Mamonde's 10-Million-Sold Tint Balm Is Back With New Shades

The Mamonde Creamy Tint Color Balm first launched in 2016, crossed 10 million units sold, got discontinued during a rebrand, and never stopped getting restock requests. Now, on its 10th anniversary, it's back — reformulated, with new shades, and available at Olive Young starting October 20.

The updated formula is designed to apply without pilling, and the color payoff is buildable: sheer with one layer, more defined with more. The ingredients list now includes flower extract, shea butter, and ceramide for moisture. The original 'Velvet Red' shade returns alongside five new ones — Chilling Cherry, Rosy Taro, Peach Nuts, Healthy Rose, and Mellow Rose, with Mellow Rose exclusive to Olive Young.

There's also a new companion product launching at the same time: the Creamy Tint Prep Balm, which is meant to smooth lip texture before color application so the tint sits more evenly. Both pieces are sold at Olive Young.

Separately, this week had a few other K-beauty industry moves worth tracking. APR's Medicube officially landed in around 400 US Costco locations this month — the same month it also entered all domestic Costco branches in Korea. The brand's Zero Pore Pad has held the number-one spot in the Amazon toner/lotion category since February 2025, and CVS Pharmacy (around 3,000 stores) is next on the US expansion list. APR's North America revenue for the first half of this year was up over 260% compared to the same period last year.

On the industry side, cosmetics manufacturer Cosmax hosted the 'KOOM K-Beauty Creator Awards' in Manhattan on October 17, as part of KOOM WEEK 2026 — billed as the largest K-brand and startup festival in North America. Around 150 beauty influencers and creators based in North America attended. Cosmax's chairman cited creativity and speed as the core drivers behind K-beauty's global growth, and the company said it plans to use its now-profitable US production facility to support K-indie brands looking to break into the American market.

And if you're a tech person: CJ Olive Young is hosting its first-ever external tech conference, 'define:OMNI', in Seongsu this November at a venue called Anderson C Seongsu. The focus is on how Olive Young built its omnichannel platform connecting stores, its online mall, and its logistics system in real time — plus its global platform strategy for the US market. It's aimed at tech talent, not shoppers, but it signals how seriously Olive Young is treating its infrastructure as a product in itself.