Red Cushion Foundation from only three shades in March of 2024 to 40 by the summer with the help of K-beauty influencer MissDarcei (who is now an ambassador for the brand) and consumer feedback. The foundation quickly went viral on TikTok, leading to an incredible 55,465 per cent increase in sales from the US as reported by Vogue.

However, there are still challenges getting Korean brands to buy into the inclusion efforts. Ndiaye, who is Senegalese, moved to Korea in 2017. She founded AGASKIN to show that K-beauty can be for everyone. After working with over 50 Korean beauty brands, some of which are household names in the industry, she says it’s not enough for K-beauty brands to say they’re working towards inclusivity; they need to show it too. “You need representation to sell your product,” explains Ndiaye. “The minute a brand comes to me and says they want to enter the global market, they need to change their marketing. It has been a constant fight… the US market is [not] homogenous.” Her main mission is getting K-beauty brands to recognise the value of inclusive representation and working with diverse talent, from content creators to models in beauty campaigns, to being involved in the research and development process of products.

Further fueled by the rising popularity of Korean culture more generally – thanks to K-pop and K-cinema – the K-beauty market is expected to continue growing with a value estimate of $9.05 billion predicted by 2029. The allure of K-beauty isn’t merely attributed to the glossy sheen of glass skin, it’s the innovation of effective skincare at an affordable price, the novelty of ingredients like snail mucin and mugwort, and the fresh-faced effortless beauty that says “my face but better”. But if brands truly want to be successful and innovative on a global scale, they will need to ensure they are expanding in all aspects, and creating products that everyone can use.