Why Style Korean

As a Korean who recently moved to the US, I’ve been depending only on Olive Young when it came to shopping for K-beauty products. Only because Olive Young was the most familiar and reliable retailer to me based on my experience in Korea. However, I wanted to try a different site as there were some products and brands that I looked for that were not available at Olive Young. Style Korean seemed to be legit and provide a fast delivery based on some reviews so I gave it a try! In this post, I will share my shopping experience at Style Korean in detail from brands/products, site experience to shipping. 

Style Korean Brands and Products

As of February 2021, Style Korean carries 140 brands including the iconic ‘road-shop’ brands such as Missha, Innisfree, and A’pieu. It was a critical motivation why I tried Style Korean this time since they are not available in Olive Young. It also carries trendy brands like too cool for school, moonshot, and beigic. Below are some brands that stood out to me that are available in Style Korean. The full brand list is available here.  

• A’PIEU
• Banila co
• BEIGIC
• Dr.Jart+
• Hanyul
• Holika Holika
• Huxley
• Innisfree
• It’s Skin
• Mamonde
• Missha
• Moonshot
• Pyunkang Yul
• Too Cool For School

Style Korean Site Experience

Product Details

The level of product details/information depends on each brand and product. I could find the very basic product details such as key benefits and ingredient list of each product. However, some products’ details or images seemed to be outdated as well as not translated into English. 

Another room for improvement is around the banner ads. There were 2~3 banner ads embedded in the middle of the page and I ended up clicking those ads by accident. It actually happened multiple times to make the browsing experience a little bit frustrating. 

Product Reviews

I was surprised to find so many reviews from each product. It was easy to find hundreds and sometimes over a thousand reviews of a product. The copyright information at the bottom of the site indicates that it has operated since 2012 so it is a huge benefit that you’ll be able to find a vast amount of accumulated product reviews at Style Korean. 

Site User Experience

I would say the overall site user experience was ‘ok’ but not great. For your reference, my experience is limited to web and mobile site – I haven’t tried their mobile application yet.

The biggest downside was that it is not possible to sort or filter the products. For example, when I shop, I normally choose a specific category, let’s say a toner, and sort the list by bestseller or rating. I cannot find such sort or filter functions in Style Korean. It was not too bothering since this time, I knew what I wanted to buy. For this reason, I would recommend Style Korean to the ones who already know what to buy rather than the ones who need to find one by browsing and sorting the product list. 

The second downside is, again, the banner ads embedded in the middle of each page. I personally hope this could be improved sometime in the future since the ads could be disturbing for some users.

Style Korean Coupon and Promotion

It seems like the site runs various time deals and discounts quite frequently. For example, the site has run the Missha brand sales where you could get Time Revolution Artemisia Treatment Essence ($51) at $18.99, which is 63% discount! I also got Missha Glow Tension Cushion at $14, which was 50% discount. I also took advantage of their $9.99 holiday promotion. Below is the full list of products I shopped at Style Korean and the price I paid. I am very satisfied with the price I paid for all these items!

• Illiyoon, Fresh Moisture Lip and Eye Remover 100ml / $5.34
• Innisfree, Skinny Microcara Zero / $7.2
• Some By Mi, AHA BHA PHA 30 Days Miracle Toner / $9.99
• Missha, GLow Tension SPF50+ PA+++ / $14
• Rovectin, Cica Care Balm 40ml / $9.99
• Clio, Sharp So Simple Waterproof Pencil Liner / $10.8
• Innisfree Auto Eyebrow Penscil / $2.9
• Ample:n, VCShot Oxygen Peel / $0.99
• Rom&nd, Best Tint Edition / $18.9
• Free gifts (3): Torriden Dive In serum 10ml, Some By Mi AHA BHA PHA Miracle Cream 5ml, 1 Rovectin Skin Essentials Dr. Mask Cica 

Style Korean Reward Program

Reward Program is another benefit of Syle Korean. The program has three tiers – Green, Gold, and VIP. I believe the greatest benefit starts from the Gold member which only requires a single purchase from the site. Then you get $10 off coupon and 5% of your purchase will be accumulated as points. Once you purchase $300 or more within 3 months, you become a VIP to receive two $10 off coupons and one $5 off coupon, as well as 7% of your purchase amount to be accumulated as points. Check out the full detail here.  

Style Korean Shipping

The shipping experience at Style Korean was satisfying. The site offers free shipping for the order above $80. It is $20 higher than Olive Young but I’ve always bought $80+ when it came to K-beauty products so it is not a problem for me. 

I made an order on December 30th and the order was shipped on 1/7. Regarding my order date and the fact that 1/1 ~ 1/3 were the holidays, it was not bad at all. Then it arrived on 1/11. The order came through DHL and I got a text message if I would authorize DHL to deliver without a signature so I did. I had no issue and was just so happy that I could get my order in about 10 days during the holiday season! 

So… Will I Buy Here Again?

I might use Style Korean again especially when I know what I want to buy. It carries a lot of trendy brands and products I might not able to find elsewhere. Discounts and promotions are also a big plus. Although browsing products is not ideal here, I usually know what I want to buy so it is not a huge issue for me. I hope this post was helpful for anyone who is curious about the shopping experience at Style Korean. Please share your experience or thought about Style Korean in the comment section. I would love to know what you think!