Today, in the year of 2019, the term ‘gorgeous’ holds different meanings that are specific to each person. Right now there are 7.2 billion humans living on our planet, and among them are many diverse cultures and norms that have been grown and altered ever since the beginning.

Walking down the busy streets of Seoul, the different styles of fashion displayed through the glass windows of the stores may not seem as appealing to someone who is from LA and is used to shopping at places such as PrettyLittleThing. While the circumstance may not be that one is better than another, some peoples’ opinions are just based on what they have been exposed to.

Beauty and cosmetics is a clear example of where Korea and the US carry a distinct set of preferences and is one of the bigger contrasts that are seen between the two. When they’re sitting in front of the mirror getting ready for the day, Koreans tend to prefer to aim for or a more simple makeup look, and even with makeup, they want to show as little effort as possible to make it look natural beauty. This includes clear, pale skin, peachy lips, or a soft blush. Especially towards teenage girls, it’s a more popular among them to give off a cute, sweet, and warm sort of impression. Some of the more famous cosmetic brands in Korea include 3CE(Stylenanda), Sulwhasoo, Etude House, and Hera.
In the US, it’s actually better to show a little bit of flare or uniqueness in your makeup. Whether your look is fierce or lovely, it doesn’t matter if it is obvious that you’re wearing makeup, because that is most likely what you’ll get complimented on. That your makeup looks good today or asking where you got that foundation.

As long as the makeup’s not cakey, your eyebrows are even, or your eyeshadow’s blended in all the way, it doesn’t exactly matter if it looks like you’re wearing makeup or not. The makeup brands you would want to be looking for in the US would probably be Tarte, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Too Faced, and Sephora.

When looking at these store’s products, the companies are not afraid to go all out. In their eyeshadow palettes, there will be colors such as neon green all the way to shimmery purple.

In the field of beauty, makeup is not the only region where a comparison can be made. The body or face features that people want or work for also differs between the two countries. What you’re looking for in yourself or why you call a celebrity pretty, these are also reasons behind their differences.

An extremely popular and important feature that a large portion of Korean females would probably wish or even get surgery for, is double eyelids. Considering that this feature just seems like a line above your eye, the size or existence of a double eyelid, drastically affects how someone’s face looks. In Korea, you would definitely be called blessed if you were born with big double eyelids. While even in Korea the reason why this is considered pretty could differ, the more common opinion tends to be that it gives off a more innocent feel and also makes a person’s eyes look larger.

In contrast to Korea’s masks to make your face paler, in America, most women are purposely going out to the beach to get suntanned skin.

And even if their skin doesn’t tan easily, or get’s sunburnt instead, a route they take is getting fake tans. For them, like the phrase, “the grass is always greener on the other side,” since they are always so pale if they get tanner, it makes them stand out or in their opinion it makes them look better.

In conclusion, the various different cultures that make up our societies in this world are what build up the diverse standards for beauty among those societies. Although, even though each person’s opinion on beauty may be different, the difference and uniqueness of each culture’s norms are what helps each’s to grow.