Buy a Laneige sleeping mask in India and the company that brought it in is called Innisfree. One Gurugram firm, Innisfree Cosmetics India Pvt Ltd, is the declared importer on both brands’ packs — and the register, the packs and the brand’s own website print three Gurugram addresses for it.
That is a useful place to start with Innisfree in 2026: alongside the Jeju-island story, the pack declarations tell a buyer who makes and imports what they pay for.
Innisfree is a South Korean brand owned outright by Amorepacific since 2000, and it has never been sold. In India it costs about what it costs in Korea at list — the 80 ml Green Tea Hyaluronic serum is ₹2,200 here against ₩31,000, or ₹2,144, in Seoul on 3 September 2026 — and roughly 30% less than in the United States. It runs no stores of its own here any more, and its hero serum is made by a Korean contract manufacturer, not by Amorepacific.
Snapshot
- Founded
- 2000, by Amorepacific; named after W. B. Yeats’ poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”
- Owner
- Amorepacific Group, listed on the Korea Exchange (Holdings, code 002790)
- Indian entity
- Innisfree Cosmetics India Private Limited, CIN U51391HR2012FTC047681, from 15 November 2012
- Indian launch
- First store, Khan Market, New Delhi, October 2013
- Price band in India
- ₹450 to ₹3,400 at MRP, checked 3 September 2026
- Where to buy
- in.innisfree.com, Nykaa (100 listings), Amazon India, multi-brand stores
How it started
Amorepacific launched Innisfree in 2000 on ingredients from Jeju island, and its own history page calls it “Korea’s first clean beauty brand”. India came in 2013: the first store opened in Khan Market, New Delhi, that October, a year after the Indian company was incorporated in Gurugram. By 31 May 2019, when Innisfree opened in Hyderabad’s Inorbit Mall, the count had reached 19 stores.
Then the model changed. In October 2023 Paul Lee, Managing Director and Country Head of Amorepacific India, said that after first opening its own stores in major cities, the brand “has shifted its focus toward e-commerce and multi-brand store partnerships.” He put it at over 50 cities and nearly 70 multi-brand stores, and India at about 1% of Innisfree’s business.
- Oct 2013First store, Khan Market, New Delhi
- May 2019Hyderabad opening takes it to 19 stores
- Oct 2023Company says it has shifted to e-commerce; India about 1% of the brand
- Sep 2026Its own store finder lists no store; the website sells direct
The stores went. The brand did not.
“Innisfree left India” is repeated widely and is wrong. The company still sells direct in rupees and carries 100 listings on Nykaa. What closed were its own shops.
What they actually make
The Indian site lists 28 skincare products; Nykaa counts 100. The volume lines are Green Tea Seed and Green Tea Hyaluronic, with Volcanic and Super Volcanic for oil and pores, plus Retinol Cica, Vitamin C Genzyme, Perfect 9, three SPF 50+ products and a small colour range.
Who makes it is the more interesting question. On the one Innisfree pack whose full declaration could be read — the Green Tea Seed Hydrating Serum, 30 ml, 3 September 2026 — the declared manufacturer is Cosvision Corporation, Daedeok-Gu, Daejeon, a Korean contract manufacturer, not Amorepacific. On the Laneige mask on the same shelf, the declared manufacturer is Amorepacific.
One declaration is not a pattern, and this audit does not claim one. It is enough to retire the assumption that a brand’s parent makes the brand’s products — the same distinction a reader meets with Bata, where the Indian listed company and the global name are separate things, and the opposite of Campus, which runs its own factories and says so.
- Cosvision CorporationDaejeon, Korea — declared manufacturer of the 30 ml serum
- Innisfree Cosmetics India Pvt LtdDeclared importer and packer, Gurugram
- RK World Infocom Pvt LtdThe seller named on the Amazon India listing
- The bottle you buy₹578 against a declared MRP of ₹1,050, 3 September 2026
Four names appear between the Korean factory and the box, one of them an Amorepacific company.
What Innisfree costs in India
Korea is the comparison that matters, not America. Converted at the Federal Reserve’s H.10 rates for 28 August 2026 — ₹95.38 and ₩1,379.41 to the dollar, so ₩1,000 = ₹69.15 — Indian MRPs land almost exactly on Korean list prices.
- Korea, list price
- ₩31,000 for 80 mL = ₹2,144 (₹26.79/ml)
- India, MRP
- ₹2,200 for 80 ml (₹27.50/ml)
- Gap
- +2.6% per millilitre
- Checked on
- 3 September 2026
On the Volcanic BHA cleansing foam the direction reverses: ₹800 for 150 g in India against ₩13,000, or ₹899, in Korea — 11% cheaper here. Against America both are cheaper still, the US site charging $14 for that foam and ₹30.82 per millilitre for its serum.
One qualification matters: Korean list is not always what Koreans pay. On the same day the Korean store showed that foam at ₩6,500 on a first-purchase offer and Olive Young at ₩8,380, while the 80 mL serum was discounted to ₩24,800. Against real Korean shelf prices, India is dearer, not cheaper.
| Product | Size and MRP | Per ml |
|---|---|---|
| Volcanic BHA Pore Cleansing Foam | 150 g, ₹800 | ₹5.33/g |
| Super Volcanic Pore Clay Mask | 100 ml, ₹1,100 | ₹11.00 |
| Green Tea Seed Hyaluronic Serum | 80 ml, ₹2,200 | ₹27.50 |
| Perfect 9 Intensive Cream | 60 ml, ₹3,400 | ₹56.67 |
| Retinol Cica Repair Ampoule | 30 ml, ₹2,850 | ₹95.00 |
| Retinol Cica Repair Ampoule | 10 ml, ₹1,000 | ₹100.00 |
| Vitamin C Genzyme Brightening Serum | 10 ml, ₹950 | ₹95.00 |
Brand’s own India site, MRPs checked 3 September 2026.
Note the last two rows. The 10 ml retinol ampoule costs 5% more per millilitre than the 30 ml, and the 10 ml vitamin C serum 7.5% more than its 30 ml. The small bottle is the expensive one.
MRP is also not the price. Nykaa discounted 17 Innisfree products by 5% to 30% on 3 September 2026, Amazon showed the 30 ml serum at ₹578 against a declared MRP of ₹1,050, and the brand’s own site ran 20% and 25% off above spend thresholds. That spread between printed and paid price is the one documented on Metro — never buy on the strike-through.
India requires every imported cosmetic to be registered before it lands; the certificate is held by the Indian importer.
Who Innisfree is actually for
At ₹720 to ₹1,980 for the core Green Tea and Volcanic products at real selling prices, this is mid-range skincare in India — dearer than a domestic drugstore brand, well below prestige. It suits someone buying cleansers, masks and hydrating serums rather than actives.
Actives are where it gets expensive. ₹95 to ₹100 per millilitre for the Retinol Cica ampoule is a premium figure, and the product page does not state a retinol concentration. A buyer looking for a specific active at a specific percentage should check the pack before buying.
Reputation and controversies
On 24 May 2026 the advertising council upheld a complaint against Innisfree Cosmetics India Private Limited over website advertising for the Volcanic BHA Pore Cleansing Foam, under Chapter I of its code. The published outcome names the product and the medium but does not quote the claim concerned, so this audit does not say what the claim was.
Two things bound that finding. The council is a self-regulatory body run by the advertising industry rather than a statutory regulator, and it examined one website advertisement in the form that advertisement carried at the time. The decision puts no phrase permanently off-limits, and nothing on the record is a finding about the Innisfree pages an Indian shopper reads today.
What can be printed is the contrast on the shelf today. The Indian page for that foam carries no number at all — Jeju volcanic clusters, salicylic acid, “helps unclog pores”, nothing quantified. The American page for the same product carries “96% agreed it cleansed pores”, attributed to a two-week independent consumer study on 30 women aged 20 to 35, a self-assessment panel. This audit reports the two pages as read on 3 September 2026.
Other pages carry numbers of their own. The Korean page for the Green Tea Hyaluronic serum claims 72 hours of hydration, absorption 1.4 times faster than water and 48% calming of temporary redness; the page does not state a panel size, laboratory or date for them. The brand’s Indian blog of 30 October 2025 mentions “up to 100 hours of hydration” without citing a test.
Cruelty-free. Amorepacific says it banned animal testing internally from 2008 and extended the commitment to partners in 2013. PETA’s directory lists Innisfree as cruelty-free but does not list its sister brand Laneige, which it says has not signed its statement of assurance. Same parent, same policy, different listing — certification is applied for per brand. Animal testing of cosmetics has been illegal in India since 21 May 2014 in any case, so this is the legal floor.
Innisfree sells three SPF 50+ products in India. Their product pages state the SPF 50+ rating and do not cite the test method or standard used. A buyer who wants that detail can ask the brand or check the pack.
Buying it in India
Every cosmetic imported into India must be registered before it lands — Rule 12(1) of the Cosmetics Rules 2020, notified by GSR 426(E). The application is form COS-1, the certificate COS-2, and it carries an RC/COS number held by the Indian importer or agent, not by the Korean brand. The register is not publicly searchable, so a buyer who wants to check can ask the seller for the registration number.
For Innisfree an importer of record is printed on the pack. The register gives Vatika Tower, Sector 54, Golf Course Road; the Laneige pack gives JMD Megapolis on Sohna Road, Sector 48; the brand’s website footer gives DLF Cyber City, Phase III. The register and both packs say “Innisfree Cosmetics India Pvt Ltd”; the website footer says “Innisfree Cosmetics Pvt. Ltd.”. All three addresses are in Gurugram, and the documents read do not say which is current.
Ask for the registration number
The certificate carries an RC/COS number and the importer holds it. An authorised seller should be able to give it.
Read the importer line on the box
Indian packs must declare manufacturer, packer and importer. On a genuine Innisfree import that importer is Innisfree Cosmetics India Pvt Ltd, Gurugram. No importer named, no purchase.
Compute the price per millilitre
Divide price by pack size before comparing anything. It is the only way to see that the 10 ml ampoule at ₹1,000 costs more per millilitre than the 30 ml at ₹2,850.
Type the address carefully
innisfree.in goes nowhere. The brand’s Indian store is in.innisfree.com, which takes rupees and shows tax-inclusive prices.
Compare paid prices, not printed ones
The same 30 ml serum showed ₹850 on the brand’s own site and a declared MRP of ₹1,050 on Amazon the same day. Compare paid prices across three sellers, never printed ones.
Amorepacific Group’s 2025 earnings summary reports group revenue of KRW 4.6232 trillion, up 8.5%, and operating profit of KRW 368 billion. The same release records a 7% revenue decline for Innisfree and describes “improved profitability through channel portfolio restructuring”. A similar channel shift appeared in North America, where every Innisfree store closed from May 2021 while the brand stayed on sale elsewhere. Shelf presence is never permanent, a point Liberty‘s own retail history makes in a different category.
Common questions
Has Innisfree shut down in India?
No. It closed its own stores — 19 by 2019 — and its country head said in October 2023 that it had moved to e-commerce and multi-brand retail. Its Indian website sells direct and Nykaa carries 100 listings.
Who owns Innisfree?
Amorepacific, which founded it in 2000 and has never sold it. Amorepacific Holdings is listed on the Korea Exchange under code 002790 — no acquisition story, which is unusual for a brand this size.
Is Innisfree cheaper in India or in Korea?
Against Korean list prices, roughly level — the 80 ml serum is 2.6% dearer here, the cleansing foam 11% cheaper, on 3 September 2026. Against the discounted prices Koreans actually pay, India is dearer.
Does Amorepacific make Innisfree products?
Not necessarily. On the one Innisfree pack whose declaration could be read, the manufacturer is Cosvision Corporation of Daejeon, a contract manufacturer. On the Laneige pack beside it, it is Amorepacific itself.
How do I know my Innisfree is genuine?
Read the box for a named Indian importer and ask the seller for the registration number that importer holds. Buying direct from in.innisfree.com or a large authorised retailer removes the question.
How we research and verify brand audits: our methodology.
References
- Amorepacific, Our History, accessed 3 September 2026 — 2000 founding, Jeju positioning, the 2008 and 2013 animal-testing commitments
- Innisfree India, Brand Information, 3 September 2026 — ownership statement and the Yeats derivation
- PR Newswire India, 2 May 2019 — first Indian store, Khan Market, October 2013
- FashionNetwork India, 31 May 2019 — the Hyderabad opening and the count of 19 stores
- Indian Retailer, Paul Lee interview, 9 October 2023 — the shift to e-commerce and India at about 1% of the brand
- Corporate register listing, Innisfree Cosmetics India Private Limited, 3 September 2026 — CIN, incorporation date and the Vatika Tower registered office
- Innisfree Green Tea Seed Hydrating Serum listing, 3 September 2026 — Cosvision Corporation as manufacturer, importer, seller and ₹578 against MRP ₹1,050
- Laneige Bouncy & Firm Sleeping Mask listing, 3 September 2026 — Amorepacific as manufacturer, Innisfree Cosmetics India as importer at JMD Megapolis
- Innisfree India, skincare collection, 3 September 2026 — all Indian MRPs and pack sizes
- Innisfree Korea, Green Tea Hyaluronic Serum 80 mL, 3 September 2026 — ₩31,000 list, the discounted price and the four quantified claims
- Olive Young Korea, Volcanic BHA foam 150 g, 3 September 2026 — the Korean street price of ₩8,380
- Innisfree US, Volcanic BHA Pore Cleansing Foam, 3 September 2026 — $14 price and the “96% agreed it cleansed pores” study description
- Federal Reserve H.10, released 31 August 2026 — the 28 August 2026 rates used for every conversion here
- Advertising Standards Council of India, complaint outcomes, captured 3 September 2026 — the 24 May 2026 upheld finding on the Volcanic BHA foam
- CDSCO, Cosmetics section, 3 September 2026 — the cosmetics registration certificate numbering
- CDSCO, Guidance for Import Registration of Cosmetics in India, 19 January 2021 — Rule 12(1), forms COS-1 and COS-2, and who holds the certificate
- Amorepacific Group, 2025 earnings summary, 6 February 2026 — KRW 4.6232 trillion revenue and the Innisfree brand commentary
- PETA, Beauty Without Bunnies, Innisfree and Laneige entries, 3 September 2026 — the split listing
- Inside Retail Asia, 6 May 2021 — the North American store closures
On price, Innisfree is one of the few imported brands that does not punish Indian buyers. The 80 ml Green Tea Hyaluronic serum is 2.6% dearer here than at Korean list and 11% cheaper per millilitre than in America, and the cleansing foam is cheaper here than in Seoul. For cleansers, masks and hydrating serums bought on discount at ₹720 to ₹1,980, that is honest value, and the importer is named on the pack.
The actives are where the value is harder to judge. ₹95 to ₹100 per millilitre for a retinol ampoule whose page does not state a concentration is a premium price, and the three SPF 50+ product pages do not cite a test method. One Gurugram importer handles both Innisfree and Laneige.
The ₹800 foam and the ₹1,100 clay mask are good value; for the ₹2,850 ampoule, check the pack for a stated retinol percentage first.
