K-Beauty's biggest influencers
The top K-beauty influencers of 2025 generated a combined $7.7M in earned media value, led by two standout performers at opposite ends of the follower scale. Loren Asad drove $1.3M from a single Medicube post, and Hannah Campbell generated $842K from just 36.8K followers.Laneige and Medicube were the most featured brands across the cohort, with Laneige anchoring three of Aylen Park's top five posts and Medicube appearing across four different creators. YouTube was the dominant EMV driver, as longer-format content showing product transformations and tutorials consistently outperformed short-form posts on TikTok and Instagram.The most distinctive content trend was the expansion of K-beauty beyond pure beauty into adjacent niches. Daniela Cole embedded Korean skincare into a gut health and wellness narrative across 15 posts. Sonia Mayu built K-beauty content around pop culture moments including Kuromi, Squid Game, and Pokémon, reaching audiences who may not actively follow beauty content. Darcei Amanda explicitly positioned K-beauty for Black women, filling a gap that mainstream K-beauty content rarely addresses.Retail expansion also featured prominently. Hannah Campbell's highest-performing post reacted to Ulta Beauty stocking K-beauty, and Laila Paul covered belif's arrival in Boots UK, signalling that the trend's move into mainstream retail is itself becoming a content moment.
Key Insights
-
Beauty, lifestyle, and fashion were hot topics among influencers, garnering significant attention and engagement.
-
Influencers embraced a minimalist aesthetic, featuring a cool palette mixed with warm hues, creating a unique visual contrast.
-
The use of natural and studio lighting to create a blend of cozy and clean atmospheres was a common technique among top influencers.
Aylen Park
US-based K-beauty creator whose top content centres on Laneige lip launches and Korean skincare unboxings. Her Laneige matcha lip flavour video hit 23M engagements, her highest-performing post, followed by a giant toner pad unboxing at 13.9M and a DIY Laneige lip spatula holder at 12.2M. Also covers Fwee jelly blushes, Tir Tir concealers, Hera, and VT Cosmetics.
Loren Asad
Drove $1.3M EMV from a single Medicube partnership post, one of the highest single-post values in this report. Promoted the Age-R Booster Pro device alongside the PDRN Pink Peptide Serum, framed as an at-home glass skin routine. Posted across TikTok and Instagram simultaneously, with TikTok generating almost all the value at 24.9M engagements vs 6.8K on Instagram.
Laila Paul
UK-based makeup artist and K-beauty advocate. Her top post, a broad Korean skincare showcase on YouTube, hit 9M engagements. Also ran a paid StyleKorean campaign on TikTok, and covered AprilSkin, Biodance, Tirtir, Medicube, and VT Cosmetics in a single round-up post. Recently featured belif as the latest K-beauty brand to land in Boots UK, bringing the trend to a British high street audience.
Sonia Mayu
Blends K-beauty with pop culture through themed makeup videos, Kuromi and My Melody looks featuring Amuse and The Crème Shop, a Squid Game-inspired look with Bringgreen and Wakemake, and a Pokémon collab with Wonjungyo. Also covered the Sukoshi Mart K-beauty advent calendar. Content is entertainment-first, which drives strong watch time despite a lower engagement rate relative to follower count.
hannah campbell
Micro creator with outsized EMV, her post reacting to Ulta Beauty stocking K-beauty generated 14.8M engagements and $757K EMV from just 36.8K followers. Also partnered with Illiyoon on their Triple Cleansing Oil system, and has featured Yadah, Eqqualberry bakuchiol serum, and Charlotte Tilbury in monthly roundups. One of the strongest proof points that niche, high-trust audiences can outperform on EMV.
Want Deeper Insights?
Discover comprehensive influencer analytics and performance data with Wearisma's platform
Hong Hyunjeong
Seoul-based professional makeup artist and educator who publishes detailed step-by-step tutorials across 20+ collected posts. Regularly features Charlotte Tilbury, Hera, Amuse, Medicube PDRN serum, VDL, and Beigic alongside Korean brands like The Saem and Heart Percent. Also produces Olive Young shopping guides for the 30–40s demographic. Posts in Korean with broad international reach via K-beauty search.
Manny Gutierrez
Generated $193.8K EMV from a single The Face Shop partnership post, a product discovery video featuring the brand’s Rice Water Bright line of makeup removers and foaming cleanser. Framed around the playful “Mulan sleeve” packaging detail, which helped the video feel organic rather than promotional. One of the few male voices in this cohort, giving the brand reach into an underserved audience segment.
Stephanie Santana
Canadian makeup artist who drove $137K EMV from a House of Hur cleansing balm demo, showing the product transform from balm to oil to milk on camera, with a focus on sensitive and dry skin. Credited StyleKorean and Stylevana in the post. The Instagram version of the same content generated an additional $52.5K, making it one of the more effective cross-platform posts in this dataset.
Darcei Amanda
Canadian creator whose channel is explicitly positioned around K-beauty for Black women, Korean makeup tutorials, reviews, and skincare tested on deeper skin tones. Top post called out Medicube’s routine as having “gone too far” (in a good way), driving 5.7M engagements. Also produced a “Black Girl Tries Latina Makeup” video and a Kpop x Kbeauty crossover with influencer Alex Reid.
Daniela Cole
Positions K-beauty within a wider wellness and gut health narrative, her recurring “healthy gut + Korean beauty = glass skin” hook drives consistent engagement across 15 posts. Top content frames Korean skincare as a natural alternative to botox. Featured Medipeel, VT Cosmetics, Kopher Global, and Dear.A on Instagram. One of the clearest example
