Korea's #1 Trend, Self care & Health care

YOLO is a thing of the past. The 2021 theme is to properly care for yourself, your mind and your body. The new Korean slang “갓생" (god-seang) is a combination of two words, “god” and “saeng” (life). The English word “god” is used as a prefix for recent Korean slang, when referring to something “excellent” or “admirable.” Meaning, the slang “god-seang” would be translated as “an excellent and admirable life.” Between the younger generation, it is now considered “hip” not to act like there’s no tomorrow, but to live the “god-seang” that everyone can look up to. This would include being hardworking, keeping track of a healthy diet, and getting your mind and body fit. This positive tendency of everyone pursuing an enthusiastic lifestyle, led to quite a lot of different trends in Korea.

1. Indoors workout 

Instagram @jennierubyjane

The whole healthy lifestyle trend started when COVID-19 hit in early 2020. With continuous lockdowns and social activity restrictions, the so-called “Corona Blue” (post COVID-19 depression) was a serious matter in Korea. To get past the blue, people searched for ways to get out of bed and stay fit, but at the same time, everything had to be indoors only. That’s when the trend of at-home workouts, yoga, at-studio flying yoga, and pilates came into the public’s interest. Especially with celebrities in perfect shape posting photos of themselves doing these workouts on social media, people are demanding more and more pilates studios in the country. Doing these workouts and getting in shape became even more of a huge trend as bucket listing “Body Profile Photoshoot” became a new in-thing as well.

2. Dietary supplements

YouTube ELLE Korea

Seung-kwan, a member of a popular K-Pop group SEVENTEEN was featured in ELLE Korea’s Youtube series “ELLE Name Tag.” The series have celebrities come into the studio and introduce their most cherished items. The reason why the episode with Seung-kwan was recording the highest view counts was because of how much effort he puts into self-care. In the video, he shows his protein powder and eleven different vitamins 🤣 Having so much supplements might seem a bit worrying, but it is known to safe (to a certain extent) and many Koreans already take quite a bit of supplement every day. Recently the country became very health-conscious, and supplements are no longer for elders only. Starting from one's early 20s, many start with having Omega-3, Vitamin C, D, or B, and Probiotics - if you visit the HIKOCO office, you’ll see at least one or two supplement bottles on every single desk 😂

Here’s what’s popular in Korea for a better skin complexion = Vitamin B3 for redness, Vitamin B5 for acne, Collagen for elasticity, Biotin and Hyaluronic Acid for dryness, L-Cysteine brightening. *Make sure you talk to your doctor or dermatologists for accurate information before taking any supplements.

3. Overcoming the Blues 30 Day Challenge

Tiktok

In Tiktok, the hashtag #무기력극복챌린지 (overcoming blues challenge) is trending for those who got burned out or just feels dragged and blue after the endless COVID restrictions. To get everyone back on their feet, this challenge tells you to list out thirty different things that you can tick off day by day. These activities are usually very minor and insignificant, yet something that’ll get you moving - the idea is to give yourself a sense of accomplishment in your daily life. For example, your mission could be ‘take a bath,’ ‘start reading a book,’ ‘delete apps I don’t use,’ ‘visit a cafe and get a flat white’ etc. I’ve tried this myself, and the feeling of ticking off my “thing to do” for the day makes me feel like I've done something amazing - although it’s not much. It gets you looking forward to the next day as well! We’ve made an overcoming blues challenge chart for you, for those who would like to give it a try 👉 click this link to download the chart!

As such, Korea is all about self-care and health care. The vegan diet is also starting to get in place with a lot more vegan cafes opening all around the country. Not only with food, but consumers are also demanding an extended variety of vegan skincare and makeup products - which in HIKOCO we’re paying attention to! Stay tuned to HIKOCO’s newsletters for news about vegan products and brand new arrivals 😘 Recommend us vegan K-Beauty brands we should bring in in the comments xx