❓ Olive Young Shopping Guide & K-Beauty Vocabulary FAQ
Q1. How to Spot Real Korean Makeup Trends at Olive Young with Korean Beauty Slang
📌 Real Tip: Skip the front display tables and check the Olive Young app ranking section in real-time.
- Open the Olive Young app.
- Tap ‘Ranking’ and filter by ‘Most Reviews’ or ‘Highest Repurchase Rate’.
- Look for reviews dropping slang like ‘Nae-don-nae-san’, ‘Gong-byeong-tem’, or ‘Jeong-chak-tem’.
Q2. Does Tax Refund work instantly in-store? How does it work?
⚠️ Heads Up: Major stores (Myeongdong, Hongdae, Gangnam, etc.) offer instant tax deductions at the register!
- Show your passport to the cashier before paying.
- If your total is over 15,000 KRW, the tax comes right off the total amount on the spot.
- If it’s a smaller local shop without instant refund support, hang onto the Tax-Free slip and scan it at the airport kiosk before your flight out.
🔗 Related: Want to map out your shopping run like a local? Read our guide on 🛍️[K-Beauty] Olive Young Seoul Tips: How to Shop Like a Local (올리브영 꿀팁 !)!
Q3. What’s the go-to skincare combo for basic hydration and barrier repair?
📌 Real Tip: The baseline korean skincare term is a simple 3-step combo’
- Prep: Sweep skin with toner pads (닦토) or leave them on for 5 minutes as a quick sheet mask.
- Hydrate: Layer a lightweight soothing serum.
- Lock: Lock: Seal everything in with a good moisturizing cream
Q4. How do I pick cool-tone vs. warm-tone makeup without ruining my look?
⚠️ Heads Up: Never trust store lighting—always test on your hand/arm and step into natural sunlight!
- Swatch lip or cheek products on your hand or inner wrist at the store.
- Blend it out with your fingers to see how the pigment melts in.
- Step outside under real sunlight to see if it actually flatters you (chak-but) or clashes completely (tone-guro).
Q5. What are the top viral products every tourist is picking up right now?
🤫 Inside Scoop: These three items are constantly sold out everywhere thanks to TikTok and Xiaohongshu hype.
- VT Reedle Shot: A micro-needle texture booster that boosts product absorption for instant hwa-jal-meok skin.
- Anua Heartleaf 77% Soothing Toner: The classic calming toner for resetting breakout-prone skin.
- Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: A super lightweight, non-greasy sunscreen that exploded globally.
👑 20 Real Korean Beauty Slang Words You Need to Know
1. Hwa-jal-meok (화잘먹)
- Meaning: Short for 화장이 잘 먹는다 (makeup sits well on skin). It describes that hydrated, smooth base where foundation or cushion glides on seamlessly without clinging to dry patches.
- Example: “Using VT Reedle Shot before bed gives you total hwa-jal-meok skin the next morning.”
2. Tone-guro (톤그로)
- Meaning: Short for Tone + 어그로 (Aggro). It means wearing shades completely outside your personal color palette, making your face look washed out or strangely mismatched in a bad way.
- Example: “I tried forcing a warm brown lip on my cool skin tone and it was total tone-guro.”
3. Meol-meol-hada (멀멀하다)
- Meaning: From 멀멀하다 (soft, muted). Refers to low-saturation colors that look soft, hazy, and effortless. Since K-Beauty shifted away from sharp, bold glam toward subtle contouring and soft vibes, this word is everywhere for describing pastel/muted blushes and lip tints.
- Example: “The current korean makeup trend is meol-meol-hada, so these muted tints are perfect for daily wear.”
4. In-saeng-tem (인생템)
- Meaning: Short for 인생 + 아이템 (Life + Item). Your holy grail product—the best thing you’ve ever tried out of everything on the market.
- Example: “This Clio mascara is my forever in-saeng-tem, so I always stock up during sales.”
5. Chak-but (착붙)
- Meaning: Short for 착 붙는다 (sticks right on). Used when a shade or style fits your personal color or vibe so well it looks custom-made for you.
- Example: “This lip color is total chak-but on my skin tone.”
6. Mul-gwang / Sok-gwang / Yun-gwang (물광 & 속광 & 윤광)
- Meaning: The three main types of skin finishes:
- Mul-gwang (Dewy): 물 (Water) + 광 (Glow) — Super wet, high-shine glow.
- Sok-gwang (Inner Glow): 속 (Inside) + 광 (Glow) — Lit-from-within glow coming from deep hydration.
- Yun-gwang (Satin Glow): 윤 (Satin/Sheen) + 광 (Glow) — Smooth, silky sheen that evens out skin texture.
- Example: “This cushion doesn’t look greasy; it just gives a clean sok-gwang finish.”
7. Nae-don-nae-san (내돈내산)
- Meaning: Short for 내 돈주고 내가 산 제품 (bought with my own money). Used in reviews to prove a post isn’t sponsored, gifted, or an ad.
- Example: “No ad here, this toner pad is 100% nae-don-nae-san and it completely saved my skin texture.”
8. Jeong-chak-tem & Gong-byeong-tem (정착템 & 공병템)
- Meaning:
- Jeong-chak-tem: 정착 (Settle down) + 아이템 (Item) — The product that made you stop searching around and settle down for good.
- Gong-byeong-tem: 공병 (Empty bottle) + 아이템 (Item) — Empties! A product so good you used it down to the last drop.
- Example: “Finally found my jeong-chak-tem serum. This is literally my third gong-byeong-tem bottle.”
9. Ggu-an-ggu / Ggu-ggu-ggu (꾸안꾸 / 꾸꾸꾸)
- Meaning:
- Ggu-an-ggu: 꾸민 듯 안 꾸민 듯 — Effortless, low-key “no-makeup makeup.”
- Ggu-ggu-ggu: 꾸미고 꾸미고 꾸밈 — Full-on, head-to-toe full glam for when you’re intentionally dressing up.
- Example: “I go for ggu-an-ggu on weekdays with just sunscreen and lip tint, but weekends are straight-up ggu-ggu-ggu with falsies.”
10. Geum-son / Ddong-son (금손 / 똥손)
- Meaning:
- Geum-son: 금 (Gold) + 손 (Hand) — Someone super talented at makeup or hair styling.
- Ddong-son: 똥 (Poop) + 손 (Hand) — Someone who manages to mess up their makeup no matter how good the products are.
- Example: “Bought this after seeing a geum-son beauty creator use it, but I proved my ddong-son status real quick.”
11. Cheongdam-tem (청담템)
- Meaning: Short for 청담동 (Cheongdam-dong) + 아이템 (Item). Refers to makeup products or tools actually used by pro artists in high-end Cheongdam-dong salons where K-pop makeup idols get done up.
- Example: “Using this Cheongdam-tem makeup spatula makes foundation apply so thin and smooth.”
12. Son-min-su (손민수)
- Meaning: Originates from a character named 손민수 (Son Min-su) in the Webtoon Cheese in the Trap who obsessively copied the main character’s style. Now, it’s basically become the default slang for “copying someone”.
- Example: “Jang Wonyoung’s lip tint looked so good that I instantly son-min-su’d her entire lip routine.”
13. Ji-reum-sin (지름신)
- Meaning: Short for 지르다 (Spend/Buy) + 신 (God). That sudden impulse to buy everything when your shopping craving hits hard, like a shopping god possessed you.
- Example: “Walked into Olive Young and ji-reum-sin took over—spent over $100 in five minutes.”
14. Tang-jin (탕진)
- Meaning: From the Chinese character term 탕진 (蕩盡), meaning to spend all your resources. In beauty, it means blowing through all your money or maxing out your budget on a shopping spree.
- Example: “Totally tang-jin’d my travel budget at the Myeongdong Olive Young on my last day.”
15. Teol-gi (털기)
- Meaning: Comes from 탈탈 털다 (Shake out/Wipe out). In shopping, it means clearing off entire shelves during a haul. In content, it also means deep-diving into a new line or collection to break down every single item.
- Example: “Cleared out the entire mask section during the sale. In today’s video, we’re going to teol-gi all the new August drops!”
16. Ae-gyo-meo-ri (애교머리)
- Meaning: 애교 (Cute appeal) + 머리 (Hair). Soft, face-framing tendrils or sideburn hairs pulled out when tying your hair up to make your face look smaller and cuter.
- Example: “Filling in my hairline and pulling out some ae-gyo-meo-ri makes a huge difference.”
17. Son-i-go (손이고)
- Meaning: Short for 손님 이 머리는 고데기예요 (Customer, this hair was done with a curling iron). It’s what hairstylists say when you bring in a picture of soft waves that can’t actually be done with a perm, but now means soft, nice hair styling in general.
- Example: “Showed the salon a picture of this idol wave, but of course it was pure son-i-go.”
18. Hyang-tta (향따)
- Meaning: Short for 향수 따임 (Perfume pick-up). Inspired by getting someone’s phone number on the street (번호 따임), this is when someone stops you in public to ask, “Hey, what perfume are you wearing?”
- Example: “Got total hyang-tta’d at a coffee shop today because of the scent I was wearing.”
19. ~Dae-ran (~대란)
- Meaning: Originates from the word 대란 (大亂), meaning major chaos or turmoil. In the beauty scene, it’s used as a suffix when a product goes insanely viral, causing crazy sell-out chaos or massive restock rushes.
- Example: “This limited-edition cushion caused a massive sell-out dae-ran as soon as it dropped.”
20. Dak-to (닦토)
- Meaning: Short for 닦아내는 토너 (Wiping toner). It refers to pouring liquid toner onto a cotton pad to gently sweep across your face, clearing away dead skin cells and leftover dirt after cleansing.
- Example: “My skin gets dry so fast if I skip dak-to in the morning.”
Hope you enjoyed these 20 local slang words and FAQ tips!
Catch you in the next Seoulbits! 💄✨