Seoul Beauty Diary: The Craziest New Products and Treatments + All the Sheet Masks Your Heart Desires

Beauty district: Garosu-gil

Literally translated as “tree-lined streets,” this is one of Seoul’s hippest (and personally my fave) districts with endless cafés and boutiques. It also has a street with all your favourite South Korean skincare shops. If you want to steer clear from the tourists (aka Myeongdong), this is the place to escape.

Beauty district: Myeongdong

Myeongdong’s “Orchard Road” is basically the Time Square of K-beauty. Aside from the best beauty deals, you’ll find many sales associates offering samples outside the shops. But don’t be fooled. You’ll only get those samples if you go in and make purchases.

Sheet masks forever

Sheet masks make for ideal souvenirs to bring back home (easily stored in your luggage, inexpensive, nutrient-packed – to name a few reasons). At Myeongdong, you can find many of the boutiques selling masks and beauty packages, warehouse style. To entice you, shops offer buy one, get one free deals. I still hear my credit card weeping.

Male celebrity ambassadors

With men making up a huge part of the consumer market, having both female and male ambassadors repping brands is no surprise.

For the organizational freaks

One of the things I was most excited to check out were the brick-and-mortar beauty brands (ie Innisfree, Nature Republic, Su:um37, etc.) that I only had access to online. Thanks to their always brightly lit, organized shelves and a display of their best-seller products, shopping at new brands has never been less stressful.

DIY beauty

Hello, DIY masks! Nature-focused beauty brand Innisfree offers a mask customization station at the Samcheongdong store location. You start off by choosing your base (cream or clay) and then it’s pretty much like a buffet where you pick your mask “toppings” from a variety of good-for-your-skin ingredients.

Beauty on the go

Asian subway stations are the best. Aside from the token-less entry and glass safety doors on the platform, Seoul offers many go-to beauty shops like The Face Shop and Nature Republic underground. So whether you’re killing time or need to pick up some skincare products before/after-work, you can.

The Sephora of South Korea

Olive Young, LOEBs and Aritaum are beauty destinations housing all sorts of cool indie brands you can’t get on our side of the world. Think of them like your Seoul’s Sephoras, Murales and Shopper’s Beauty Boutiques.

Beauty trends on the street

It’s no secret that Korean ladies have their beauty routines down pat. While in North America we express our individualism through makeup (or no makeup), I noticed Seoulites really commit when they find a trend. This time around it was pink lipstick, pink eyeshadow (or eyeliner) and light-powdered faces.

Hair trends on the street

Blonde bobs and lobs were the hairstyle du jour.

Backstage beauty

We’ve heard rumours that Seoul Fashion Week’s backstage beauty is super skincare-focused. After heading to SFW, I can confirm that it is indeed true. With Hera (a brand under the AmorePacific beauty umbrella) being SFW’s big sponsor, skincare products took up just as much space as the makeup.

Coolest beauty product

Two words: Escalator mascara. When Dinoplatz’s (Too Cool for School’s makeup line) sales associate showed off its ability, it immediately made me chuck my basic mascara. It offers the ability to personalize the brush size resulting in perfect lashes.!

Runway beauty

Similar to what you see on the streets, runway beauty is just as effortless and wearable. Case in point: At Lie Sang Bong, models looked gorgeous in dewy skin and a pop of pink on the lips.

Mag & Logan Spring 2016

When it comes to hairstyles, it was also all about the no-fuss look with models rocking beach-wavy hair and/or tousled updos.

Centaur Spring 2016

At The Centaur Spring 2016 show, makeup artists did not hold back on doll-like beauty looks.

New beauty product

While cushion compacts are still everywhere, I noticed a couple of brands like Su:um 37 and VDL are now offering the latest makeup device, metal cushion compact. Compared to its older sister plain ol’ cushion compact, the CC metal compact is the hottest item thanks to its cooling effect and cleanliness.

Facials

SK-II may hail from Japan, but Seoul hosts one of their magnificent spas (the other one is in Singapore). If you want to experience a super glam facial, I highly recommend Cheongdamdong’s SK-II location. The Pitera facial massage will have you skipping out of there.

Spa and nail salon

Though I made the mistake of only getting a basic mani at Shangpree, I highly recommend their gel nails because judging from the designs displayed around the store, they look Insta-worthy.

Jiljimbang

Think of jiljimbangs like a traditional Korean bathhouse meet spa. While many are co-ed, Spa Lei is a relatively upscale women-only sanctuary. Besides offering both wet and dry saunas that help balances your body’s wellness from the inside out, one of the biggest traditions is to get a full-body scrub administered by middle-aged women dressed in black lace bras and panties.

Cute packaging

I’m not going to lie, sometimes the reason I buy beauty products is how appealing the packaging is. And SoKo beauty packaging is the cutest by far. Case in point: Too Cool For School. Just take a look at the Egg Cream Mask and the Pumpkin 24K Gold Mask. And samples!!!

Cult fave

We’ve heard that Clio eyeliner in “Kill Black” is a must-have in South Korea and is often sold out. Well, after making a trip to Clio myself, I can confirm that statement. I had to go to a few stores in different beauty districts to finally find one.

Most memorable product

Animal masks (sheet masks in the design of different animals’ faces) have been all over Instagram for a while but they’re not as easily accessible here. When I saw so many brands were offering these fun masks, I grabbed them by the bunch. They’ll definitely make for the best sleepover snaps.