Last year in kindergarten, Yang Hye-ji developed her morning routine. Uniform? Check. Homework? Check.

Makeup? Definitely.

“Makeup makes me look pretty,” the 7-year-old said on her second visit to the ShuShu & Sassy beauty spa in Seoul.

She was wrapped in a child-sized pink robe and wearing a bunny hairband. Her face was gently touched up with a puff. Her lips got a swipe of pink gloss.

South Korea’s cosmetics industry, known as K-beauty, has become an Asian powerhouse and global phenomenon for its rigorous step-by-step regimens.

But exacting beauty norms also put enormous pressure on South Korean women, making the country one of the world’s centers for plastic surgery. And increasingly, the beauty industry is looking at younger and younger girls.

That is stirring concerns that touch on many core social debates in South Korea: How much a society should value appearance, and whether messages about beauty crowd out other aspirations for young girls.

ShuShu Cosmetics is a pioneer in K-beauty’s outreach to children. Started in 2013, it operates 19 boutiques across South Korea, offering “healthier” cosmetics for kids, such as water-soluble nail polish and nontoxic lip crayons in a range of “edible” colors.

There are sticker earrings and tattoos, “sun-whipping” cream cleanser, “fancy girl” soap and goat-milk shampoo carrying the slogan: “I’m not a baby.”

This is hardly a trend that is exclusive to South Korea. Kylie Jenner has built a cosmetics empire worth an estimated US$900 million largely targeting teenage girls, while child beauty vloggers are also popular in the United States and elsewhere.

“From K-pop divas to K-beauty cosmetics, the market capitalizing on women’s objectification has become a hyper-saturated ‘red ocean’ in South Korea,” said Yoon Kim Ji-yeong of Konkuk University, using a term describing an existing market with cutthroat competition.

“The market sees a ‘blue ocean’ for expansion in younger customers, ready to instigate and monetize their insecurities about their appearance.”

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【抱负】bàofù aspiration a strong desire for high achievement

【赚钱】zhuànqián monetize utilize something as a source of profit

在幼儿园的最后一年，杨惠姬开始了她早上的常规流程。校服？当然了。家庭作业？必须的。

化妆？那当然了。

“化妆让我看起来很漂亮，”这名7岁的女孩在她第二次去首尔ShuShu & Sassy美容水疗中心时说。她穿着儿童款的粉红色长裙，戴着一个兔子发带。她脸上略施薄粉，嘴唇涂了粉红色的唇膏。

韩国的美妆行业，也称为韩妆，因其严格的规范已然成为亚洲的行业龙头，在全球也有相当影响力。

但韩国严格审美要求给成年女性带来了巨大压力，使韩国成了世界整容中心，而美妆产业也逐渐将目光放到了孩子身上。

这也引发了一些忧虑，在韩国社会带来了很多核心价值的讨论：社会应该在多大程度上关注外表？对“美貌”的重视是否会影响年轻女孩对于其他人生目标的追求？

ShuShu美妆是韩国低龄化美妆的先行者。自2013年开业以来在韩国一共开了19家专营店，为儿童提供“更健康”的化妆品，比如可以溶于水的指甲油，和无毒害可食用的唇膏，多色可选。

还有即贴型的耳环和文身，儿童防晒洁面乳，“靓丽女孩”香皂和山羊奶洗发水，产品上的口号是“我不是婴儿了”。

事实上，化妆的低龄化并非韩国独有的趋势。比如美国“网红”凯莉▪詹纳就创建了一个估值9亿美元的化妆品帝国，目标人群就是广大少女，儿童美妆视频博主在美国和其他地方也很流行。

“从韩流音乐天后到韩流美妆，把女性物化的市场已经成为韩国一个过度饱和的‘红

海’”，韩国建国大学的尹金佳荣说，红海指竞争异常激烈的市场。

“市场看到了向年轻客户扩张的‘蓝海’，随时准备煽动并把她们对外表的不安全感变成利润。”

(English text from The Washington Post)