korean beauty awards

HwaHae Beauty Awards

HwaHae is the most popular beauty platform in Korea, boasting over 13 million downloads¹. Every year HwaHae hosts the HwaHae Beauty Awards to celebrate the most popular beauty products of the year. The event takes place twice a year (in May and November), and winners are determined based solely on reviews and ratings left by users of the platform.

What is HwaHae?

HwaHae is currently the most popular beauty app in Korea, with a record of over 13 million downloads as of 2025¹. The name HwaHae (‘화해’), comes from an abbreviated form of the Korean phrase ‘화장품을 해석하다’ (‘To analyse cosmetics’). HwaHae was created in 2013 by CEO Lee Woong and two friends with one mission: provide users with accurate information on their favourite cosmetics to help them make more informed choices.

The app became an immediate hit and it’s recently been reported that over 80% of Korean women in their 20s and 30s are HwaHae users².

Today users can use the platform to find products that are suitable for their skin type, check their ingredient lists, and read honest and unbiased reviews from other users. HwaHae uses information from the Association of Korean Dermatologists (AKD) to categorise beauty products by ingredients and their suitability for different skin types and displays the hazard level for each ingredient, using the rating system created by the EWG (Environmental Working Group, a US activist group).