Korea Life Blog - Cosmetic Obsession (1) - Bigger Eyes


In Korea, appearance is everything. Korean women are famous for their cosmetic obession. They are amongst the largest consumers of makeup in the world. Plastic surgery is also extremely big business here. Even the Ophthamologist is in on it:



Apparently the eye doctor can make you as beautiful as the girl in the ad. One of his specialties (the last one listed in the green circle) is eyelid alteration to make the eyes bigger, a popular cosmetic surgery here that costs about 1,000,000 won. Now look closely at the yellow circle. The doctor has included a special message for you. Hmm, perhaps God will love you more if you have bigger eyes.


Now take a look at this poignant story:

Park Sang Mi's parents were against plastic surgery until her older sister came home one day with bigger eyes. Park followed suit last year, her parents approved, and she took a part-time job at Baskin Robbins to help them foot the bill. "Now I know nobody will laugh at me for being ugly," Park says gratefully. Her boyfriend knows her eyelids are altered, she adds, but he absolutely loves them. Park, now 20, doesn't have plans to return to the clinic immediately, but wants liposuction performed on her thighs some day. Meanwhile, she's considering her friends' advice to trash her old photographs.

(Perhaps one of these girls is Sang Mi?)

I find her friend's advice to trash her old photographs especially humorous. Get rid of the evidence that you were once an ugly nobody with small eyes.

(If anyone has any photos of ajummas wearing obssessive amounts of makeup, please send me them to assakorea10@yahoo.com).