#DamnGood K-Beauty Special! What to Buy (And What to Skip) at the New Olive Young Flagship

0:00The following podcast is a Dear Media production.

0:08Welcome to Breaking Beauty, the podcast all about the breakthrough people, products and moments in beauty. We're your hosts, Jill Dunn and Carlene Higgins.

0:21Welcome back to Breaking Beauty podcast, everyone. I'm Carlene Higgins, one of your co-hosts, and this is my other co-host, Jill Dunn. Hey, it's Gemini season. We are here in your feeds like we have been every single Wednesday for the past nine years. That's right. We are the show all about the breakthrough people, products, and moments in beauty. And we have interviewed everyone from, oh my gosh, Haley Bieber, Tracee Ellis Ross, Dr. Shereen Idris, Makeup by Mario. The list honestly goes on and on. We're up over 450 episodes now over nine years. And once a month we do what's called our hashtag damn good episodes.

1:02And this is where we review products and we talk about what we're loving, what we have anointed kind of hashtag damn good based on our experience as editors and podcasters over 25 years. That's right. So last month we did a whole roundup about the best foundations for 2026, what we're loving, what we're not loving so much. We did like Best of Spring earlier this year as well. And so we have a topic today for our hashtag damn good episode that simply can't be ignored. And this is really all in honor of Olive Young, the K-Beauty mega retailer landing here in North America. And this is going to be kind of like your one-on-one K-Beauty shopping guide to Olive Young.

1:46And by the way, this is not sponsored at all. We are sitting here in Los Angeles, not in Seoul. Yeah, that's right. I think the general impression is it's going to be like a Sephora, but entirely K-beauty. How exciting is that? It's so fantastic. So in today's episode, we're basically going to give you the rundown, what Olive Young is, what you can expect to see stateside, what brands are coming, what are not. We're going to give you sort of like our edit of what is popping off in K-Beauty, whether, you know, we've seen it on TikTok or we've tapped into other industry insiders who know what's good.

2:18And the reality is that K-Beauty, it has just changed everything in the whole skincare world, the beauty world. People are playing catch up to the innovation, to the budget friendliness, the affordability factor. And I just love that they are coming here, planting their foot in the ground in North America. And it can only mean good things for beauty consumers. Yes, we've got a lot of intel ahead. So you're going to hear about the sunscreens that are hitting and whether you can still get the old K-beauty formulas or not. We're going to unpack that a little bit. We're going to talk about some of the products that are on the top 10 list at Olive Young in Korea.

2:59And you'll want to stay tuned till the end of the episode because I have found out about a non-K-beauty brand that is going to be front and center at Olive Young. I'm going to reveal that at the end of the episode. Okay, let's do it.

3:29Hi, I'm Moshe Kasher and I would like you to meet my thick ass thang. I guess that's me. I'm Natasha Leggero. We are comedians and we're married and we do a relationship and life advice show called the Endless Honeymoon Podcast. And here's the exciting part. We want to advise you. We're a no judgment zone. So anything you want to ask about, it's all good. Yes. Send us your questions to Endless Honeymoon Pod at Gmail and tune in to the Endless Honeymoon Podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you like to listen.

4:05So Olive Young, it was founded in 1999 in Seoul by CJ Group, which is, I guess, a big retail giant there. It really dominates the K-beauty landscape. There's over 1 ,400 physical stores. Wow. So like in Canada, we have Shoppers Drug Mart. I believe there's about 1 ,300 Shoppers Drug Mart. So if you compare that, the pervasiveness, it is around every corner. Absolutely. Right? If you think about that, that's how influential it is. And of course, then there's the global online platform. So you can order Olive Young to the UK, to the US, Canada, anywhere around the world. Yeah. You can do that right now already.

4:45Yes. And then Olive Young is now opening its first store in LA, where we are right now. The first store will be opening on May 29th, which is later this week. And it's opening in Pasadena to start. And then there's a second one coming out quite quickly, right? Right. In my one of my favorite malls in L.A., which is Westfield Century City, they are going to be opening. They said May or June. I mean, who knows what these things they could roll out a little later. But I think given the excitement and listen, if I worked for all of Young Corporate, I would want to be boots on the ground to get one off the ground and then the next and go home.

5:21So I'm thinking it will be in quick succession, but the excitement is palpable. We were at an editor dinner last night. Everyone's talking about it. You know, it is very exciting. There will be around 400 brands at launch and there's going to be features like they have in the Olive Young Soul locations, which is AI powered skin and scalp evaluations, their diagnostic services and personalized recommendations. And then, of course, there will also be an online version of Olive Young that is native to the U.S. So that's where you can order it and it won't be it won't take so long for shipping. There will be no tariffs, all of that.

6:01I believe that's also launching on the 29th. Correct. So then I know we have a lot of Canadian listeners, too. And what we can look forward to is that Sephora, they announced in January, they're doing the Olive Young store in store. and that's going to be 700 Sephora locations across North America. So we are also getting it in Canada. I connected with the Sephora team this morning. They could not give me a specific date. The sleuthing that I did was later this year. I can't imagine that they're not going to have this up and running for a holiday. Yeah. At least in certain locations, my own personal opinion.

6:36And then this is also as a concept rolling out to the Middle East, the UK and Australia in 2027. Okay. So with all of that, let's get into the top 10 list at Olive Young. On the Olive Young site globally, if you go to their site and click on best sellers, it says discover Olive Young's bestselling products updated daily based on sales data. So Jill, the number one brand right now, what do you think it is? Torridan. Not today. Okay. It's number two. Torridan is number two. But as of today, the day that we're recording this episode, it's MetaHeal. MetaHeal's essential mask sheet set. It's a variety pack of 10 of them.

7:22And I think it's just... They were an advertiser on our show a couple of years ago. Yeah. And it's a great way to test these products. it's really inexpensive. What do you make of MetaHeal? I know you have some of it here. Yeah, well, the MetaHeal, their whole thing that they became famous for was the toner pads, as well as these sheet masks and the ampule sheet masks. So the sheet mask that comes in the pouch, but then you add the serum into it. And not to be confused, MetaHeal is a different brand than MetaCube. MetaCube came after MetaHeal, but MetaCube, there is no denying what a huge monster it.

7:59Meta Cube is. So Meta Heal, I think it's really good for oily skin types because they have these peel pads that I'm holding up here. These ones are for acne skin. They're blemish pads, you know, and I think that they really appeal to the younger customer as well because the whole toner pad category is so huge, especially with Gen Z. This is like their version of... Right, right. It's that ingredient that we can never pronounce. It's the madocasoside blemish pad. So madocasoside, isn't that Cica? So I think the thing with that ingredient is that it's meant to be calming in addition to dealing with acne.

8:46And I think that's been... Yeah, it's very soothing. Exactly. Where I think that's where K-Beauty really did come in and it takes this calming approach to treating acne as opposed to just like stripping it away. Right. And being really harsh with the skin. So I think that's kind of where they're winning there. Yeah, it's like Centella Asiatica. Right. Yeah, exactly. But certainly MetaHeal put toner pads on the map. They were the pioneer apparently of toner pads and not just the peeling kind, like the whole. Soothing, the ones that Glow Recipe just came out with are all modeled after this. This whole category.

9:18So that's the number one selling product. Number two is Torridin. You were right. Ding, ding, ding. So this is the Torridin Dive-In 50 Hyaluronic Acid Serum. Have you tried this, Jill? I have tried this. And why I think this is so popular is like any skin type can use this. It's very affordable. And it's like a bestseller for five, six years, I think. That's right. Yeah. Like it is just a staple hyaluronic acid serum. And it's very hydrating. And they have a whole line from Torridin. And I think that probably just came out at exactly the right time when hyaluronic acid first launched. It was affordable.

9:57It was like a cold drink of water for your face. Yeah. Made it juicy and plump. And I think that's the one that popped off in K-Beauty. And I used the mask this morning. This mask is actually the number two seller. Probably just like cheaper. Sheep mask. It's a sheet mask. Totally affordable. Perfect for when you get off the plane. My skin loved it this morning. Well, you know what they say about that mask. What? That there's a whole bottle of serum on it. Oh, right. Yeah. Yeah. Well, there was a lot of product. I spread it all the way down to my decollete and on my arms. I did. Well, there you go.

10:29And I want to also ask people if they're familiar with, and I can't pronounce this, I'm very sorry, but the HWAHAE app. This is the top place for beauty reviews in Korea. And they are like a Reddit, but on steroids. This is like where brands want to be because it's a whole app and it's just for beauty junkies. Right. And it is extremely influential. I think there was like 18 million downloads of it in the country. And it is the Bible. It's like Reddit where it's user generated. So it's not bought. Correct. Oh, interesting. But they do, the powers that be that own this app, they do do awards. Oh, okay.

11:14And so, and so like on all of young, I'm just letting everybody know you will see that a lot where it will say like that mask, it says 2022 Huawei, it's HWHAE. I'm so sorry. I don't know how to pronounce that. Beauty awards, number one sheet mask. So these They're like the most discerning beauty customers. Yeah. Well, I loved it. My skin drank it up this morning. Now, the number three bestseller in Korea, which I'm not too surprised about, Estura Auto Barrier 365 Cream. Yes. We love this brand. This is a dermatologist-backed line in Korea, kind of like the La Roche-Posay of Korea. And their moisturizer is a bestselling product.

11:59No surprise. Two things to note on that. Number one, we have a new newly formulated one coming. And then the second thing to note is that Estura is actually not coming to Olive Young in North America. It is the number one bestseller in Korea at Olive Young, but we do know that it's at Sephora. Yeah. Number four product is called Be Plain Mung Bean pH Balance Cleansing Foam. I'll be honest, know nothing about it. Couldn't find the PR, never tried it. Then we have another Meta Heal mask set. But number six, Jill, do you know anything about the Dalba White Truffle First Spray Serum that I've been seeing all over TikTok lately?

12:39I have not, but I have tried the Dalba Essence SPF, which is the one Erica Taylor also talked about on our show. That one is beautiful. The essence texture is really, really nice. And I feel like that is an underappreciated brand in K-beauty. And based on the name, you almost think it's French. It's D apostrophe A L B A. That's right. So I don't know about the spray serum. However, I have tried. This is a big trend. I have tried the Metacube PDRN Collagen Glow Jelly Mist Serum. I really like this. And then Anua also has one like that. These mist serums are popping off. Big trend. Yeah. So I actually saw Michaela Makeup using this on TikTok.

13:25Again, whether it was sponsored or not, I'm not sure. It's said to be a moisturizing and firming double layering product that gently wraps the skin with a moisturizing oil that can care for and smooth moisturize, give you like this skin glow. So I don't know a lot about it. It's supposed to be an oil serum mix. It kind of for everyone who's just watching. By the way, everybody, we're not giving prices today because we don't have that information at the time of recording. We didn't want to lead anyone astray. what the actual prices will be in store because we could get the prices at other retailers, but we didn't want to lead to confusion.

14:03It kind of looks like the Caudalie Beauty Elixir with like the little oil on the top. That's what I was thinking. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Want to try, don't have it. And then just to round it out, there's of course a makeup product. Have you tried the, I want to say Romand, it's R-O-M ampersand N-D? No. You know the brand I'm talking about? Okay, so it's called the Juicy Lasting Tint. And it's just one of these, just exactly what it sounds like. It's just a really juicy kind of lip gloss. It's won a bunch of awards, apparently. I haven't tried it, but it's on the list as well. Very cute. The very last one is a sunscreen that I have never tried.

14:45It's called Round Lab Birch Juice Moisturizing Sunscreen. Have you ever tried that one? Round Lab is the top five brand in South Korea. I have not tried that. Yeah. But I've heard tons about it on TikTok. So that one is in the top 10. Apparently it's won Olive Young awards for five years in a row. It's currently available at Ulta. We don't know yet whether it'll be at Olive Young in the US, but it's a moisturizing, juicy sunscreen. And of course, the beauty of JoSun Relief Sun Rice Plus Probiotics. Yeah. So you have the old one. I have the new one. Definitely a difference in the texture between all of these newer versions and the original.

15:39Medicaid is one of our show partners this week. I love that we're talking all about K-Beauty in this episode? Well, I have a new K-Beauty inspired serum that I need to let you know about. And that's from Medicaid. It's their XO-PDRN Prismatic Plus Serum. It unlocks the power of non-invasive vegan PDRN through advanced biotechnology. And it's proven to boost skin's natural rejuvenation by 50%. And you've likely heard about PDRN. It originated in Korean clinics with injectable treatments, and it's often derived from salmon DNA. But this version that Medicaid has come up with is actually a vegan PDRN.

16:19And like the clinical treatments, it's inspired by Medicaid's new Exo PDRN Prismatic Plus Serum delivers full spectrum rejuvenation results. So we're talking about improving skin health, boosting skin volume, improving skin tone, reducing the appearance of wrinkles, and improving skin firmness and luminosity. It also has that triple exosome complex in the formula, so that helps to strengthen the skin barrier and promote a healthier, more radiant-looking complexion. And I really like so many Medicaid products. You know, Carlina and I have mentioned many on the show before, from their liquid peptides to their crystal retinol.

16:58And Medicaid is a clinically proven British skincare brand known for age-defying results. And all of the formulas are dermatologist recommended. If you'd like to try the Exo PDRN Prismatic Plus Serum, we have a special promo code for you. Visit Medicaid.us, that's M-E-D-I-K and the number 8.us or the new Medicaid.ca. That's right, for our Canadian friends to discover more. Once again, Medicaid.us or Medicaid.ca. and you can use code BREAKING20 to save 20 % off your first order. We'll link to this offer in our show notes and on our website. Today's episode is brought to you in part by Alaya Naturals.

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19:41The headline here is your favorite sunscreens from Korea are not being sold at all of Young in America. So ones you love, Beauty of Joseon, are going to be different here. And that's it. Yeah, absolutely. So keep ordering from Stalvana if you want. Yeah, exactly. Stalvana, there's this one too, which I emptied and I managed to dig it out of my crates. The isn't tree, hyaluronic acid, watery sun gel, SPF. But you can get from Stylevana. You can also get from, what is it? Yes to or Yes Style. Yes Style. Those ones you can get because they are being shipped directly from Korea. It's going to take longer and you're going to have to pay potentially for some tariffs, but you can get it.

20:23Yes. Now, I personally think that K-Hare is going to be the next big thing that's going to pop off. So K-Beauty and hair care. And Jill, I know you have an experience that's happening tomorrow that you're doing. Right. So this is actually a Japanese brand that is rolling out to all of young. They came to America last year with Head Spa. It's in Los Angeles. The brand is called Yolu and it's a whole overnight system for your hair and to treat your hair. So it's an overnight rejuvenating scalp serum. There's the shampoo, there's the conditioner, and then there is a hair protectant oil. And when they entered the American market, they did the head spa in LA and now they're bringing the product line to Olive Young and to Amazon.

21:11The range is like$32 to$38. Very, very beautiful, like a sphere cap, these kind of like gradient. It looks like a midnight oil kind of idea. And I am so excited about this head spa treatment because I have had a head spa treatment before, but it really was not good. So this, I, I, and I had very high hopes. Yes, I agree. I'm very sad that I won't be able to catch it, but I would say in terms of nourishment, I think this one, I hope I'm pronouncing it right, un-of. This product is huge in Korea. It's the number one selling Korean hair mask. It's called Deep Damage Repair Hair Mask. So this is really an intensive hair repair mask, not unlike what we have from Olaplex, K-18.

22:03This is like the K-beauty version of that to support your hair bonds. And there's like a keratin complex and all of that. and this product is always in their top 10. And I think it leaves my hair so smooth. Like this one, I'm actually, I'm almost on empty. Yeah, this is one that is a little controversial online. Like Addy Young hated it. Oh, interesting. I have used it. I thought it was super smoothing as well. What it reminds me of everybody is when you used to dye your hair at home, or if you still do, there's the conditioner that comes in the box. That's always the best conditioner you've ever used in your life, except it's like a small tube.

22:40this gives that same kind of slip to your hair and super super shiny as well very easy to manage yeah they're saying it gives you a glass hair effect i'm not sure that it's glass hair but yeah you know we get it yeah anyway it ranks really high and that's a good one and then i think what's more interesting and novel is the whole vt cosmetics 100 hair range and jill and i we went to an event last night where I was not familiar with the hair. I was more familiar with the iconic. This is the Cica Hyalon Riedel Shot 100. It's completely viral. And Jill, you've tried it. Yeah, I did try it. So basically what this is and how it works, it's like microneedles or spicules.

23:26We've heard about spicules for a couple of years. And these are fine needle-like substances that are actually marine derived. They're like fresh water sponges. But when you like pump this into your hand, you don't like feel anything prickly. It's just like a cream that comes out and there's various stages. Like I tried the RiedlShot 100. That's sort of like there's 50, 100, 300, 700 goes up from there. I think 100 is a good place to start. And basically these are meant to create little micro channels in your skin. You don't feel anything abrasive or anything. It rubs in like a regular serum, but it's creating these little micro channels in your skin that helps to exfoliate very gently.

24:05And someone like me with active acne spots, you can put them on. And then I actually layered their, they have like another, they have a PDRN serum that you can layer on top. And I really liked that combo. It's like an essence and it's just wild. The success. They told me last night that this is almost always one of the top skincare products at Olive Young. And they've sold 87, more than 87 million units of it around the world. Yeah. Unbelievable. How? Unbelievable. So it went completely viral, but we, there was a content creator who was at the event last night and she was so sweet. I wish I could pronounce her name though.

24:46I know. But she told the story about how, well, actually before she even went up to talk. I was talking to her personally. And she said, it's interesting that to you guys, you know, this brand VT Cosmetics through the real shot skincare product. And she said, I only really know this brand through their hair products. And I was like, what, what hair products? And then she went, she very sadly was dealing with cancer. She's very young, like in her early 20s and like lovely fashionable kind of content creator. And then we went to her channel and like she had no hair obviously from going through chemotherapy.

25:27So she was using the PDRN Rital Shot hair ampoule to regrow her hair. And it doesn't really surprise me because we've talked to quite a few dermatologists and such on the show where they do recommend microneedling the forehead line to help serums work better. And there's professional treatments that have happened in offices to help with people with people's hair loss. So I'm not too surprised. This is kind of this idea is known as liquid microneedling that you could potentially use it. And then I guess the PDRN that's in it would be the active ingredient that's going to help. which is like the polynucleotide salmon sperm that's like known for like wound healing and skin repairing.