Buying from Olive Young Korea when you live abroad

Olive Young is the Korean health and beauty chain many K-beauty fans already know by name. Its Korean website carries a much larger range than Olive Young Global, along with Korean sale prices and Korea-only sets. The Korean site doesn't ship abroad, which is where we come in. Here's the Beauty Desk's guide to ordering from it well.

Korean site or Olive Young Global?

Olive Young runs more than one online store, and they aren't the same.

	Korean site (oliveyoung.co.kr)	Olive Young Global
Range	Much larger	Smaller selection
Prices	Korean prices and Korean sale calendar	Its own pricing and promotions
Ships abroad	No, so you'd use us	Yes, to supported countries
Ships to the US	Through us, by courier	Stopped on 29 May 2026

If Olive Young Global carries what you want and ships to your country, ordering from Global directly can be the simpler choice. The Korean site makes sense when an item is Korea-only, when a sale price or set is only on the Korean site, or when Global doesn't ship to you.

For US shoppers: Olive Young opened a US store in June 2026 with around 5,000 items. It doesn't carry Korean sunscreens, for the reason explained at the end of this post.

To order, open the product on the Korean site, copy the link from the address bar, and paste it into a new request. More store notes are on our Olive Young page.

Sale weeks (올영세일)

Olive Young runs a big seasonal sale, 올영세일, roughly once a quarter. It's usually in early March, June, September and December. If that pattern holds, the next one would be in early December. We post dates in deals once Olive Young announces them.

A few tips for sale weeks:

• Send requests early. Popular items and sets sell out, sometimes within the first days.
• Accept your quote quickly. Quotes are valid for 72 hours, but sale prices end when the sale ends.
• Gifts (증정) are usually while stocks last. We buy the listing you chose, but we can't promise a free gift the store has run out of.
• Member-only coupons need a Korean membership. We quote the public price that everyone sees.

How to write options and shades

Most Olive Young listings have an option menu. The clearer your request, the less back-and-forth before we can buy. Copy the option text exactly as it appears, Korean included. You don't need to translate it.

Words you'll see often:

Korean	Meaning
호 (e.g. 21호, 23호)	Shade number for cushions and foundations. Lower numbers are usually lighter
단품	Single item
기획 / 기획세트	Special set, often with minis or an extra
본품	The full-size product (as opposed to a refill or mini)
리필	Refill
증정	Free gift with purchase
1+1	Two for the price of one
용량	Size or volume

A good request note looks like this:

Option: 21호 기획 (with refill). Quantity 1. If 21호 sells out, please don't substitute. Cancel this item instead.

Shade names often differ between brands, so if you're matching a shade you've used before, give the brand, the product and the shade you had. If an option isn't clear to us, we'll ask before buying rather than guess.

If something sells out

We check stock when we prepare your quote, but Olive Young stock moves fast, especially during sales.

• Before you accept: nothing has been charged, so just adjust or drop the item.
• After you pay, before we order: cancelling is free until we place the store order.
• Sold out when we go to buy: we don't buy a substitute unless you've told us to, and you're refunded for that item.

It helps to say in your note what you'd like if your first choice is gone: a named backup, a different size, or no substitute at all.

Items that can't fly

Air-safety rules apply to everything that goes by post, and some beauty items are caught by them:

• Perfume can't go by post.
• Nail polish, nail polish remover and acetone can't, because they're flammable.
• Metal aerosol sprays, including sun sprays, can't. Plastic or glass non-pressurised containers are fine.
• Creams and mists are fine unless they're pressurised or marked as dangerous goods.
• Devices with lithium batteries, including built-in and rechargeable ones, can't go by post.

Couriers can sometimes carry perfume with dangerous-goods approval. Our guide "Beauty products that can't fly" covers what we do if a restricted item reaches the warehouse, and the full list is on what we can't ship.

A note on sunscreen for the US

In the United States, sunscreen is regulated as an over-the-counter drug. That's why Olive Young US doesn't carry Korean sunscreens.

You can still order Korean sunscreen from the Korean site through us. Small personal quantities usually clear US customs, but customs can refuse them, and that decision is theirs. Choose creams, sticks or other non-pressurised formats over metal aerosol sprays.

Korea Post has temporarily suspended services to the US since 21 July 2026, so US orders go by FedEx or HDK Economy USA. Our US shipping guide explains duties and delivery times.

Questions about a specific product or shade? Post them in community Q&A and the Beauty Desk will take a look.