Community
Skin, K-beauty, Korea trips and the beauty industry — ask and share
If you could do just one K-culture experience in Seoul, what would it be?
On a Seoul trip, K-culture experiences are almost as popular as shopping. Here's roughly what travel forums keep recommending: Hanbok and a palace walk: often named as the experience that gives you the most photos K-pop
Poll
Just one K-culture experience in Seoul?
Pick one to see the results
0 0Lines around the block for a men's beauty popup: the numbers behind it
When CJ Olive Young opened its first Men's Beauty popup in Seoul, the turnout surprised a lot of people. The Korea Times put numbers on it. From the report: Over 12,000 visitors in 10 days (Aug. 30 to Sept. 8, 2024), wit
0 0Insadong-gil
Insadong remains one of Seoul’s signature streets. It is the street most visited by foreign tourists, and a neighborhood where tradition runs so deep that even Starbucks once changed its sign to Hangul. Antique shops hav
0 0Dongmyo Flea Market
Dongmyo Flea Market began in the late 1980s. Although it has shrunk considerably compared with its former reputation, it still gathers all kinds of rare items. It covers everything from clothing, shoes, and wallets to wa
0 0Not Myeongdong or Hongdae: Tourists Are Heading to CU in Seongsu
CU, the Korean convenience-store chain, has recently become a new must-visit spot for overseas tourists. Located in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, the ‘CU Seongsu Dessert Park Store’ opened in February this year and quickly drew a
0 0How did K-beauty first get you? Tell us your origin story
Everyone who ends up on a K-beauty forum has a first moment. For some it was a sheet mask from a friend's trip, for others a K-drama close-up or a video about double cleansing at 2 a.m. The origin stories people share mo
0 0Hanbok at the palace: makeup and skin tips for the day
Renting a hanbok and taking photos around Gyeongbokgung or Changdeokgung has become a classic Seoul experience. But many people say that once they're there, it's their face and skin they end up worrying about, not the ou
0 0K-drama and K-pop filming spots: which ones beat your expectations?
Plenty of people plan a Korea trip around places from K-dramas or K-pop music videos. But read travel forums and the reactions are pretty mixed. What comes up again and again: "Smaller than on screen": it looked huge in
0 0Sleeping in a hanok guesthouse: charming experience or one night is enough?
Staying in a traditional hanok comes up in almost every “unique stays in Seoul” thread. Opinions split in a pretty consistent way. What people love Waking up in a wooden house with a courtyard, often in walkable areas li
0 0K-pop fan trip: besides concerts, what's the one thing you always do in Seoul?
Lots of K-pop fans come to Korea for concerts or music show recordings. But on travel forums, what else they always do in Seoul varies a lot. The ones that come up most: Visiting agency buildings or official merch shops:
0 0Dongdaemun Shopping Town
Dongdaemun Shopping Town is one of Seoul’s best shopping streets. Large shopping complexes lined up here cover both wholesale and retail. Shinpyeonghwa Fashion Town, Fashion Nam Pyeonghwa, Pyeonghwa Market, and Dongpyeon
0 0One beauty experience on your Korea trip — which do you pick?
On a short trip most people end up choosing just one or two. The usual shortlist: Personal colour analysis: know your tones, shop lipstick and clothes with a plan Head spa: mostly about relaxing mid-trip Dermatology cons
Poll
If you could only pick one, which would it be?
Pick one to see the results
0 0Musinsa Terrace Seongsu
Musinsa Terrace Seongsu is a fashion and culture space where you can experience brands carried on Musinsa, Korea’s leading online fashion platform, up close. Blending fashion with culture, the venue stages a range of bra
0 0Yeonmujang-gil in Seongsu-dong | A Trendy Culture Street
Yeonmujang-gil in Seongsu-dong is a culture street in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, where the legacy of its industrial era, when shoe factories once stood close together, now meets a contemporary urban mood. The name “Yeonmujang”
0 0If you founded an indie K-beauty brand, what would your next step be?
K-beauty now offers a range of "next steps": private-equity money, acquisitions by global groups, IPOs, and even Korean brands buying Korean brands. Trade-offs people often mention Sell to a global giant: distribution an
Poll
If I founded an indie brand, my next step would be…
Pick one to see the results
0 0How do you explain "biotech" ingredients to shoppers?
Fermentation, recombinant proteins, cell-culture extracts: supplier catalogs are full of ingredients labeled "biotech" these days. But brand teams say explaining them on a product page is where things get stuck. Why it i
0 0The exosome and PDRN skincare craze: where should expectations land?
New skincare launches can hardly skip exosomes or PDRN (salmon DNA) these days. Names that started in dermatology clinics have moved into jars, and interest has exploded. Why the hype Products often borrow the clinic ima
0 0IFC Mall
IFC Mall is a large shopping mall spanning Basement Levels 1 to 3 of the Yeouido International Finance Center (IFC), where you can find global fashion brands all in one place, including clothing, cosmetics, and accessori
0 0Dupe culture, K-beauty edition: smart shopping or just the same factory?
Dupe threads are some of the busiest posts on beauty forums right now. Someone finds a cheaper product that feels like a cult favourite, and the comments explode. In K-beauty the debate has an extra twist. Korea has larg
0 0Itaewon Street
Itaewon is a place where people of different nationalities and ethnicities gather. You can taste foods from around the world and see an exotic mosque. As U.S. military bases were established in the past, this area develo
0 0