One of the most grossing beauty trends over the recent years in South Africa may be the ‘Korean Beauty.’ Along with the ever-growing global popularity of South Korean pop music (or ‘K-pop’) and soap operas (or ‘K-dramas’), now popularly termed so-called ‘K-beauty’ has also captivated the South African beauty market and its community.

▲ K-Beauty Workshop 2024 poster

According to the Global Trade Atlas (GTA), South Korea recorded the highest growth rate in 2022 among major importers of the South African cosmetics market, marking more than 20% rate from the previous year. The K-beauty market is expected to rake nearly R65 billions by 2026, steadily sustaining more 10% growth rate every year.

▲ K-Beauty Workshop 2024 – Day 1

In response to the recent growing demand, the Korean Cultural Centre in South Africa (KCCSA), in partnership with the King Sejong Foundation, held a special K-beauty workshop event between Wednesday, 24 January and Friday, 26 January at its venue in Pretoria.

▲ K-Beauty Workshop 2024 – Day 2

For this three-day event, South Korean beauty content creator Jung Ho Seok, also known as ‘SHAWN’ (Instagram & TikTok: @shawn_issure), whose following has been exponentially growing globally with the K-beauty trend, made a special visit to South Africa to introduce the beauty of the ‘K-beauty.’

▲ K-Beauty Workshop 2024 – Day 3

The online registration attracted a surging attention as it was closed in just a few minutes after it opened. Continued inquires led to adding more workshop sessions to accommodate more participants.

More than two hundred participants attended the workshops on Wednesday and Thursday and the make-up show on Friday to learn the latest trends of the K-beauty skincare and make-up techniques.

▲ South African comedian Nina Hastie

South African comedian Nina Hastie, who has long been known to be a great fan of K-pop and K-dramas, was one of the participants of the event. She said “As a person who’s always in front of cameras with thick make-ups on, I realize how important it is to take care of the skin. I’m grateful to have been introduced to new recent trends of K-beauty skincare, which is what they are best known for, as well as trending Korean make-up techniques and even related businesses.”

▲ Instructor Jung Ho Seok

Jung Ho Seok said “I did not expect that the event would draw such attention. It is definitely a rewarding experience to witness identifiably growing demand in the field which I am part of. I wish more people in South Africa will be introduced to the world of K-beauty.”