New York’s Best Stores For Korean Beauty Products — & What To Buy There

Korean beauty products are having a major moment in America right now. Sure, there are tons of U.S.-based e-commerce sites dedicated to the covetable goods (and hotspots like Sephora and Urban Outfitters have even hopped on board), but if you're lucky enough to live in New York City — or are visiting anytime soon — the full spectrum of K-beauty is as close as a subway ride away.

To find the best places to shop (and what to buy at each), we picked the brains of some of the city's best Korean-beauty entrepreneurs — Charlotte Cho of Soko Glam, Alicia Yoon of Peach & Lily, and Christine Chang and Sara Lee of Glow Recipe — and narrowed the top areas for goodies down to Chinatown, Koreatown, and Flushing (take the 7 train to the end of the line in Queens, and you’ll find yourself in K-beauty heaven — who knew?).

In addition to pro recommendations, we poured over Yelp reviews and hit the streets to pick up some tips and tricks firsthand. What we learned? Be prepared to discover some products not labeled well in English; if it doesn't have an English ingredient list, skip it (you want to know what you’re buying, right?); be sure to take advantage of the generous sampling (ask for samples if they’re not offered, and you’ll likely get handfuls); and get really, really excited. Where else in the world do you have such international availability at your fingertips?!