Pick No.3 (픽넘버쓰리) is one of the newest K-beauty retail concepts to watch in Korea. While most foreign visitors still plan their beauty shopping around Olive Young, Pick No.3 offers something very different: a hanok-inspired, skin-concern-first curation store that recommends only three products per topic.
In a market where Korean skincare shelves can feel endless, Pick No.3 is built around one simple promise: less confusion, better choices.
What Is Pick No.3?
Pick No.3 is a K-beauty curation platform that opened its first Hanok(Korean traditional house)-style store in Bukchon, one of Seoul’s most traditional and tourist-heavy neighborhoods. Instead of arranging products by brand or category, Pick No.3 organizes the shopping journey around real skin concerns.
The store’s official concept is “Talk Beauty, Pick Three.” The idea is to study thousands of customer skin concerns, translate them into curated beauty topics, and recommend only three products for each concern.
That is the key. Pick No.3 does not try to show you everything. It tries to help you choose.
Who Is Behind Pick No.3?
Pick No.3 is operated by Allgrace, a Korean beauty distribution and retail company. Allgrace has worked with many K-beauty brands across offline retail, duty-free, and global distribution, with a special focus on indie and fast-growing Korean skincare labels.
Allgrace is now part of Pond Group, a Korean fashion and beauty company led by CEOs Lim Jong-min and Kim Yu-jin. Pond Group’s involvement gives Pick No.3 more than just a retail concept. It gives the brand access to capital, fashion/lifestyle infrastructure, and expansion power across major Korean commercial districts.
The most important name connected to Pick No.3 is Kim Kang-il, CEO of Allgrace and head of Pond Group’s cosmetics division. Korean beauty industry reports describe him as the founder of Women’s Talk, one of Korea’s early beauty video-commerce platforms, and as a key early planner behind Beauty of Joseon, one of the most globally successful K-beauty brands of the last decade.
That background explains why Pick No.3 feels different from a normal beauty shop. It is not just selling products. It is built like a content platform, a consultation space, and a global K-beauty showroom at the same time.
The Pick No.3 Concept: Skin Topics, Not Product Walls
Most beauty stores ask shoppers to browse by category: toner, serum, cream, sunscreen, mask, makeup. Pick No.3 starts with the shopper’s actual concern. Each topic is matched with only three recommended products.
For foreign visitors, this is especially useful because K-beauty can be overwhelming if you do not read Korean fluently or already know which ingredients and brands are trending locally.
Pick No.3 turns K-beauty shopping into a guided edit.
How Pick No.3 Is Different from Olive Young
| Category | Olive Young | Pick No.3 |
|---|---|---|
| Positioning | Korea’s dominant beauty and health retailer | Skin-concern-based K-beauty curation store |
| Scale | 1,380+ stores nationwide as of late 2025 | Currently 6 stores but rapidly expanding |
| Shopping style | Browse, compare, restock | Consult, narrow down, choose |
| Best for | Everyday skincare, sunscreen, masks, supplements | Indie discovery, curated routines, tourist-friendly experience |
Olive Young is where K-beauty goes mainstream. Pick No.3 is where K-beauty gets edited.
How Pick No.3 Is Different from CHICOR
CHICOR is Shinsegae’s premium beauty select shop, often called Korea’s Sephora-style store. It is great for luxury makeup, fragrance, and premium beauty brands.
Pick No.3 is less about luxury and more about solving a specific skin concern. CHICOR feels like a premium beauty lounge. Pick No.3 feels like a Korean beauty consultation house.
How Pick No.3 Is Different from MUSINSA Beauty
MUSINSA Beauty is fashion-driven, Gen Z-focused, and strong in online trend discovery. Pick No.3 overlaps with MUSINSA Beauty in indie-brand discovery, but the retail logic is different.
MUSINSA Beauty is where beauty meets fashion culture. Pick No.3 is where beauty meets skin-question curation.
How Many Pick No.3 Stores Are There?
As of September 3, 2026, Korean media reports have mentioned Pick No.3 locations in Bukchon, Jinju, Dongbusan, Hannam, Jeju, and Seongsu.
The newest major opening is Pick No.3 Seongsu, which officially opened on September 2, 2026 inside PlayX Studio on Yeonmujang-gil. The Seongsu store is especially important because Seongsu has become Seoul’s new K-beauty battlefield, with Olive Young, MUSINSA Beauty, pop-ups, and indie skincare brands all competing for young Korean shoppers and foreign visitors.
Pick No.3’s Overseas Expansion Plan
Pick No.3 is not positioning itself as a Korea-only shop. Its official Korean website states a global vision: to build hanok-inspired K-beauty spaces wherever K-beauty is alive overseas.
Korean trade media also report that Pick No.3 and Allgrace are focusing on global export and overseas retail growth. The appearance of a Pick No.3 Australia-facing site also suggests that the brand is already testing or preparing international-facing commerce.
The long-term direction is clear: Pick No.3 wants to become a global K-beauty curation platform, not just another Seoul beauty store.
Pick No.3’s Unique Marketing
Pick No.3’s marketing is smart because it turns shopping into a story.
Instead of saying “buy this serum,” the store asks: what is your skin topic today? That topic-based system makes the customer feel like they are discovering a personal answer, not just picking from a shelf.
The hanok store design is also part of the strategy. Bukchon already represents Korean tradition for many foreign visitors. By placing K-beauty inside a Korean-style spatial experience, Pick No.3 makes skincare feel connected to place, culture, and travel memory.
Its marketing also works well for social media. “Pick three” is easy to understand, easy to film, and easy to explain. For TikTok, Instagram, and short-form beauty content, that simplicity matters.
Popular Brands at Pick No.3
Reported and displayed brands include a mix of globally known K-beauty names and smaller indie labels, such as Beauty of Joseon, Round Lab, SKIN1004, VT, TIRTIR, OFBASE, Luvum, efilow, Purito Seoul, and other emerging Korean skincare brands.
This mix is why Pick No.3 is interesting for foreign shoppers. You can find names you already recognize, but the real value is discovering Korean brands before they become obvious overseas.
What to Buy at Pick No.3: Top 5 Picks
1. Beauty of Joseon Revive Eye Serum: Ginseng + Retinal
A smart first buy if you want a globally loved K-beauty product with a Korean heritage story. It fits Pick No.3’s concept well because it is easy to understand: ginseng, retinal, and gentle anti-aging care.
2. Luvum Calming Repair Cica Gel Mask
Luvum is a soft, modern Korean skincare brand known for gentle textures and emotional branding. The Calming Repair Cica Gel Mask is a good travel buy because it is soothing, easy to pack, and useful after long flights, dry hotel rooms, or too much walking around Seoul.
3. efilow Chaga Mushroom Biome Ampoule
efilow is a vegan Korean skincare brand built around “slow beauty.” Its Chaga Mushroom Biome Ampoule is a good pick for shoppers interested in texture, hydration, and skin barrier care without a heavy or aggressive formula.
4. Purito Seoul Mighty Bamboo Panthenol Cream
Purito Seoul has become more visible globally thanks to barrier-care products and sensitive-skin-friendly formulas. The Mighty Bamboo Panthenol Cream is a strong choice if your skin feels weak, dry, or irritated from travel.
5. KAINE Green Calm Aqua Cream
KAINE is a vegan Korean skincare brand that fits the curated indie-beauty direction of Pick No.3. The Green Calm Aqua Cream is a lightweight soothing cream for redness-prone or sensitive skin.
Pick No.3’s first Store Traffic and Foreign Visitor Ratio
Pick No.3 has not publicly disclosed exact foot traffic numbers for its Bukchon store. It has also not released an official Korean-to-foreign customer ratio.
What we can say is that the Bukchon and Samcheong-dong area is one of Seoul’s strongest tourist corridors, and Korean media consistently describe the district as a growing offline K-beauty retail zone for foreign visitors.
So the honest answer is: Pick No.3 Bukchon is clearly positioned for both Korean shoppers and international visitors, but exact traffic and nationality breakdowns are not publicly available.
Why Foreign Visitors Should Visit Pick No.3
Foreign visitors should visit Pick No.3 because it offers something Olive Young cannot fully provide: a more edited, cultural, and story-driven way to understand K-beauty.
- It reduces choice fatigue: You do not need to compare 50 creams. The store narrows the options for you.
- It is easier for non-Korean speakers: Skin concerns are more intuitive than long ingredient lists.
- It is good for indie discovery: You can find brands that may not be widely available abroad yet.
- It feels Korean: The Bukchon hanok setting gives the shopping experience a stronger sense of place.
- It is useful for beauty buyers: Pick No.3 works almost like a live showroom for rising Korean skincare brands.
Latest Pick No.3 News
The biggest recent news is the opening of Pick No.3 Seongsu on September 2, 2026. The store opened inside PlayX Studio, a large lifestyle space in Seongsu, and Korean media describe it as a new K-beauty playground with topic-based curation and a broad lineup of trending brands.
This move matters because Seongsu is now one of Seoul’s most competitive beauty districts. Pick No.3 entering Seongsu shows that the brand is moving beyond a beautiful Bukchon flagship and building a wider offline platform.
FAQ
What is Pick No.3 in Korea?
Pick No.3 is a Korean K-beauty curation store operated by Allgrace under Pond Group. It recommends skincare products by skin concern and limits each topic to three curated choices.
Where is the original Pick No.3 store?
The first Pick No.3 store opened in Bukchon / Samcheong-dong, Seoul, at 65-7 Hwa-dong, Jongno-gu.
Who founded Pick No.3?
Pick No.3 is led by Allgrace CEO Kim Kang-il, a Korean beauty entrepreneur known for Women’s Talk and early planning work behind Beauty of Joseon.
Is Pick No.3 better than Olive Young?
Not better, just different. Olive Young is better for convenience, discounts, and everyday restocking. Pick No.3 is better for curated discovery, indie brands, and a more guided K-beauty shopping experience.
Does Pick No.3 have overseas plans?
Yes. Pick No.3 has publicly described a global vision, and Korean media report that the brand is focusing on global exports and overseas expansion.
Do many foreigners visit Pick No.3 Bukchon?
The exact foreign visitor ratio has not been publicly disclosed. However, the Bukchon location sits in a major Seoul tourist area and is clearly designed to appeal to both Korean and international K-beauty shoppers.
Final Word
Pick No.3 is one of the most interesting new beauty stores in Korea because it understands a problem every K-beauty shopper feels: there is too much to choose from.
Olive Young gives you the full market. CHICOR gives you premium beauty. MUSINSA Beauty gives you fashion-driven discovery.
Pick No.3 gives you an edit. And for foreign visitors who want a more local, more thoughtful K-beauty shopping experience in Seoul, that may be exactly why Pick No.3 is worth adding to the itinerary.
Related Reading
- Olive Young 101: A Foreigner’s Guide to Korea’s Biggest Beauty Store
- CHICOR Korea Guide: The Sephora-Style K-Beauty Store Beyond Olive Young
- MUSINSA Beauty Guide: Korea’s Indie K-Beauty Platform Explained
- Daiso Korea Beauty Guide: What to Buy Beyond Olive Young
- PDRN in K-Beauty: The Salmon DNA Ingredient Worth Understanding