Makeup and Skincare

It's Ami posting!

Today I've decided to write about something that has become a huge (exaggeration...maybe) part of my life since coming to Korea: Appearance. 

Now, to improve appearance and not look like a hobo when going out, all of it has to do with presentation of your face. 

This is where makeup and skincare comes in and helps save me from looking like a monster when I go out. :)

All jokes aside, the skincare and makeup industry is pretty big in Korea because appearance is definitely important to Korean society (it's important everywhere, let's be real) and the country is well known to pay special attention to how you look. And this doesn't apply to just females, it also applies to the guys too, of course.

So I'll just give you a rundown of what's popular (or what I perceive as popular) here and the things that have left a unique or particularly good impression on me. 

1) BB CREAM

You can NOT write a post on makeup and then not write about B.B Cream. Literally, it's sold in all makeup/skincare stores and everyone wears it (even some guys) and just yeah. It's a huge thing here. It's supposedly becoming a trend in America, too, but if you come to Korea, you're (girls) are probably going to end up buying B.B. Cream...Even if you don't wear makeup. Why? There's no reason, you just will haha. By the way, if you somehow don't know what the stuff is, it's basically kind of like a foundation but it's said to do all these different things at once and usually has a grey undertone. Funny, because I've never met anyone with gray colored undertones...

2) The stores

There are SO many makeup stores it's ridiculous. The ones I can name off the top of my head are: Tony Moly, Nature Republic, Aritaum, The Face Shop, Etude House, Holika Holika, Skinfood; the list goes on and on and on! Just by the number of different makeup companies shows how important appearance. I personally like Nature Republic the best because they have awesome $1 nail polish and their skincare stuff just feels good on my face. :) 

3) Quality

For the price, the quality is pretty good. Obviously. there will be bad products (namely with BB cream) but if you just simply youtube or google the items or Korean makeup in general, you can generally figure out what you should buy and what you shouldn't buy. But, it's always fun to go first-hand into the stores and try out the stuff, especially because they're not pricey. It'll kill time, too!

4) Olive Young/ Watsons/ etc

There are some stores that sell a lot of international brand makeup and skincare. If you prefer to use American or Japanese products in particular, you can go to these stores. However, they're obviously going to be overpriced and the Korean brands aren't bad so I suggest going to explore the Korean stores first! But, if you have a favorite Maybelline mascara you like, you can go to one of these stores and buy it.:)

5) Service

In Korea, the salesladies and people don't let you simply look around; they ALWAYS come up to you and ask if you need any help, what you're looking for, and such. It's a nice gesture but sometimes they can get in your face. They are helpful when you're actually looking for something, though, so that's good. Also, you get samples most of the time no matter how little you buy at a given store which is always fun because you can try out cool and quirky samples. 

I think that's basically it- I'm sorry there are no pictures but yeah... Hopefully this gives people sort of a look into Korean makeup (but probably not...)

Bye!