If you spot a Beauty of Joseon display at a pharmacy in Santiago, it’s not a coincidence. Korean cosmetics exports to Chile jumped 39.5% in the first five months of this year, and Beauty of Joseon is right at the center of it. Here’s why it’s happening now — and why Chile specifically.
Chile Just Started Buying 39.5% More Korean Skincare
Let’s start with the numbers. From January to May this year, Korea’s cosmetics exports to Chile hit 1,066 shipments worth $26.04 million — up 39.5% and 7.2% year-over-year, respectively.
Meanwhile, Chile’s overall cosmetics import growth over the same period was just 4.2%. In other words, Korean products are growing almost 10 times faster than the market itself.
Part of the reason goes back two decades. Chile was Korea’s very first free trade agreement partner, back in 2004, and cosmetics tariffs were phased out as a result. That old groundwork is now colliding with the K-beauty boom.
Why Beauty of Joseon, Specifically?
Early on, Chilean shoppers found K-beauty through e-commerce — iHerb, AliExpress, that kind of thing. That’s changing fast. Brands like SKIN1004 and COSRX are now showing up on actual pharmacy shelves.
And when local news wanted one name to represent this shift, they picked Beauty of Joseon. The reason is simple: it’s already a proven hit everywhere else in the world.
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Built around Hanbang ingredients like rice and ginseng, the brand was named Euromonitor’s #1 K-beauty suncare brand globally — so Chile is essentially getting a formula that’s already been stress-tested in the US and Europe.
The Product Behind the Hype: Relief Sun
If there’s one product responsible for getting Beauty of Joseon this far, it’s the Relief Sun sunscreen (Rice + Probiotics).
Formulated with rice extract and probiotics, it applies without the chalky white cast a lot of sunscreens leave behind. That easy, skincare-like texture is the one thing reviewers around the world consistently agree on.
It also works comfortably across a wide range of skin tones, which is part of why the reaction keeps repeating everywhere it launches: “this doesn’t feel like sunscreen, it feels like skincare.”
This Isn’t Just a Chile Story
Chile is really just the opening chapter. Cosmetics exports to Latin America topped $168 million in the first half of this year alone — already surpassing all of 2022’s annual total.
Beauty of Joseon has also just landed in Sephora stores in Brazil, and K-beauty CEOs recently joined Korea’s presidential trade delegation there. The industry consensus is clear: after Europe, Latin America is next.
✅ Quick Recap
- Korean cosmetics imports to Chile up 39.5% (vs. 4.2% market-wide)
- Zero tariff barrier thanks to the Korea-Chile FTA
- Beauty of Joseon is the brand symbolizing this shift
- Its hero product is Relief Sun — rice + probiotics sunscreen
- Latin America is shaping up as K-beauty’s next big stage after Europe
One Last Thing
If you’re picking just one K-beauty sunscreen to try, starting with the one that’s already been validated across three continents is a pretty safe bet.
Next up: a closer look at Beauty of Joseon and SKIN1004’s new Sephora Brazil rollout.
