In terms of appearance management, Korean men are likely to become the world's No. 1.
Not only have various men's beauty products sold for more than 1 trillion yuan, but there are even some male bloggers who strive for excellence on the road to "beauty", delicate to every strand of hair, and even how to deeply wash their feet and manage their armpits.
I have to say that South Korea has really rolled up "delicate men" into a common phenomenon...
On January 7, according to a survey results, South Korea ranked first in the world in terms of men's skin care spending last year.
On average, the average amount spent per person is more than twice as much as that of the United Kingdom, which ranks second, and Denmark, which ranks third.
The size of the Korean men's beauty market, including skin care, perfume, shaving products, etc., has grown from 1,105 billion won (about 6 billion yuan) in 2022 to 1,110 billion won in 2023, and is expected to continue to grow this year, reaching 1,121 billion won.
This is an absolutely staggering number in South Korea, which has a male population of less than 26 million. This level of real money is also enough to prove how genuinely Korean men invest in managing their appearance.
Korean men's skincare advertisement
Korean men's cosmetics commercial
Such a "world first" is not surprising in the eyes of Korean netizens, because many men around them take care of themselves in this way.
"My male friends around me didn't know anything about dressing up when they were in elementary, junior high, and high school, but when they became adults, they suddenly started to go to the dermatology department for surgery, and they dressed up more seriously than me, and their hair was clean and handsome..."
"My dad is also using toner, lotion, sunscreen, hand cream, and lip balm, spending more than 200,000 won (about 1,000 yuan) a year, and he goes out cleanly, which is really good. ”
"My brother seems to use more cosmetics than I do, maybe it's because of my dad's acne, my brother and I both have acne...
Thinking about it, my dad also uses exfoliating gel and is very interested in cosmetics. ”
"After my younger brother joined the army, he watched a beauty variety show in the army and became interested in cosmetics, so I asked him to buy him some good cosmetics hahaha. ”
"On the commute, the men seem to apply their base makeup well, and even when they go to the army, they always bring lotion and lotion. ”
"I feel this when I go to work, and the men around me feel a lot unconsciously, and I may not be able to see it directly by looking at it, but it is obvious when I stand with people who don't manage their appearance at all!
Although cosmetics are not often talked about, simple cosmetics are also kept in the bag, and lip balm is sure to be in the pocket. ”
As netizens shared, men's skin care and makeup are not a new thing in South Korea, but a collective consciousness, and for many men, managing their skin and making themselves look neater and more handsome has long been a part of life.
This kind of "self-cultivation of delicate men" has existed in Korea for a long time, and in fact, since nearly 20 years ago, a considerable number of men in Korea have been focusing on beauty.
A 2005 study of 600 men aged 15-49 looked at how much men cared about beauty.
The survey results show that men pay the most attention to their appearance is their hairstyle, followed by body shape, body shape, facial skin, etc.
Men aged 25-30 were the most prominent in the survey, and they showed a high level of concern for all physical factors. These men who are just starting to enter the workforce, either about to work or new to the company, see their appearance management as very important for their social success.
In addition to men in this age group, men in their 20s and 30s are generally concerned about their appearance, and men in their 40s are also beginning to change in this area, with more than 30% carrying cosmetics, toners and lotions, facial cleansers, and perfumes.
Men in their 40s at the time were the last generation of baby boomers born in South Korea after the war, experienced a difficult period of economic hardship, and after entering the millennium, they gradually adapted to the digital age, and the once pent-up desire for self-fulfillment slowly recovered, and began to "revenge love beauty".
However, this background of the times is only one of the factors that make Korean men "refined", but it is not the main factor.
In recent years, Korean men have paid more and more attention to beauty, on the one hand, due to the influence of mass media, especially for young people, who are more influenced by film and television works, fashion magazines, etc., and they are very concerned about their appearance.
Therefore, many Korean men will invest more time and energy in this area, and the research on clothing, weight, daily appearance management, body shape management, skin management, hairstyle management, health management, makeup, plastic surgery, etc. is also getting deeper and deeper.
In the mid-to-late 2000s, a number of romance idol dramas adapted from comics emerged in the Korean film and television industry.
For example, Jang Geun Suk in "It Turned Out to Be a Beautiful Man", etc.,
Lee Joon-gi in "My Girl",
F4 in "Boys Over Flowers" and so on.
During that time, young men in South Korea were influenced by film and television dramas, and many of them would create a thin body, lose weight for this purpose, and at the same time create their own "personality image" through clothes, accessories, hairstyles and skin management.
This phenomenon of "fashion trends instantly turning into group behavior" is not only due to the influence of the media, but also due to the admiration of "appearance first" and "collectivism" in Korean society.
In a survey conducted by Statistics Korea, 37.2% of respondents said they were "handsome" and 30.1% said they wanted to dress up, and more than half of the respondents were positive about men who could dress up.
Even in Korean society, there is a strange phenomenon of "paying more attention to appearance than ability", and many people go for "employment facelift" in order to make the interview go more smoothly.
According to a survey conducted by a job portal for male job prospects, 72% of them answered "yes" when asked whether they have physical appearance management as part of their job preparation.
The common idea that "appearance plays an important role in employment" has clearly become a "face-watching society" in the true sense of the word, rather than just young people catching up with the trend.
Good-looking people are more likely to succeed, and this success is not only in terms of employment, but also in all aspects of Koreans.
Nearly 90% of respondents said "Looks important?"
Because Koreans are very "collectivist", hierarchical culture and a sense of authority prevail, which makes them feel more secure in the collective, but it also means that it is more difficult for them to be independent and care a lot about what others think.
Integrating into the collective, being part of the collective, and not being abandoned by the collective are the standards of action in the daily lives of many people.
South Korea has a small population, but the city is densely populated, with almost a quarter of the population and most of the resources concentrated in the capital, Seoul, making it easy for people to huddle.
No matter what kind of fashion trend, in such a dense crowd, it can spread to everyone almost instantly, but it also means that the people in it will involuntarily be coerced by the collective and bear the pressure brought by the collective.
When a masculine aesthetic becomes popular, almost all men, especially young people, rush to cater to the aesthetic, not only because they "love beauty", but also because they can feel a collective sense of security in this "big pop event".
"The Inheritors" became popular, long-legged Oba became popular, and all men studied outfits in fancy ways, showing their long legs in various ways;
"My Love from the Star" was a hit, and the warm man with thick bangs became a hit in the season, and all the men cut out the same style as Kim so-hyun;
When all the male protagonists of Korean comics have Pacific wide shoulders, the gym begins to be overcrowded, and all the men lift irons, striving to train themselves into double-door refrigerators, and it takes 20 minutes to take a taxi from the left shoulder to the right shoulder.
The epidemic in South Korea seems like a big flu, and no one is immune. Due to various practical considerations, Korean men have been "dead" in appearance in the past two decades, and the threshold for men's beauty has become higher and higher, so that men's general requirements for beauty are getting higher and higher.
With the prevalence of male involution and appearance, some male beauty bloggers who specialize in teaching men's skin care and makeup have appeared on the Korean Internet, such as this blogger named Kim Jung-won, who runs an account of "exquisite life", and the introduction is "the era when men can also manage (appearance)".
Some of the basic beauty content he does is very popular, like this men's eyebrow trimming and thrush tutorial,
Hairstyles recommended for different face shapes,
Men's basic skincare, basic makeup, and more.
In addition to these basic tutorials, there are also "advanced" methods such as leg hair removal and getting rid of foot and underarm smell.
There are many more Korean bloggers like him who specialize in fashion and beauty content for men, and they have a large audience. In the comment area of these videos that teach skin care, makeup, and hairstyles, there are often many male netizens who leave messages to share their doubts and gains on the road to "becoming beautiful".
In this social atmosphere of all-in-one beauty, ordinary Korean men will naturally begin to understand skin care and makeup in order to keep up with trends, integrate into the group, or improve their self-image, and this pursuit of "aesthetics" will become more and more in-depth.
There are many posts on Korean Internet forums where male netizens share and discuss appearance-related content. In 2019, there was a hot post called "Male Self-Management Standards", which recorded several areas that men need to pay attention to in their daily appearance, including hairstyle, skin management, eyebrows, beard, clothing suitable for their body type and color, buying shoes that can match clothes in different styles, and perfume.
The netizen wrote in the post: "Although it is not a very grand matter, all aspects should be managed in detail. ”
This post doesn't seem to be anything special, but in another hot post in 2023, it is clear how far Korean men have come on the road of "becoming beautiful".
The post also breaks down the physical care that men should do, including skin (laser hair removal, fillers, dermatological medications, face masks), management (sonic lift, ultherapy, Botox), hair removal, and wearing sunscreen and oil blotting paper when going out.
One commenter said, "I have been doing this since I was in my 20s, but is male beauty the most basic in these years? In addition to surgery and facial masks, skin, hair, and body must be well managed to make a deep impression." ”
In order to become more in line with aesthetic standards, there are many men who choose plastic surgery, and there are even video accounts on the Korean Internet that specifically record male plastic surgery.
From the changes before and after these people's plastic surgery, it is not difficult to see their pursuit of Korean-style male aesthetics.
The importance of social appearance, the pressure brought by the group's extreme pursuit of appearance, and the promotion of men's beauty by capital are all making Korean men move towards an increasingly volatile road of "becoming beautiful and handsome".
What do you think about this?