Korean skincare in India: How many use K-beauty every day?
Around 62% of moisturizer users who know K-beauty have tried a Korean moisturizer, but only 23% use one as their main moisturizer.
In brief
Korean skincare in India is widely tried but rarely becomes the moisturizer people use most. Among shoppers who know K-beauty, around 62% used a K-beauty moisturizer in the past three months, but only 23% use one most often.
Flickly calls this difference the Glow Gap. Users of Indian skincare brands are far more likely to make one their main moisturizer. The study points to three areas where K-beauty brands can improve: routine, ingredient knowledge and price.
- 62% vs 23%Used a K-beauty moisturizer in the past three months, compared with those who use one most often.
- Around 3 in 10Of shoppers who have heard of ceramides know what ceramides do.
- ₹599 to ₹899The 50 ml price range shoppers chose most often, ahead of both cheaper and more expensive options.
What did the K-beauty study find?
- K-beauty is tried as often as most skincare types, but shoppers make it their main moisturizer far less often than Indian skincare brands.
- Beauty of Joseon is the best-known K-beauty brand, but Minimalist, Dot & Key and Cetaphil are the moisturizers people use most.
- Brand origin has little effect on choice, as shoppers choose Korean imports and Korean-inspired Indian brands equally often.
- Many shoppers know ingredient names without knowing what the ingredients do.
- Price affects choice far more than shoppers say it does.
| Measure | Share |
|---|---|
| Used a K-beauty moisturizer in the past three months | Around 62% |
| Use a K-beauty moisturizer most often | Around 23% |
| Would consider a K-beauty moisturizer next time | Around 67% |
| K-beauty users who make it their main moisturizer | Around 37% |
| Indian skincare users who make it their main moisturizer | Around 53% |
| Have heard of Beauty of Joseon | Around 62% |
| Have heard of ceramides | Around 65% |
| Of those, know what ceramides do | Around 31% |
| Have heard of snail mucin | Around 38% |
| Bought their main moisturizer online | Around 85% |
Base: Weekly moisturizer users who know K-beauty, urban India, 2026. Source: Flickly
Is Korean skincare popular in India?
Korean skincare is popular in India for trial, but few shoppers make it their main moisturizer, according to Flickly’s 2026 study. Around 62% of shoppers who know K-beauty used a K-beauty moisturizer in the past three months, but only 23% use one most often.
Users of Indian skincare brands are far more likely to make one their main moisturizer. Around 53% of them do so, compared with 37% of K-beauty users.
Most published survey figures on K-beauty in India are several years old. A 2019 Rakuten Insight survey put the share of Indians using Korean beauty products at around 12%. Flickly’s 2026 study covers a smaller and more engaged group: weekly moisturizer users who already know K-beauty. (cites Statista)
Which Korean skincare brands are most popular in India?
Beauty of Joseon is the most popular Korean skincare brand in India by awareness, according to Flickly’s 2026 study. It is also the brand shoppers would most consider buying next time. The Face Shop, COSRX, Laneige and Tirtir follow it.
The moisturizer brands people use most are not K-beauty brands. Across all moisturizer brands, Minimalist, Dot & Key and Cetaphil were used most, each by around 4 in 10 shoppers. A K-beauty brand that wants to become shoppers’ main moisturizer competes with these brands as well as with other Korean brands.
Indian shoppers do not prefer Korean imports over Indian K-beauty brands, according to Flickly’s 2026 study. For the same product at the same price, around 32% chose a Korean import, 32% a Korean-inspired Indian brand and 31% an Indian brand.
Shoppers choose each type for different reasons. They choose Korean imports mainly for their reputation for quality and their ingredients. They choose Korean-inspired Indian brands mainly for their ingredients, for being made for Indian skin and for better value. Ingredients are the one reason both groups share.
Do Indian shoppers know what ceramides and snail mucin do?
In Flickly’s 2026 study, most Indian shoppers knew ingredient names better than they knew what the ingredients do. Around 65% have heard of ceramides, but only about 3 in 10 of them chose the correct benefit, which is barely better than a guess.
| Ingredient | Consumers who are aware |
|---|---|
| Hyaluronic acid | Around 77% |
| Ceramides | Around 65% |
| Centella (cica) | Around 41% |
| Snail mucin | Around 38% |
Base: Weekly moisturizer users who know K-beauty, urban India, 2026. Source: Flickly.
| Ingredient | Consumers who actually know what it means |
|---|---|
| Hyaluronic acid | Around 69% |
| Ceramides | Around 31% |
| Centella (cica) | Around 53% |
| Snail mucin | Around 51% |
Base: Weekly moisturizer users who know K-beauty, urban India, 2026. Source: Flickly.
Few shoppers know snail mucin yet. Nearly half of K-beauty users have heard of it, compared with about 1 in 5 non-users. Flickly found a similar gap in how Indian shoppers read sunscreen labels in India’s sunscreen trust gap study. Brands should state the benefit next to the ingredient name on every pack and product page. Any ingredient claim should be checked against Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) guidelines before it is used.
Which moisturizer texture suits oily, dry and combination skin in India?
In Flickly’s 2026 study, Indian shoppers used light moisturizers, and skin type affected their choice more than climate did. Lotion, water gel and gel cream together account for about 85% of the moisturizers people use most, while rich cream accounts for about 15%.
People with oily and combination skin most often use water gels, while people with dry skin most often use lotions and rich creams.
What price should a K-beauty moisturizer be in India?
A K-beauty moisturizer priced at ₹599 to ₹899 for 50 ml performed best in Flickly’s 2026 choice exercise. Shoppers chose ₹899 almost as often as ₹599, even though it costs 50% more. They chose the lowest price, ₹349, less often, which suggests that a very low price makes premium ingredients seem less believable.
| Price for 50 ml | Chosen when shown |
|---|---|
| ₹349 | Around 32% |
| ₹599 | Around 37% |
| ₹899 | Around 36% |
| ₹1,199 | Around 28% |
| ₹1,599 | Around 29% |
Base: Weekly moisturizer users who know K-beauty, urban India, 2026. Source: Flickly.
Price matters far more than shoppers say. When asked directly, only about 1 in 10 named price as the most important feature, and most named the benefit or the ingredient. In their actual choices, price had the strongest effect of any feature, accounting for nearly 4 in 10 of the weight in their decisions. Brand origin had the weakest effect. Conjoint analysis measures this difference between what shoppers say and what they choose.
How was this study designed?
Flickly ran a quantitative online survey in 2026 among men and women across major Indian metro cities who use a moisturizer every week and know K-beauty. It included a choice exercise in which shoppers chose between moisturizers that differed in price, ingredient, benefit, texture and brand origin. Results describe engaged, K-aware shoppers, not the whole Indian market.
The full report, India’s K-Beauty Glow Gap, covers the strongest product and price combination, results by gender, age, region and skin type, buying channels and prioritised recommendations for K-beauty and Indian skincare brands.
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