South Korean women’s beauty products and trends are among some of the most modern-age recognizable ethnic styles. They’ve been gaining heavy traction in the US over the past decade, with staples like fair, dewy skin; conservative and subtle eye makeup; and gradient lips being some of the most prominent features of this sort of beauty. In the past year, however, there’s been more of a movement against it than there has been in the past, due to Korean beauty culture’s tendency to glorify innocence conflated with lighter tones. The rise and fall of Korean-standard beauty in America has a lot to do with the cultural and societal trends within both countries, and I’m interested to explore the relationships between the countries and people in my writing.
It seemed to initially gain US popularity because of an American culture of the time that valued a sort of less-is-more, minimalistic style. A huge shift from heavier styles of the late 2000’s to lighter, more cutesy fashion in the early 2010’s (due in part to the rise of kpop bands in the US that utilized this style) helped grow an interest in similar makeup and clothing. It allowed people to feel different while still being able to embody the essence of their favorite kpop girl group or idol. Over the course of a few years, Korean pop culture as a whole depicted and carried into the US a perennial Korean beauty standard that encouraged women to look thinner and cuter, and the cultures became more closely meshed.
It wasn’t until very recently that Korean beauty standards raised a lot of contention for promoting such a narrow view of beauty, excluding larger and / or darker women from their perceived ideal. As America shifts to a more globally-conscious state, we’ve begun to embrace less traditional beauty norms, and celebrate diversity on the stage rather than only shining the spotlight on a couple model types. The emphasis Korean beauty places on their specific ideal aesthetic has begun to work against them, and as we become more accepting of each other, Korean trends have begun to die down in popularity.