Korean Skincare Brands: Who Owns Them and How to Buy Authentic in the US

Most popular Korean skincare brands now belong to a few large groups. Amorepacific owns Laneige, Innisfree and COSRX; LG Household & Health Care owns belif; and Goodai Global owns Beauty of Joseon and SKIN1004's maker and has moved to buy Skinfood. Klairs, Isntree, Purito, Benton and Mizon are smaller, independent companies. To buy authentic products in the US, shop at authorized retailers such as Ulta, Sephora, Target, Olive Young or a brand's own Amazon storefront.

Before you buy, you can scan a product's barcode or label with the ingredient scanner in Pori to check the formula against your skin type. Pori reads the ingredient list for you; it does not diagnose skin conditions.

This guide covers who owns each brand, the products each is known for and how to avoid counterfeits and non-US sunscreens. We compared published ingredient lists, brand claims and listed prices; we did not test these products on skin. Prices are US retailer list prices as of November 2026, with the retailer named, and they change often.

Who owns the major Korean skincare brands?

Ownership matters less for your skin than the ingredient list, but it tells you something about stability. Brands inside large groups tend to keep wide distribution and steady US labeling. Smaller brands can change formulas, packaging and names quickly, which makes old reviews less reliable.

Which Korean brands does Amorepacific own?

COSRX

COSRX was founded in 2013. Amorepacific bought a 38.4% stake in 2021 and agreed in October 2023 to buy the remaining shares held by the largest shareholder, taking its holding to about 93.2%. COSRX's short, single-purpose formulas made it one of the first K-beauty brands many Americans tried. The Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence is 96% snail secretion filtrate and lists at $20.90 for 100 ml at Dermstore. The Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser ($14 for 150 ml at Target) pairs betaine salicylate with tea tree oil. For dry skin, the Hydrium Triple Hyaluronic Moisturizing Cleanser is the gentler pick. Our COSRX guide covers the full range.

Laneige

Amorepacific launched Laneige in 1994. In the US it is best known for the Lip Sleeping Mask, which debuted when the brand relaunched at Sephora in September 2017, and for the Water Sleeping Mask, an overnight gel mask.

Innisfree

Amorepacific launched Innisfree in 2000 as its first eco-positioned brand, with many ingredients sourced from Jeju Island. It opened US stores in Manhattan from 2017, then closed all North American stores in 2021. You can still buy it through Sephora. In 2021 the brand also faced criticism when its Green Tea Seed Serum "paper bottle" turned out to have a plastic bottle inside the paper shell.

What are belif, Beauty of Joseon, SKIN1004 and Skinfood known for?

belif

belif launched in 2010 under LG Household & Health Care, the beauty arm of Korea's LG Group. It draws on the herbal traditions of Napiers, a British herbalist. Its signature is The True Cream Aqua Bomb, a light gel-cream moisturizer that gave the brand its reputation for hydration.

Beauty of Joseon

Goodai Global bought Beauty of Joseon in 2019 and has since built a group of K-beauty brands around it. The brand uses traditional Korean ingredients such as ginseng and rice. Its Revive Eye Serum: Ginseng + Retinal pairs ginseng extract with a small amount of retinal, is sold as fragrance-free and lists at $16.79 for 1 fl oz at Walmart. Its sunscreens are popular too, which brings up the US labeling issue below. Ulta now carries the brand.

SKIN1004

SKIN1004 is made by Craver Corporation, which Goodai Global took over in 2024. The brand is built around centella asiatica, the soothing plant often called cica, and Ulta added it to its mass skincare aisle as part of a K-beauty expansion. Our centella asiatica guide covers what the research shows.

Skinfood

Skinfood was one of the first Korean brands many Americans saw, with lines named after food, such as Black Sugar and Egg White. The company entered court receivership in 2018, and Pine Tree Partners bought it in 2019. In December 2025 Goodai Global was named the preferred bidder to buy it for an estimated 150 billion won. Skinfood's US presence is patchy, so check the seller and the date on anything you find online.

What are Klairs, Isntree, Purito, Benton and Mizon known for?

Klairs

Klairs, sold as Dear, Klairs, belongs to Wishcompany, also called Wishtrend, a Korean beauty and content company founded in 2010. Its best-known products are the Freshly Juiced Vitamin Drop serum and two Gentle Black cleansing oils. The two oils differ in one important way: the Fresh version is marketed as free of artificial fragrance, while ingredient lists for the Deep version include fragrance. That is a good example of why you should read each label even within one brand. Our guide to double cleansing explains how to use a cleansing oil.

Isntree

Isntree is led by its founder, CEO Kim Jinwoo. It is best known for the Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel, a Korean-market sunscreen, and for the Onion Newpair Gel Cream, which combines red onion extract with niacinamide and tranexamic acid and is listed as fragrance-free. Ulta now carries the brand.

Purito Seoul

Purito became known for simple centella products. In late 2020, independent tests found that its Centella Green Level Unscented Sun, labeled SPF 50+, measured around SPF 19 in one test and SPF 28.4 in another. The company apologized, offered full refunds and paused sales of its sunscreens. It later relaunched as Purito Seoul with new formulas and new names. Its current Purity Oat PDRN Gentle Refining Toner is a fragrance-free toner with panthenol and beta-glucan. Our guide to what toner does explains whether you need one.

Benton

Benton was founded in 2011 and is known for its Snail Bee line. The Snail Bee High Content Essence pairs snail secretion filtrate with niacinamide and peptides and contains no added fragrance. Our guide to snail mucin benefits covers the evidence, which is promising but still thin.

Mizon

Mizon is best known for the All In One Snail Repair Cream, a moisturizer with a high share of snail secretion filtrate. Brand histories give different founding dates, so we have left the year out. Mizon sells mostly through online K-beauty shops and marketplaces in the US, which makes the buying advice below especially relevant.

How do I buy authentic Korean skincare in the US?

• Buy from authorized retailers. Ulta, Sephora and Target carry a growing list of Korean brands, and Olive Young, the Korean health and beauty chain, opened its first US store in Pasadena, California, on May 29, 2026. On Amazon, buy from the brand's own storefront or a seller the brand names.
• Be wary of very low prices. Look-alikes and counterfeits of popular K-beauty products have turned up on marketplaces and social shopping apps. A best-seller priced far below every authorized retailer is a warning sign.
• Check the box. Look for an English ingredient list, a US distributor or importer address, and a batch code or expiry date. Fuzzy printing and a texture that differs from the real product are other red flags.
• Expect import charges on direct orders. The US ended duty-free entry for low-value packages on August 29, 2025, so ordering straight from Korean sites can now add costs.

Are Korean sunscreens legal in the US?

Korean-market sunscreens are made for Korean rules, and they are not made or tested for US sale. In the US, sunscreen is an over-the-counter drug, and only UV filters on the FDA's list can be used. In June 2026 the FDA approved bemotrizinol, its first new filter in about two decades, but several filters common in Korean formulas still are not allowed.

Some Korean brands sell US versions. COSRX's Vitamin E Vitalizing Sunscreen SPF 50+, for example, has a US drug label listing avobenzone, homosalate, octisalate and octocrylene. When you shop, look for a Drug Facts panel on the box. If you want a tested, US-labeled option, our sunscreen for your skin type guide and the sunscreen catalogue are good places to start.

Which Korean skincare brand should I start with?

You do not need a ten-step routine. Our Korean skincare routine steps guide shows which steps matter, and glass skin routine covers the look many of these products are sold on. If fragrance is a trigger, see our list of fragrance-free skincare brands. For the other big import aisle, read our French pharmacy skincare brands guide, and our drugstore vs luxury skincare comparison explains what price does and does not buy. Add one new product at a time and patch test it first.