K-Beauty’s explosive growth in the United States is creating an increasingly crowded market, pushing brands to innovate faster, invest more heavily in consumer engagement and fight harder to stand out.

That dynamic was on full display at the American debut of Olive Young Festa, held Aug. 14 to 16 in conjunction with KCON LA at the Los Angeles Convention Center. More than 100,000 attendees spanning gen alpha to gen X encountered 54 skincare, makeup, haircare, body care and wellness brands through a carnival-like mix of product discovery, education, games and, of course, freebies. The Festa concept made its debut in South Korea in 2019 before traveling to Japan and the U.S. this year.

The Festa’s scale far exceeded that of other retailer-backed beauty events in the U.S. like Sephoria and Ulta Beauty World, though the comparison isn’t apples to apples. Ulta Beauty World was capped at 3,000 consumer tickets this year despite drawing more than 3 million people to its online ticket queue, and Olive Young Festa benefited from its connection to KCON LA. These events represent a strategy by beauty retailers to stoke excitement for beauty beyond their stores, generate social media content and deepen consumers’ connections with brands.

There are plenty of sales to fight for in the U.S. K-Beauty sales in the country increased 48.1% year over year to $2.8 billion in the 52 weeks ended March 21, according to NielsenIQ, more than doubling from $1.3 billion two years earlier. In the battle for attention and sales, Olive Young, the largest South Korean-based beauty and wellness retailer, understands that “offline still matters” for consumers, says Rena Kim, global communications lead for CJ Olive Young.

At the Festa, many attendees waited in line to check out novel formulations like Fwee’s bouncy pudding-like tint that blurs into a matte finish on lips and cheeks, while others stacked dice to win Manyo’s dark spot patches. Kim says, “What stood out to us was how willing visitors were to spend time discovering brands and products they may not have been familiar with before, rather than simply heading to the names they already knew.”

Still, as curiosity about K-Beauty products grows and sales crest higher, so does the bar for success. “The competition is much stronger, harder, faster,” says Jenny Park, global marketing manager at Round Lab, standing in front of the brand’s bakery-themed booth, tucked next to Anua’s posters featuring model Kendall Jenner.

Founded in 2017 and owned by Goodai Global, Round Lab is one of six brands that surpassed $75 million in annual sales last year at Olive Young. Observing the plethora of indie and established K-Beauty brands on the market, Park says, “It will be extremely difficult for new brands to come up in the U.S. Medicube and Anua will grow bigger and bigger in the U.S. It’s harder for the new brand to [break in]. The trends are turning very fast.”

Indeed, within three months of launching its first two brick-and-mortar stores in America, Olive Young is trying to mirror its stocking strategy in South Korea, where it changes the brands on shelves biweekly. Kim says the company’s been welcoming 1,000 customers daily at its 8,647-square-foot flagship in Pasadena, Calif. Shoppers can book 15- to 30-minute sessions with skin consultants who’ve traveled to South Korea for training. They receive a list of five to 10 recommended products in the sessions.

“People buy all the products recommended,” reports Kim. “It’s affordable, it’s trendy and it’s working.”

As its Sephora collaboration gets underway this week, Olive Young is continuing to expand its own retail network. The collaboration features a shop-in-shop in the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned retailer’s Times Square location in New York and zones stocked with 19 curated K-Beauty brands in more than 500 Sephora stores. In addition to its Pasadena flagship and a smaller store in L.A.’s Westfield Century City mall, Olive Young is prepping to unveil new sites in Irvine and Torrance. Five stores are expected to be open by June 2027.

Kim says she noticed attendees at the Festa being drawn to “the broader idea of skin longevity moving beyond traditional anti-aging toward maintaining the skin’s natural health over time [and] ingredients associated with this space such as NAD+, which is linked to cellular energy metabolism and aging, were among the newer concepts that caught visitors’ attention.”

Another trend gaining traction is a shift from glass skin toward a more natural skin glow. In contrast to glass skin, which appears translucent and reflects light, the emphasis is on a healthy and flushed look. The aesthetic is embraced by K-Pop idols like Wonhee from Illit, who dabs blush on the lower half of her face as if she’s opting for pink contouring.

Fragrance is emerging as another growth opportunity for K-Beauty brands. Touted as South Korea’s No. 1 fragrance brand with eight stores in its domestic market as well as distribution in Japan, China, Canada and the U.S., Hetras aspires to build a business like Aesop’s but sell its products at a third of the price. In addition to diffusers and room sprays, it’s melding scent art with skincare. Earlier this summer, it introduced its $13.99 Perfume Moisturizing Body Mist, which incorporates niacinamide in five scents, including the top-selling woody musk Artist and fruity floral Bombshell.

To support worldwide expansion, Hetras is introducing 15 new stockkeeping units and concocting up to 60 different scents. The brand is seeding 50,000 units per SKU to content creators and others to get the word out. Beyond Olive Young’s physical and online stores, Hetras is sold on Amazon and TikTok Shop. Broadening its reach, it’s pitching to Ulta Beauty, Target and Costco, too. In fact, at the Festa, the brand caught up with an Ulta representative, who was strolling the packed aisles as part of market research.

“In Korea, we are very big offline and online,” says Michael Hartmann, B2B sales manager at Hetras. “Our challenge is to do that in each country and the world.”

Even established K-Beauty brands are under pressure to keep up the pace of innovation. Round Lab produces seven lines, including Birch Tree, whose six-year-old Birch Juice Moisturizing UVlock is Olive Young’s second bestselling sunscreen in the U.S. Yet, the brand has already released three new products in the U.S. this year. The latest arrived in May: the $24.99 Birch Juice Moisturizing Sun Serum with SPF 50, a lightweight sunscreen enhanced with vegan PDRN. “It’s like skincare and sunscreen at the same time,” says Park.