A one-stop shop for K-beauty lovers

“As a Korean myself, I want more people to enjoy K-trends and importantly, get to know more about our culture” – Kate Wooyeon Park, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Lamise Beauty

Park is doing exactly that through her brand Lamise Beauty, which has earned the reputation of a one-stop shop for K-beauty lovers. The brand has bridged the gap between Korea and the Middle East by offering a diverse range of Korean cosmetic products carefully curated to suit the needs of women in the region.

But what inspired Park to set up Lamise when K-beauty wasn’t as popular as it is today?

“It really started with my search to solve a personal problem,” she responded. “A decade ago, when I moved to Dubai from Korea, my skin needed to adjust to the dry climate here. It became dehydrated and irritated quite frequently. I experimented with many skincare products, but the only solution was bringing some of my favourite beauty products from Korea. Its only once I started to share these Korean cosmetics with my friends that I realised the demand for these products. Every time I travelled to Korea, I’d have to bring cosmetics for my friends. Interestingly, the quality of these products was being appreciated by non-Koreans too. That’s when I spotted the business potential.”

After spending a lot of time meeting with people and Korean beauty brands, testing hundreds of products on her own skin, Park launched Lamise Beauty in 2017. Translating to ‘soft touch’ in Arabic Lamise Beauty aims to raise awareness about the importance of taking care of one’s skin, while offering a platform for people in the region to experience many different Korean beauty brands under one roof.

Lamise Beauty at a Glance

• 40+ brands, 1,000+ SKUs.
• Opened the first retail store in Dubai in 2018 and second in Abu Dhabi in 2022.
• Other offline touchpoints: Watsons Al-Futtaim UAE, KSA and Qatar.
• Current online presence: Lamise Beauty online, Amazon UAE, FirstCry, Instashop, noon, NowNow.

The road ahead for Lamise Beauty looks even more exciting compared to its journey so far.

Asked about growth goals planned for the next 12 months, Park shared her plans to bring more Korean skincare, makeup and especially haircare brands to this region. “There are so many hidden gems, which are proved by Korean beauty lovers, but these products and brands are not yet introduced to our region. I’d like to introduce these hidden gems to the Middle East, and with these brands I want to open more Lamise Beauty stores in the UAE and other GCC countries.”

Park is also keen to do more store-based activations to meet more customers in-person, talk about their skin related concerns and introduce K-beauty products to them. “By doing this I hope more people can find the right products for their skin types and concerns,” she added.

“Finally, and this is a big one – I want to plan a big event with K-Beauty, K-Food, K-Fashion and K-Entertainment right here in Dubai,” Park concluded.

Pick up the April edition of IMAGES RetailME Magazine to read about ‘50 Outstanding Women in MENA Retail’.