Experience Seoul in Austin

As a university student, I’m well aware of how tough it can be to scrape together enough pennies for an amazing trip – especially to a country as far away as South Korea. Unfortunately, not everyone has the funds or even the time to travel internationally. Even after taking a month-long vacation in Seoul, I still felt the urge to recreate my experience as soon as I landed on American soil. With all this in mind, I’ve put together a list of things to do in my hometown, Austin, that will give you a taste of the Seoul experience whether you’ve had the opportunity to visit South Korea or not!

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  Ulta carries TONYMOLY, a famous Korean skincare brand.

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  H-Mart has a large variety of Korean cuisine.

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  Grab some friends and sing your heart out at Austin Karaoke!

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  Enjoy some of the best bubble tea in Austin at Gong cha.

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  The Rose Room is a popular dance club located in the Domain.

K-beauty is huge in America right now, so indulging in some Korean skincare is a super easy way to bring a piece of Seoul home! Popular stores like Sephora and Ulta have a variety of K-beauty products, so you can easily pick some up while you do your regular shopping. For a luxurious night in, I recommend TONYMOLY face masks from Ulta – not only do they give your skin a boost, but who can resist that adorable packaging? Once you’re done admiring the fancy skincare and makeup products, you can head over to H Mart for lunch. H Mart is a supermarket that specializes in Asian foods and goods, and they have an awesome food court with all kinds of Korean fare to try. Whether you’re looking for bibimbap, kimchi fried rice, or Korean-style fried chicken, H Mart has just the dish for you!

If you’re looking for some evening fun, you can make your way to Austin Karaoke on Lamar. This Korean-style karaoke establishment has private rooms so you and your friends can have a mini-concert in peace. Austin Karaoke is BYOB and closes at 3 a.m. on weekdays and 5 a.m. on weekends, so you can sing and shout all night long. If you finish karaoke early, you can swing by Gong Cha for a delicious treat – bubble tea! Gong Cha is super popular in Korea, and this tea shop allows you to completely customize your drink, from the flavor and add-ins to even the amount of ice and percentage of sweetness you want in your tea. If you don’t already have a signature drink, I recommend taro or brown sugar milk tea with pearls! Speaking of drinks, if you’re over 21 then you can head right from Gong Cha in the Domain to an EDM club next door called The Rose Room. Nightlife is huge in Korea, and you can experience some of the fun at The Rose Room, which is open on weekends from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m.

Know of other fun, Korean-inspired things to do in Austin? Let me know in the comments!

K-Beauty Breakdown

If we’re being honest, appearance reigns king in South Korea. The country has one of the highest cosmetic surgery rates in the world, and Korean natives (women more than men in daily life) can attest to the immense pressure of beauty standards placed upon them. Even internationally, fans of Korean pop music can agree that the sparkling visuals of these “idols” are absolutely unmatched. This is all to say – Koreans take their beauty very seriously.

To help maintain their looks and appease society, Korean people equip themselves with lots of different skincare and makeup products on the regular. These products have grown wildly popular not only in their country of origin, but around the world as well! If you visit your local Ulta or Sephora, you’re sure to find plentiful K-beauty sections featuring items from famous brands such as TONYMOLY, innisfree, LANEIGE and many more. Korean skincare especially is world-renowned for its great quality and aesthetic packaging.

Image courtesy of Christin Hume.

What usually makes up a Korean beauty regimen? Let’s break it down!

Skincare

As we’ve come to realize, beauty is not taken lightly in South Korea. This becomes abundantly clear when considering the famous 10-step skincare routine that is implemented by a number of Korean women. How could one possibly use 10 different products, you ask? In short, this routine consists of cleansing, exfoliating, toning, treatments, masks, creams, and sunscreen, with a major emphasis on essences and SPF. And yes, that was the “in short” version. If you’d like a more fleshed-out description of these products and a real account of incorporating them into a skincare routine, you can check out this article by Emily Rekstis.

Makeup

The main goal of Korean makeup is to align one’s natural features with the features sought after by societal beauty standards. For example, a light skin complexion is historically beautiful in Korea, so women and even men use foundation to make skin look bright and flawless. Another important feature of Korean beauty is large eyes, so women use various products, like glitter and light eyeshadows and eyeliners, to feign the appearance of bigger eyes. Not only this, but contact lenses are also used to fake larger eyes or even to give eyes a more “foreign” look with blue, grey, or light brown hues. Other examples of Korean makeup trends include straight eyebrows, coral shades, and gradient lipstick.

Image courtesy of Joanna Kosinska.

Do you have any favorite K-beauty products? Let me know in the comments!