Inside Seoul’s K-beauty ‘mecca’: I hunted for the best skincare at the world’s biggest Korean beauty store

What’s actually worth buying at Olive Young? A dispatch from the epicenter of Korean beauty, including the best skincare, face masks and hair care Five of the best Korean skincare brands you can actually find in the US Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things God does not exist in Olive Young’s flagship Seongsu location in Seoul. Inside the five-story, 4,628 sq meters temple to Korean beauty, chaos reigns.

The first floor has been converted into a beach-themed installation for the season, complete with “wellness” smoothie and gelato bars, and bewilderingly, in the center of the room, a man sitting atop a giant lifeguard chair, booming greetings to shoppers through a megaphone. On the upper levels, I am greeted by a wall of face masks, a beauty station with mirrors and sinks and a health grocery store. Every floor is overrun by hordes of skincare-obsessed tourists like me, stuffing our bags with everything we can’t find back home. According to reports, a purchase is made every 0. 9 seconds in the store. If flying all the way to Seoul into the eye of the storm for some face masks sounds like overkill, I have good news for the skincare lover reading this. More and more Americans are…