Olive Young: What’s Actually Selling Isn’t the Sheet Masks
Olive Young has become impossible to skip for foreign travelers visiting Korea. It’s not unusual to see tourists walking out of a store with shopping bags full of products.
But from a Korean shopper’s perspective, this popularity is a little puzzling. Olive Young isn’t particularly cheap, and most of its products can be found elsewhere too. The real appeal isn’t that you can only buy certain items there — it’s that Olive Young gathers products from dozens of brands under one roof, making it easy to see what’s actually popular in Korean beauty right now.
So this time, we set aside both the “I shop here all the time” perspective and the “just buy everything” recommendation, and took a step back to look at the data instead.
We’re breaking down what’s genuinely popular at Olive Young — including sheet masks and hair products — what Korean consumers actually buy, what’s worth grabbing as a foreign traveler, and what you can skip because it’s cheaper (or just as easy to find) elsewhere.
So what should you actually buy at Olive Young? Instead of grabbing everything in sight, here’s how to pick what’s actually worth taking home.
What’s Actually Topping the Charts Right Now
Olive Young’s real-time overall ranking (as of August 15, 2026) shows a clear pattern at the top. The No. 1 spot went to Mediheal’s Derma Pad 200-count pack (143 KRW per pad), No. 2 was Anua’s Deep Damage Repair Hair Mask (rated 4.9), and No. 3 was Dachu’s Classic Style Grooming Tonic, a men’s grooming product (33% off at the time). Affordable, everyday consumables — sheet masks, hair care — dominate the top of the chart. That said, real-time rankings shift daily, so this is best read as a snapshot rather than a fixed ranking.
Sheet Masks, By the Numbers
In the sheet mask category, Mediheal’s Essential Mask line is the standout steady-seller. According to Mediheal, it has held the No. 1 spot in Olive Young’s sheet mask category for 15 consecutive years, with over 3.3 billion sheets sold across more than 45 countries worldwide. The line comes in several variants — tea tree, madecassoside, collagen, hyaluronic acid, vitamin C, ceramide, and PDRN — so you can pick based on your skin concern.
Pricing varies quite a bit depending on the specific line, pack size (single sheet, 10-pack, bundle sets), and ongoing promotions. Even looking at current listings, the per-sheet price ranges from the 700s to over 1,200 KRW depending on the variant — so it’s more accurate to check the bundle size and discount at the time of purchase than to quote one fixed price.
Hair Care: A Four-Year Reigning Champion
In hair care, Anua’s Deep Damage Treatment has won the Hair Care category at the Olive Young Awards four years running, from 2021 to 2024. Marketed for repairing damaged hair, it’s a fixture at the front of the hair care shelf in nearly every store.
What’s Worth Buying If You’re Korean — Sunscreen
For Korean consumers, sunscreen is arguably a more practical daily pick than sheet masks. RoundLab’s Birch Juice Moisturizing Sunscreen won the Sun Care category at the Olive Young Awards four years in a row, from 2022 to 2025 — known for minimal white cast and a lightweight, hydrating finish that keeps it a steady favorite across skin types.
Sunscreen is also a category where the “best” pick tends to split by skin type: mineral (physical) sunscreens tend to lead for sensitive skin, while lighter, matte-finish formulas do better for oily or combination skin.
What Foreign Tourists Actually Buy
According to CJ Olive Young’s own data (as of August 2026), foreign customers now account for 33% of the company’s total offline sales — up from just 2% in 2022. Foreign customer payments totaled 11.01 million transactions between January and August alone, with cumulative purchases surpassing 1 trillion KRW. Based on tax refund data, customers came from 192 countries, with the US, Singapore, Japan, China, and Thailand ranking as the top five by cumulative spend.
Interestingly, the category breakdown shows that sheet masks and hair products — the items covered above — aren’t actually the top pick. According to the company, the most popular categories among foreign shoppers rank in this order: skincare → makeup → hair care. In other words, foreign travelers are buying skincare first and foremost, with makeup second and hair care a distant third.
Spending patterns are also diversifying. Rather than sticking to pre-decided bestsellers, more travelers are discovering new brands directly in-store — expanding beyond skincare into scalp/hair treatments and even “inner beauty” (ingestible beauty products). Per media coverage, items like Olive Lemon Shot, slimming jelly, pumpkin tea, and collagen supplements have been named as newly popular inner-beauty picks in this shift.
Foreign customers purchased an average of six items per visit, and one in three spent over 100,000 KRW in a single transaction — suggesting a shopping pattern closer to “stocking up on skincare” than “grabbing a souvenir sheet mask or two.”
Must-Haves for Foreign Travelers
Based on the actual data, here’s a more accurate priority order for travelers:
- Skincare (priority #1): Whether it’s an awards-verified pick like RoundLab’s sunscreen or something you discover in-store, this is statistically what foreign shoppers buy the most of — worth browsing first if you’re short on time.
- Makeup (priority #2): Tints and cushion foundations that showcase K-beauty’s signature color payoff fall into this category.
- Hair care (priority #3): Proven category leaders like Anua’s hair mask are a safe bet for first-time buyers.
- Inner beauty (an emerging category): Ingestible items like Olive Lemon Shot, slimming jelly, pumpkin tea, and collagen are worth a look given their recent rise in popularity.
Sheet masks are still popular, but statistically speaking, they’re more of an add-on to skincare than the centerpiece of foreign spending.
What You Don’t Need to Buy at Olive Young
On the flip side, some items are just as easy to find elsewhere.
- Disposable wipes, cotton pads, cotton swabs: These are widely available at Daiso and supermarkets too, so there’s no real need to buy them specifically at Olive Young.
- Large-format personal care items (body wash, shampoo, etc.): Also commonly stocked at marts and large supermarkets — unless you’re a tourist without easy access elsewhere, there’s little reason to buy these specifically here.
- Full-price items with no discount running: Olive Young runs frequent sales, so if you’re not in a rush, timing your purchase around a promotion tends to get you a better deal on the same product.
The Takeaway
Olive Young’s real strength isn’t unbeatable pricing on any single product — it’s the ability to compare products verified by real-time rankings and Olive Young Award wins, all in one place. That said, the data is clear that foreign tourists’ actual top purchase isn’t sheet masks — it’s skincare. A verified sunscreen like RoundLab’s is worth prioritizing, with sheet masks and hair care as a secondary pick.
Rather than grabbing everything in sight, it’s worth shopping by the categories confirmed through real-time rankings and official data — better for your wallet, and your luggage weight.
Rankings, review figures, and foreign sales statistics cited in this article are based on CJ Olive Young data as of August 2026 and may change over time.