For S. Korean men, makeup a foundation for success
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In this Friday, Aug 10, 2012 photo, Mr Cho Gil Nam, a 27-year-old insurance fraud investigator, shops for skincare and makeup products at a cosmetics store in Seoul, South Korea. -- PHOTO: AP
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In this Sunday, Aug 26, 2012 photo, Mr Cho Won Hyuk, a 24-year-old college student, uses a black eyebrow pencil to lengthen and accentuate his eyebrows at his home Anyang, South Korea. -- PHOTO: AP
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In this Friday, Aug 10, 2012 photo, a man receives advice on skincare products at a cosmetics store in Seoul, South Korea. -- PHOTO: AP
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In this Friday, Aug 10, 2012 photo, Mr Cho Gil Nam, a 27-year-old insurance fraud investigator, takes products out of his cosmetics pouch at a cosmetics store in Seoul, South Korea. -- PHOTO: AP
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In this Thursday, Aug 23, 2012 photo, Mr Cho Won Hyuk, a 24-year-old college student, shops for skincare and makeup products at a cosmetics store in Seoul, South Korea. -- PHOTO: AP
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In this Thursday, Sept 13, 2012 photo, a man walks by an advertisement featuring Jang Keun-suk, a South Korean celebrity often given the title "flower man" by news media in Seoul, South Korea. The metamorphosis of South Korean men from macho to makeup over the last decade or so can be partly explained by fierce competition for jobs, advancement and romance in a society where, as a popular catchphrase puts it, "appearance is power". -- PHOTO: AP
In this Friday, Aug 10, 2012 photo, Mr Cho Gil Nam, a 27-year-old insurance fraud investigator, shops for skincare and makeup products at a cosmetics store in Seoul, South Korea. -- PHOTO: AP
In this Sunday, Aug 26, 2012 photo, Mr Cho Won Hyuk, a 24-year-old college student, uses a black eyebrow pencil to lengthen and accentuate his eyebrows at his home Anyang, South Korea. -- PHOTO: AP
In this Friday, Aug 10, 2012 photo, a man receives advice on skincare products at a cosmetics store in Seoul, South Korea. -- PHOTO: AP
In this Friday, Aug 10, 2012 photo, Mr Cho Gil Nam, a 27-year-old insurance fraud investigator, takes products out of his cosmetics pouch at a cosmetics store in Seoul, South Korea. -- PHOTO: AP
In this Thursday, Aug 23, 2012 photo, Mr Cho Won Hyuk, a 24-year-old college student, shops for skincare and makeup products at a cosmetics store in Seoul, South Korea. -- PHOTO: AP
In this Thursday, Sept 13, 2012 photo, a man walks by an advertisement featuring Jang Keun-suk, a South Korean celebrity often given the title "flower man" by news media in Seoul, South Korea. The metamorphosis of South Korean men from macho to makeup over the last decade or so can be partly explained by fierce competition for jobs, advancement and romance in a society where, as a popular catchphrase puts it, "appearance is power". -- PHOTO: AP
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Mr Cho Won Hyuk stands in front of his bedroom mirror and spreads dollops of yellow-brown makeup over his forehead, nose, chin and cheeks until his skin is flawless. Then he goes to work with a black pencil, highlighting his eyebrows until they're thicker, bolder.
"Having a clean, neat face makes you look sophisticated and creates an image that you can handle yourself well," the 24-year-old college student said. "Your appearance matters, so when I wear makeup on special occasions, it makes me more confident."
Mr Cho's meticulous efforts to paint the perfect face are not unusual in South Korea. This socially conservative, male-dominated country, with a mandatory two-year military conscription for men, has become the male makeup capital of the world.
South Korean men spent US$495.5 million ($S603.9 million) on skincare in 2011, accounting for nearly 21 per cent of global sales, according to global market research firm Euromonitor International. That makes it the largest market for men's skincare in the world, even though there are only about 19 million men in South Korea. Amorepacific, South Korea's biggest cosmetics company, estimates the total sales of men's cosmetics in South Korea this year will be more than US$885 million.
