APRILSKIN

APRILSKIN is a South Korean skincare and makeup brand based in Seoul and owned by the beauty-technology company APR Co., Ltd. [4]. It began with a single cleansing soap and grew into a full range covering skincare, cushion foundations, masks and tinted products. The brand sits within the broader wave of Korean beauty (K-beauty) that reached international audiences in the 2010s, and it positions its formulas around being effective while gentle on sensitive skin.

The brand is active. Its parent, APR Co., Ltd., operates live storefronts across several regions, including a dedicated US site, and the company went public in 2025 [6].

APRILSKIN is a product of APR Corp, the Seoul company founded in 2014 by Kim Byung-hoon, who serves as its founder and chief executive [6]. According to the Korean business outlet KED Global, the company launched AprilSkin in October 2015, and the brand drew early attention — particularly in China — for its hypoallergenic positioning [7]. Its debut product was the Magic Stone, a cleansing soap that became the brand's first hallmark item before the line expanded.

The founding year is recorded inconsistently across sources. KED Global, a Korean business publication, dates the AprilSkin launch to October 2015 [7]; the review site DermSpotlight states the brand was established in October 2014 [8]. The 2014 figure aligns with the founding of parent company APR Corp, which may account for the difference [6].

Sources name Kim Byung-hoon as the founder and CEO of the parent company rather than as the specific originator of the AprilSkin line; the individuals who conceived the brand itself are not separately identified in available sources.

APRILSKIN is owned by APR Co., Ltd. (APR Corporation), headquartered at the Lotte World Tower in the Songpa district of Seoul [4]. The parent operates a portfolio of three main brands: AprilSkin in skincare, Medicube in at-home beauty devices, and Nerdy in athleisure clothing [7]. In 2025, APR went public; founder Kim Byung-hoon's stake in the listed company was reported to have made him a billionaire [6].

The company frames its approach as refusing a trade-off between results and tolerance. "We don't choose between high-performance or low irritation. We aim for both," its US site states. APRILSKIN describes its formulations as fragrance-free, hypoallergenic and clinically tested, combining natural and active ingredients. The brand uses the tagline "Gentle is the new strong" [2].

APRILSKIN also lists ethical commitments, describing its products as cruelty-free and sulfate-free, with vegan options including a vegan collagen line [2]. Its cosmetics are made in South Korea.

The brand's range spans skincare, makeup, cushion foundations, masks, cleansers, serums and lip tints. Among its best-known items are the Magic Snow Cushion, a cushion foundation described in beauty reviews as a "multiple award-winning" bestseller [8], and the original Magic Stone cleansing soap. Later launches include the Carrotene Clarifying Serum, the TXA Niacinamide Toning Shot 99 Spicule Serum and the Calendula Peel Off Mask.

Hero ingredients recur across the line and define several product families: carrot seed oil and niacinamide, tranexamic acid (an ingredient used to help even skin tone), calendula, mugwort, centella and squalane. The company markets a proprietary carrot-derived ingredient under the name Carrotene IPMP.

In 2022, KED Global profiled APR Corp and identified AprilSkin as one of its three major brands alongside Medicube and Nerdy, noting the parent's revenue growth to 259 billion won in 2021 [7]. Beauty review coverage has highlighted the Magic Snow Cushion and the Magic Stone soap as the brand's signature sellers.

APRILSKIN is an operating brand. It maintains live e-commerce sites with a current catalogue and ships internationally, and its parent company, APR Co., Ltd., has been publicly traded since 2025 [6].