From Monoprix to Normal, the Korean lifestyle is catching on like hotcakes and “rejuvenating the clientele”

Seven Young boutique, near Place de la République in Paris. It’s a Monday in the middle of the school holidays, but who cares! As soon as it opens at 11 a.m., customers flock in search of a gloss, a “cleansing oil,” a matcha treatment or a “retinol shot.” The business presents itself as the “number 1 in France for K-Beauty” – meaning, Korean-style beauty care.

Here, the average age is flirting with thirty and the most requested products are the Biodance collagen mask (5.95 euros) ― “to be completed a few days later with the mask with salmon DNA”, specifies the saleswoman, Kateryna ―, the Dr Althéa 345 moisturizing cream (23.95 euros for 50 ml) ― “Customers have seen it on the networks, they ask us for it a lot” ― or the Skin1004 brand range.

French women have not yet integrated the Korean beauty routine, which can include up to 7 or 8 treatments to be carried out morning and evening. “But our customers sometimes do 5 or 6, twice a day,” explains Kateryna for whom “at 15, 20 euros each, our products remain affordable compared to those found in pharmacies.”

“10% of French women have a Korean-style facial routine”

Affordable, but still “twice as expensive” as in the land of calm mornings, judges Adèle, 20 years old. This student at Ismac, a business school focused on Asia, fell in love with South Korea five years ago.

Through courses and series in Korean – K-drama – she learned the language, travels regularly to Korea and constantly discovers new Korean restaurants in Paris on her return. “Far from clichés, the values ​​of K-pop, in particular, are positive: kindness, self-acceptance, work…”, judges this young enthusiast, who is “too eager to leave”.

K-beauty, K-pop, K-drama, K-food… France has been living under the influence of Korean “soft power” for several years now. “It started during Covid, but there was an acceleration towards 2023-2024,” underlines Elie Politi, president of the Paris Korean Club. In 2020, the film “Parasite” by Bong Joon-ho won an Oscar, the impact was worldwide. Same thunderclap, the following year, for the series “Squid Game”, propelled into the top 10 in 90 countries when it was released on Netflix.

In terms of makeup and skincare, TikTok and Instagram are increasingly saturated with “skinfluencers” recommending this or that beauty routine based on Korean products, a mixture of traditional plants and technological innovations. And it works. “Currently, 10% of French women have a facial routine in five or more steps, Korean style, during the week,” reveals Gaëlle Le Floch, from Worldpanel by Numerator.

Monoprix, Normal… All the brands are getting involved

Brands like Torriden, Beauty of Joseon and especially the precursor Erborian (already 2.5% penetration rate in France) can now be found at Séphora, at BHV and soon, for some, at Carrefour. “These are innovative items that have proven their effectiveness,” points out Anne Monvoisin, director of the Beauty offering at Monoprix, who recalls the “exponential growth in the use of these products, which are rejuvenating our customers and creating traffic in our stores.”

Monoprix has just welcomed two Korean makeup brands to its shelves (Rom&nd and Dasique) and, on the food side, is launching into sweet items at the start of the year. Same satisfaction at the discounter Normal, which already markets around thirty Korean references. If the Danish brand does not communicate on sales, “during the launch of the first K-beauty ranges in the summer of 2025, these products found themselves out of stock in barely a week,” underlines a spokesperson.

The “hallyu”, or “Korean wave”, now triumphs in all areas. Every year, France organizes a Hanbok competition, traditional Korean clothing. The subway corridors these days are advertising “Korean version of romance”. The subsidiary of the South Korean manufacturer Hyundai, Genesis, plans to open 25 dealerships in France by 2028. Even the rather traditional Guimet Museum will celebrate, in 2026, “a K-arrément Korea year”, with flagship exhibitions and a monumental installation by the artist Seulgi Lee on the facade of the building.

This French craze for the Korean lifestyle could even find reciprocity in Seoul. “This influence is increasingly two-way,” says Elie Politi. In April, the latter will fly to the South Korean capital with a delegation of French entrepreneurs specializing in “premium food”, with an ambitious objective: to conquer the Korean market.