Data
Price per 100ml: which K-beauty product is cheapest in each category
The cheapest bottle isn't the cheapest product.
Price per 100ml, worked out inside each category from the sizes and prices already on this site.
The Anua 3 Ceramide Panthenol Moisture Barrier Cream costs $20.00 for 100ml — more upfront than the Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream at $19.20 for 50ml. Work out the price per 100ml and it flips: $20.00 against $38.40. The pricier bottle is actually 47.9% cheaper per 100ml.
This isn't a trick of the data. It's the normal condition of a K-beauty shelf, where one category ships in several sizes and the number on the front of the box is the only one anyone compares.
What the shelf price hides
Here is every product we track that's measured in millilitres, priced at its cheapest store, with the arithmetic done.
Ampoule
| Product | Size | Lowest price | Per 100ml |
|---|---|---|---|
| SKIN1004 Madagascar Centella Ampoule | 100ml | $14.50 Stylevana | $14.50 |
| VT Cosmetics Reedle Shot 100 | 50ml | $26.11 YesStyle | $52.22 |
Cleanser
| Product | Size | Lowest price | Per 100ml |
|---|---|---|---|
| COSRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser | 150ml | $10.50 YesStyle | $7.00 |
| beplain Mung Bean pH-Balanced Cleansing Foam | 80ml | $10.80 Olive Young US | $13.50 |
Cleansing Oil
| Product | Size | Lowest price | Per 100ml |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round Lab 1025 Dokdo Cleansing Oil | 200ml | $18.20 YesStyle | $9.10 |
| Anua Heartleaf Pore Control Cleansing Oil | 200ml | $20.00 YesStyle | $10.00 |
Essence
| Product | Size | Lowest price | Per 100ml |
|---|---|---|---|
| COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence | 100ml | $17.50 YesStyle | $17.50 |
| mixsoon Bean Essence | 50ml | $17.50 YesStyle | $35.00 |
Mask
| Product | Size | Lowest price | Per 100ml |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laneige Water Sleeping Mask | 70ml | $16.66 Stylevana | $23.80 |
| Medicube Collagen Night Wrapping Mask | 75ml | $20.50 iHerb | $27.33 |
Moisturizer
| Product | Size | Lowest price | Per 100ml |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anua 3 Ceramide Panthenol Moisture Barrier Cream | 100ml | $20.00 YesStyle | $20.00 |
| Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream | 50ml | $19.20 YesStyle | $38.40 |
Serum
| Product | Size | Lowest price | Per 100ml |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beauty of Joseon Glow Serum: Propolis + Niacinamide | 30ml | $13.60 YesStyle | $45.33 |
| Medicube PDRN Pink Peptide Serum | 30ml | $21.00 iHerb | $70.00 |
| Anua Niacinamide 10% + TXA 4% Dark Spot Correcting Serum | 30ml | $22.00 YesStyle | $73.33 |
| Anua PDRN Hyaluronic Capsule 100 Serum | 30ml | $28.00 YesStyle | $93.33 |
Sunscreen
| Product | Size | Lowest price | Per 100ml |
|---|---|---|---|
| SKIN1004 Madagascar Centella Hyalu-Cica Water-Fit Sun Serum | 50ml | $9.70 Stylevana | $19.40 |
| Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics SPF50+ PA++++ | 50ml | $11.70 YesStyle | $23.40 |
| Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel SPF50+ | 50ml | $13.49 Stylevana | $26.98 |
| Round Lab Birch Juice Moisturizing Sunscreen SPF50+ | 50ml | $19.60 YesStyle | $39.20 |
Toner
| Product | Size | Lowest price | Per 100ml |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round Lab 1025 Dokdo Toner | 200ml | $12.95 YesStyle | $6.48 |
| Anua Heartleaf 77% Soothing Toner | 250ml | $21.00 YesStyle | $8.40 |
| Beauty of Joseon Ginseng Essence Water | 150ml | $14.40 YesStyle | $9.60 |
| Some By Mi AHA-BHA-PHA 30 Days Miracle Toner | 150ml | $17.55 YesStyle | $11.70 |
Read down a single category, never across two. A toner and a serum are not interchangeable at any price — you go through a toner and you dot a serum — so a "cheaper per 100ml" that crosses that line means nothing.
Where the gap is worst
The widest spread is in Ampoule, where price per 100ml ranges from $14.50 (SKIN1004 Madagascar Centella Ampoule) to $52.22 (VT Cosmetics Reedle Shot 100) — a 3.60x difference inside one category.
That's the pattern worth carrying around: the smaller the bottle, the more the sticker price flatters it. A 30ml serum and a 50ml serum sit next to each other at similar prices and are not similar purchases.
Where the sticker price is fine
Cleansing Oil (200ml each), Serum (30ml each), and Sunscreen (50ml each) ship in exactly one size across every product we track. When a category ships in one size, the price tag already is the per-unit price and there's nothing to correct for.
Most of the noise in this article comes from categories where sizes disagree.
What per-ml doesn't tell you
We're not going to pretend this settles a purchase. Three honest limits:
- It assumes you finish the bottle. A larger size is only cheaper if you use it before it turns. Sunscreen and cleansers get used up; a serum you're testing may not.
- It ignores concentration and formulation. Two products at the same price per ml are not the same product, and nothing in our data speaks to what's in them.
- It doesn't cover the formats that aren't measured in ml. 4 of the 30 products we track are sold by the sheet, the pad, or by weight. We don't convert those into a fake millilitre figure to fill the column — where the arithmetic doesn't apply, we leave it out.
What we do with this
Every product page shows the size next to the price, so the comparison you're making is the one you think you're making. The per-unit maths above is the reason: a price on its own is a number, and a number without its size isn't a price. How we check prices →
Related guides
- Which K-beauty store is cheapest? YesStyle vs Stylevana vs Olive Young US
- Free shipping thresholds at YesStyle, Stylevana and Olive Young US — and what each one actually buys
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