It comes as no surprise that among the things that make South Korea popular around the world—up there with K-Pop and K-Drama—are K-Beauty products. After all, the celebrities who endorse them mesmerize global audiences with their glass-skin, seemingly pore-less complexion. The skin care routine that takes as many steps as most of us have fingers sure pays off!

Which was why the long lines at the opening of the second K-Beauty Glow-Up at SM Aura on April 25 did not seem extraordinary. It was a multisensory experience, with a lot of freebies! There were a free personal color analysis, a hair makeover, and skin care products; there was even a scent sachet-making corner and a stamp-collection activity that rewarded each one who completed it with a gift!

According to Korea’s Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Sang-hwa, Filipinos are top Korean-beauty enthusiasts. But, he said, it is more than being just about beauty; it is a bridge that connects people and leads them to learn more about Korean culture. This is consistent with the love that Filipinos have shown toward Korean celebrities, as well as Korean food and various forms of popular media. (Related to this, Lee also happily announced that the 2025 Korean Film Festival will commence in June.)

Kyline Alcantara, the honorary ambassador for Korean Tourism in the Philippines, talked about her recent K-Beauty Tour in and around Seoul to check out the medical and wellness sectors. The activity is a natural extension of exterior beauty: caring also for what’s deep within. This excited the attendees, who naturally gravitated to the Korea Tourism Organization booth to find out practical and updated information on traveling to Korea. Because if there’s anything that Filipinos love—up there with freebies and selfies—it’s traveling.

In Korea, “visitors are drawn to shop at flagship stores, experience skin care treatments at beauty clinics, and even participate in wellness tours that include spa rituals, temple stays, and herbal therapy sessions,” said Reya Buenaventura of the Korean Cultural Center.

The combination of K-Beauty and K-Travel at the two-day event was a complementary affair. Data shows that shopping is the biggest activity that foreign tourists engage in when they travel to South Korea, making up 37.8% of what they spend.

The Philippines and the Republic of Korea have a tourism cooperation memorandum of understanding in effect until 2029, which promises to benefit both countries’ tourism stakeholders as well as related professionals and industries. In 2024, more than 29 million people traveled abroad; of the number,1.57 million came to the Philippines.

The K-Beauty Glow-Up event was hosted by the Korea Tourism Organization and Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines in partnership with Innisfree, Laneige, Mise en Scène, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, and SM Aura Premier.