PlayLab Beauty

Discover your true palette 🎨 Color analysis is back at PlayLab Beauty with My:Shopper!

Reserve your individual 30-minute 1-on-1 session now. Spots are super limited, so secure yours fast!

​📍 PlayLab (25 N Fair Oaks Ave)
🗓 Aug 8 & Aug 9
🔗 Link in bio to book!

Tackling pores in a routine can be completely different depending on your skin type. Here’s a side-by-side breakdown of what we'd recommend:

Step 1: The Cleanse (All Skin Types)
• Orien Mugwort Zero Film Cleansing Oil
• Anua Quercetinol Deep Cleansing Foam

Step 2: Exfoliants (2–3x/wk)
• Combo / Oily: Dr. Melaxin Rice Peel Shot Ampoule
• Normal / Dry: Neogen Green Tea Bio-Peel Gauze Pads

Step 3: Prep & Elasticity Boost
• Combo / Oily: Purcell Booster ➡️ Numbuzin No. 9 Lifting Sil Essence
• Normal / Dry: Numbuzin No. 9 NAD PDRN Toner ➡️ Numbuzin No. 9 Lifting Sil Essence

Step 4: Lock It In
• Combo / Oily: Lightweight Gel-Creams (Dr. Althea Watery, Dr. G Red Blemish, Anua Heartleaf Lotion, or Purito Oat Gel)
• Normal / Dry: Round Lab Dokdo Cream

Pores, pores, pores, pores, pores… I DON'T adore 🎶 (IYKYK 😆)

​Visible pores usually come down to two main drivers: excess sebum expanding your pore walls or collagen loss loosening the skin's structural support.

​Here’s how to treat them based on your skin type (use up to 2–3x/week):

​• Combo / Oily: Dr. Melaxin Rice Peel Shot Ampoule
• Normal / Dry: Neogen Green Tea Bio-Peel Gauze Pads

Don’t get us wrong, skin analysis tech is a super cool tool. But don't rely on it as absolute truth. Here’s why those scans don't always give you the full picture:

• If you're wearing makeup: High-tech UV and RGB cameras can easily misinterpret full-face coverage, foundation tones, or setting products as underlying inflammation or severe redness.

• If you're completely barefaced: A camera can map out surface pores and hydration levels, but it cannot read your skin’s immune response. It has no way of telling if you’re allergic, reactive, or sensitive to specific ingredients.

The takeaway? Tech is a helpful guide, but getting a consultation is the way to go!

Olive Young’s US expansion is a classic case of rushing the blueprint—or what I call the 빨리빨리 (ppalli-ppalli) culture that doesn’t always translate to the US market.

People who actually know and love OY aren’t going there for brands they can already grab at CVS or Sephora. They want the products that real Koreans love and use.

Instead of establishing their core Korean identity in the US market first, they rushed to throw American brands into the mix.

And someday, it’ll just be beauty. No prefix needed.

Real talk: Importing, commercial real estate, and tariffs add up fast but K-beauty is STILL way cheaper than most Western brands. Plus, many of these American brands are manufacturing or sourcing raw materials from Asia anyway.

Skip the markup and just go straight to the source!

At the end of the day, it’s the people on the ground who make a space special. Pulling off a store launch on schedule is no easy feat—especially for the team with boots on the ground making sure every detail is right for the clients walking in. That kind of hard work shows, and it deserves major credit.

We didn’t invent the "bar" concept—Madewell has their Denim Bar, Apple has the Genius Bar. But working with limited space meant we had to get creative.

So, we took the best-of-the-best products and mapped them out right on our wall—breaking down your AM/PM routines into simple, easy-to-follow steps.

You won’t see this layout at the original Olive Young stores in Korea but now with massive corporate budgets and space, copy our homework but make it bigger? 👀

Should we release the footage? 🤫