K-beauty platform Hwahae exceeds 100,000 monthly users two months after global website launch

South Korean beauty platform Hwahae has surpassed 100,000 monthly active users after launching an English version of its website to make K-beauty products more accessible to international customers. This surge underscores the growing demand for K-beauty brands in the Western market.

As the demand for Korean skin care products grows rapidly — particularly in markets such as North America — Hwahae is aiming to increase the visibility of K-brands already popular in Korea, internationally.

The company revealed that over 80% of its monthly users are based in the US, followed by Japan and Singapore.

Speaking about the website expansion, Hwahae CEO Woong Lee says, “Within just two months of our global web launch, we surpassed 100,000 monthly active users, confirming the strong interest of global users in K-beauty. We aim to make this year the starting point for full-scale global expansion and focus on promoting outstanding Korean beauty brands overseas as the ‘Netflix’ of the K-beauty industry.”

Ranking success

The platform offers users key features, including category-based rankings, cosmetic ingredient insights, AI-based skin care recommendations, and over nine million consumer reviews. According to Hwahae, global users spend the most time on the ranking page, which provides a trusted resource for consumers before purchasing K-beauty products. 

The website also features the Hwahae Awards, which recognize top beauty products based on consumers’ votes. 

In another move to expand the K-beauty portfolio successfully on the international stage, Hwahae plans to launch a Japanese version of its global website early this year. 

K-beauty boom 

Personal Care Insights has been following the rapid growth and consumer interest surrounding K-beauty trends in recent years, which have been reported to be vastly driven by social media trends. Searches with the hashtag #kbeautymakeup were up 85% year-over-year on TikTok. 

This growing demand from Western consumers led to the partnership between Kolmar Korea and Amazon earlier this year and the announcement of 5WPR expanding its beauty specialty sub-division with a dedicated K-beauty team. According to the US public relations agency, this move assisted Korean beauty brand partners and helped them navigate the competitive American market more efficiently.

5WPR aimed to enhance brand visibility, build consumer trust and drive growth by providing campaigns, influencer marketing, professional and celebrity procurement, experiential activations and affiliate marketing strategies for the brands it represents. 

In its beauty trend predictions for 2025, Spate also said K-beauty would continue to influence skin care and makeup trends in the international beauty space.