The Beauty Shop

This little gem has been in business for the last 10 years selling hard-​to-​find brands such as O HUI, ISA KNOX and The History of Whoo before the Korean Beauty Wave («Halllyu») started rising high in the states as of late. The Beauty Shop carries only premium skincare kbeauty brands and a few popular sheet masks that are trending such as the SNP Animal Masks and Mediheal masks (these are worth getting for your trek into deep Chinatown). There are also a few select color cosmetic items from IPKN and Club Clio but this store specializes in the best of kbeauty skincare! They sell nicely boxed gift sets that include mini travel sizes of the the full sized bottles. Very good selection. Also BB cushions from O HUI is there and you can test your shade.
The store came into business to first address the needs of Asian skincare of the Chinese community but as the popularity of «hanbang» (oriental herbs) is rising in the States, I felt like it’s my duty to post this business on Unilocal for those seeking its powerful magic to transform your skin and change the way you feel about your skin routine.
TESTERS. The store has a carousel of testers where you can swatch test to see if you might have any negative reactions. I don’t think they have any foil packets to just «give away» but maybe if you asked nicely in Mandarin?
CUSTOMER SERVICE. The store is very very small and there is usually only one sales lady to help you. The person who helped me was Mandarin speaking and knew proficient English. She was able to understand when I asked «What line should I use for my skin?» but couldn’t understand if I asked anything more specific. She wasn’t pushy to make a sale in the beginning as she helped me with testers, answer questions and even let me take pictures of the entire store (!). However I guess I was wearing out my welcome as I looked closer to into more items and then I was getting, «You want to buy it?» type of questions. Sometimes I would see another person in the store chit-​chatting with the sales person during slow times but they are attentive if you have questions.
LOCATION. As I said, this is deep into Chinatown in the Fujianese community (don’t let that intimidate you!). This is OFF the touristy trek of Mott, Canal and Bayard streets but it’s really only a two/​three-​block walk to the precious! You walk by the Confucius statue and opening soon will be a Tous le Jours (a Korean bakery) to make the walk easier. The store is AROUND The corner of Division Street and literally next to the bigger The Yeon shop (also full of a variety of kbeauty items). So this is like a two-​in-​one stop shopping. You may as well go into The Yeon if you left The Beauty shop empty-​handed! The owner also has another store location in Flushing, Queens if you’re a queens local.
DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST. It pays to do your research first with the cosmetics brand you’re interested in. The store carries only 3 major premium Korean skincare lines, O HUI, ISA KNOX and THE HISTORY OF WHOO. Look at their official website to where you can also read the descriptions in English! Make sure you’re getting the right line for your skin type and this also helps you price compare and see what fits in your budget as these are not «cheap». It’s more valuable to get a line in a boxed set.