In August 2026, Korean shampoo left the country at $6.00 a kilogram, up from $5.00 a year earlier. Korean lip makeup left at $55.10 a kilogram, down from $62.30. Both categories shipped more volume than they had the year before. Only one of them was paid more for it. The export line K-beauty built its reputation on is now growing by charging less, and the line nobody wrote about is growing by charging more.