K Beauty Concept

       THE KOREAN BEAUTY CONCEPT

Someone wise told that,

"What makes a person pretty amazing is being comfortable in their own skin."

And never before the depth of these lines hit me so strongly, until I got into beauty industry and saw the changing trends in beauty concepts globally.

It's really interesting to see how the definition of beauty keeps changing with time, like a wave that sweeps away everyone's rational thinking and confidence and brings forth the inner fancies of acquiring the conventional ideal in beauty which is accepted by others.

As we all can see these days that the Korean beauty concept has gripped the world extensively.

Every now and then, i recieve queries regarding my products, whether they can make the skin as beautiful as Korean skin.....

So, first let's understand quickly what is Korean beauty ?

The most apparent physical trait is the lack of tanning.

The skin colour is extraordinarily whitish pale.

There are many arguments as to why Korean men and women like to be pale ?

And one of the aspect behind this kind of no-tan look goes back to their history.

Historically speaking, having a tanned skin symbolised poverty, that you are a poor peasant working outdoors as compared to people who have pale skin, with no-wrinkles, represented luxury and wealth.

Apart from this, another physical trait of Korean beauty is having a “V-line” face. 

It is the most essential beauty code.

V-line shaped jaw is advertised aggressively and popular celebrities can also be seen picturised in such angles, creating the illusion of a V-line jaw face.

Furthermore, to achieve this V-line jaw, one can anytime undergo a surgery, as it is easily available there.

And, if that is not enough for setting up this trend, there are hoardes of products being sold which helps in trimming down the jaw and face fat.

Initially, the Korean beauty was confined to teenage beauty cabinets, because of it's typical kitschy aesthetics.

But currently, it's truly come of age, offering a selection of sophisticated Korean beauty range lines, that appeals to the skintellectuals as well as K beauty obsessives. 

The latest fad of having glass skin is spreading like forest fire.

And not understanding the nature of one's skin, everyone wants to have that kind of Korean glass skin, which is fair, transparent and slippery.

Some of the most popular products used in Korean beauty are blemish balm (BB) creams, colour correction (CC) creams, serums, essences, ampoules, seaweed face masks and scrubs.

Korean beauty products contain ingredients not commonly found in western products, such as snail extract.

However, the high demand for Korean style cosmetics and beauty products has attracted a lot of criticism worldwide for two reasons :

On the one hand, lots of environmental hazard, waste and pollution.

On the other hand, a parallel market of fake Korean beauty products with serious health consequences.

Moreover, Korean beauty advertising feels like bullying, compared to western beauty standards, pushing for acceptance and inclusivity.

Even the media over there fails to show the darker side of being under constant pressure to be fit.

Now, let's come back to our country and understand how viable is K beauty concept is for us Indians.

Straightaway, I will put across the facts that K beauty is not meant for Indian skin.

Our skin is very different from Koreans, hence it's needs are also different.

K beauty regime consists of various steps, too much layering on skin, and keeping in mind the Indian skin type and Indian climate (extreme weather & pollution) K beauty regime is going to aggravate irritation, clogging the pores due to use of many creams, resulting in acne and other such skin conditions.

The good part of K beauty regime is that they like to use lot of natural and fermented ingredients like Rice bran, Seaweed, Green tea, Liquor ice etc. that provides many skin benefits.

Therefore, it's always advisable to be wise and choose products according to your skin's demand.

It is best to start with one or two products, picking ingredients that will address your skin concerns and then go ahead.

Talking about the concept of beauty or being beautiful, one should understand that there is lot more to it than just being skindeep.

The definition of beauty depends on how you perceive it.

One can be considered physically beautiful in one country, and it may not be the same in another country.

The idea of beauty is different from place to place, and ideally the beauty of a person is reflected in the enriched human culture that he/she carries.

One can always aspire to attain different things from different worlds, societies, people, but trying and struggling to become like someone, in order to reach to the benchmark laid by others for you to be accepted as beautiful, based only on one aspect, which is purely physical, is in no way, anywhere close to beauty or being beautiful.

So my parting lines are, take the best from everywhere, understanding what suits you and be your own beautiful, Korean or Indian shouldn't be the parameter.

As the great Thich Nhat Hanh quoted :

"TO BE BEAUTIFUL MEANS TO BE YOURSELF.

YOU DON'T NEED TO BE ACCEPTED BY OTHERS.

YOU NEED TO ACCEPT YOURSELF."