In 1991, four years after joining Amorepacific, his family’s South Korean beauty conglomerate, Suh Kyungbae traveled to France to figure out why the company’s skin care line was selling so poorly there.

1991年，加入家族旗下的韩国美妆集团爱茉莉太平洋四年后，徐庆培前往法国探寻公司护肤系列在当地销量惨淡的原因。

He found the products collecting dust at run-down French drugstores. Mr. Suh decided to pull the items off the shelves. He did not want to risk undermining Amorepacific’s image in France, the birthplace of the modern cosmetics industry.

他发现产品在法国破败的药店里积灰。徐庆培决定下架这些产品，他不愿冒险损害爱茉莉太平洋在现代美妆产业发源地法国的品牌形象。

“I realized that having a brand that is recognized in the market is very important,” said Mr. Suh, 62, now the chairman of Amorepacific. “At that time, Korean brands weren’t strong enough.”

“我意识到，拥有一个被市场认可的品牌至关重要，”如今62岁、担任爱茉莉太平洋董事长的徐庆培说，“那时候，韩国品牌的实力还不够强。”

Those days are long gone. Riding the cultural wave of South Korean music, movies and television shows, even food, the country’s beauty products are thriving. South Korean beauty trends — including glass skin, multistep skin care routines and snail mucin serum — are online fodder.

那样的日子早已一去不返。借着韩国音乐、影视、甚至美食掀起的文化热潮，韩国美妆产品蓬勃发展。玻璃肌、多步骤护肤流程、蜗牛黏液精华等韩妆潮流成为网络热门话题。

South Korea surpassed the United States to become the world’s second-largest cosmetics exporter, after France, in the first half of 2025. Cosmetics exports surged 15 percent in the six-month period, to a record $5.5 billion, fueled by growth in the United States and Europe, according to data from the South Korean government.

2025年上半年，韩国超越美国成为仅次于法国的全球第二大美妆出口国。韩国政府数据显示，受欧美市场增长推动，这六个月的美妆出口额激增15%，达到创纪录的55亿美元。

Amorepacific is being transformed from domestic stalwart to export powerhouse. Last year, the company’s sales to the West, which includes North America and Europe, more than doubled.

爱茉莉太平洋正从本土中坚力量转型为出口巨头。去年，该公司对北美、欧洲等西方市场的销售额增长了一倍多。

Once a niche segment, Korean beauty products are thoroughly mainstream, with a large presence at retailers like Sephora and Walmart in the United States, as well as major stores across Europe. The American chain Ulta Beauty, which has more than 1,400 U.S. stores, said in July that it was expanding its K-beauty offerings. South Korea’s biggest cosmetics chain, Olive Young, plans to open its first store in America next year, in Los Angeles.

韩妆曾是小众品类，如今已完全主流化——在美国丝芙兰、沃尔玛等零售商以及欧洲各大商场均占据重要席位。拥有超过1400家美国门店的美妆连锁品牌Ulta Beauty于7月宣布，将扩大韩妆产品供应。韩国最大美妆连锁欧利芙洋计划明年在美国洛杉矶开设首家门店。

爱茉莉太平洋集团董事长徐庆培从父亲手中接管了家族企业，后者是该公司的创始人。爱茉莉太平洋旗下高端护肤品牌雪花秀的首尔旗舰店。爱茉莉太平洋集团最初创立于开城（现属朝鲜），后迁至首尔并在那里设立总部。

This has created opportunities for Amorepacific’s 31 brands, including Laneige and the luxury skin care line Sulwhasoo, to reach more consumers.

这为拥有兰芝、高端护肤品牌雪花秀等31个品牌的爱茉莉太平洋创造了接触更多消费者的机会。

And while Amorepacific is a beneficiary, it is also a target. Hundreds of smaller South Korean brands are jostling to stand out with new products featuring innovative ingredients or new technologies. Even products from lesser-known brands spread quickly on social media. On TikTok, posts about “K-beauty” or “Korean skin care” garner 250 million views on average per week, according to Spate, a consumer data firm.

爱茉莉太平洋是受益者，同时也成为竞争目标。数百个韩国小众品牌通过推出含创新成分或新技术的产品，争相脱颖而出。即便是不知名品牌的产品，也能在社交媒体上迅速传播。消费者数据公司Spate称，TikTok上“韩妆”或“韩国护肤”相关内容每周平均获得2.5亿次浏览量。

When Amorepacific was founded on Sept. 5, 1945, the notion of South Korea’s becoming a global power in the cosmetics industry would have been unimaginable — even to the company’s founder, Suh Sungwhan, who is Suh Kyungbae’s father.

1945年9月5日爱茉莉太平洋成立时，即便对公司创始人、徐庆培的父亲徐成焕而言，韩国成为全球美妆产业强国的愿景也是难以想象的。

Demand for K-beauty products internationally blossomed alongside the country’s cultural wave, known as “Hallyu” in Korean, in the late 1990s, when South Korean television shows started gaining popularity in Asia. Over the past decade, musical acts like BTS and Blackpink, television shows like “Squid Game” and this year’s summer blockbuster, “KPop Demon Hunters,” have vaulted the country’s cultural exports to new heights of global popularity.

20世纪90年代末，随着韩国电视剧开始在亚洲走红，“韩流”文化热潮兴起，韩妆的国际需求也随之爆发。过去十年间，防弹少年团、BLACKPINK等音乐组合，《鱿鱼游戏》(Squid Game)等电视剧，以及今年夏季爆款电影《K-Pop：猎魔女团》(KPop Demon Hunters)等作品，将韩国文化出口推向全球流行的新高度。

“It is with the development of culture that the beauty industry can also develop,” said Suh Kyungbae, who took over as Amorepacific’s chief executive in 1997. “Culture, beauty, food and fashion all cross-pollinate.”

“美妆产业的发展离不开文化的推动，”1997年接任爱茉莉太平洋首席执行官的徐庆培说。“文化、美妆、美食和时尚相互交融、彼此促进。”

As global audiences get a window into life in South Korea through movies and television shows, they are introduced to the age-defying skin of Korean celebrities, as well as the country’s cosmetic products and elaborate skin care routines.

全球观众通过影视节目窥见韩国生活的同时，也接触到韩国名人的冻龄肌肤，以及韩国美妆产品和繁复的护肤流程。

爱茉莉太平洋集团的旗舰店位于韩国首尔的圣水洞，这个时尚街区以潮流精品店和咖啡馆闻名。

In the United States, trendsetters and early adopters, especially those with personal connections to South Korean culture, started embracing Korean beauty products about 10 years ago, said Charlotte Cho, a founder of Soko Glam, an e-commerce website specializing in K-beauty products.

专注于韩妆的电商平台Soko Glam创始人夏洛特·赵（音）表示，大约十年前，美国的潮流引领者和早期尝鲜者——尤其是与韩国文化有个人联结的群体——开始接受韩妆产品。

Korean brands filled a void between inexpensive drugstore products and legacy offerings sold at department stores. They offered unique ingredients and technological breakthroughs at better prices. She said items like pimple patches for treating zits and sheet masks provided an affordable entry point.

韩国品牌填补了平价药妆与百货商场传统品牌之间的空白。它们以更实惠的价格提供独特成分和技术突破。她说，祛痘贴、片状面膜等产品成为平价入门之选。

Amorepacific’s big break in the United States came from a mask that’s not really a mask. The company’s Laneige brand developed a product called Lip Sleeping Mask — more balm than mask — that softens and hydrates lips as users sleep. Beauty influencers and celebrities gushed about the product on social media.

爱茉莉太平洋在美国的重大突破源自一款非传统面膜。旗下兰芝品牌推出的“夜间修护唇膜”更像是唇膏而非面膜，能在睡眠时软化并滋润双唇。美妆博主和名人在社交媒体上对这款产品赞不绝口。

There was a burst of buzzy collaborations and savvy social media posts. Over the past year, one Lip Sleeping Mask was sold every two seconds in the United States.

随后，品牌推出了一系列热门联名合作，并发布了巧妙的社交媒体内容。过去一年，美国市场每两秒就卖出一款兰芝夜间修护唇膜。

Just as K-beauty was taking off in America, it faced a new challenge in President Trump’s import tariffs.

就在韩妆在美国崭露头角之际，特朗普政府的进口关税带来了新挑战。

South Korea reached a finalized deal with Mr. Trump last month for a 15 percent tariff rate, down from the initial 25 percent that the president announced in April. Amorepacific said that it had absorbed the increase for now, but that it was looking into other ways to make its products.

韩国上月与特朗普达成最终协议，将关税税率从总统4月宣布的25%降至15%。爱茉莉太平洋表示，目前已自行承担关税涨幅，但正在探索其他生产方式。

爱茉莉太平洋旗下奢华护肤品牌雪花秀的旗舰店，坐落于首尔历史悠久的北村地区。雪花秀以在化妆品中融入人参等传统草本成分闻名。1960年代，爱茉莉太平洋创始人徐成焕在公司的首尔办公室工作。1971年，徐成焕在首尔某百货公司化妆品专柜与销售人员交谈。

“The free trade system is slowly fading away,” Mr. Suh said. “We need to make our products better, and we might find a way to try to produce locally inside the U.S.”

“自由贸易体系正在逐渐瓦解，”徐庆培说。“我们需要把产品做得更好，也可能会尝试在美国本土生产。”

The tariffs have done little to slow the momentum of Korean cosmetics. At the Sephora store in New York’s Times Square in August, there was a wall of beauty products from South Korea.

关税并未阻碍韩妆的发展势头。8月，在纽约时报广场的丝芙兰门店里专门设置了一面韩国美妆产品墙。

Skin creams from the Hanyul brand were “holistic Korean skin remedies.” Another label, Aestura, trumpeted that it was the “No. 1 dermatologist-recommended brand in Korea” for sensitive skin. (Both are Amorepacific brands.) A sunscreen from Beauty of Joseon, an independent skin care brand, offered “Cult-favorite Korean SPF.”

韩律品牌的面霜主打“韩式整体护肤方案”。另一品牌瑷丝特兰则宣传自己是“韩国皮肤科医生首推的敏感肌护理品牌”（两者均为爱茉莉太平洋旗下品牌）。独立护肤品牌Beauty of Joseon的一款防晒霜则标注“韩国爆款防晒”。

The sector isn’t dominated by one or two players, said Kwon Yoo-jin, a professor of apparel and fashion studies at Korea National Open University. “K-beauty itself is a cultural brand,” she said.

“韩妆行业并非由一两家企业主导，”韩国开放大学服装与时尚研究教授权俞真（音）说。“韩妆本身就是一个文化品牌。”

The promise of flawless skin continues to draw customers to Korean cosmetics. Some are even traveling to Seoul for the full experience.

无瑕肌肤的承诺持续吸引消费者购买韩妆产品，有些人甚至专程前往首尔体验完整的韩妆文化。

Arlene Freeman, 84, was shopping in September for Sulwhasoo products at the brand’s flagship store in Seoul. She said she regularly discussed South Korean cosmetics with her friends back home in New Jersey during their daily four-mile walks.

今年9月，84岁的阿琳·弗里曼在首尔的雪花秀旗舰店购物。她说，自己和新泽西州的朋友们每天散步约六公里，期间经常讨论韩国美妆产品。

“I was talking with my friends — anti-aging, tightening, anti-wrinkles, anything to keep us looking young is what we want,” she said. “ And they told me about Korean beauty products.”

“我和朋友们聊的都是抗衰、紧致、除皱——任何能让我们保持年轻的东西都是我们想要的，”她说。“是她们给我推荐了韩国美妆产品。”

新泽西州的阿琳·弗里曼和丈夫杰拉尔德·韦克特赴韩国旅行期间造访了首尔的雪花秀专卖店。时报广场丝芙兰门店的雪花秀产品正在促销。