It’s undeniable that K-beauty has evolved but also morphed into a specific nearly identical look of the ideal – big eyes, shaved cheeks, high nose, white skin, etc. You know the look, and that meme with all the contestants for Miss Korea that one year actually being hard to distinguish. But the early Hallyu era (2000-2005) produced a spate of young K-actresses who are actually all beautiful but completely different types of beauty from each other. I miss those days sigh. This weekend a K-netizen post assembled the top 9 in a grid asking viewers to pick your fave beauty look, saying among these 9 there is definitely a beauty ideal for whatever taste one may have. I agree and from the votes the top picks are Song Hye Kyo, Jeon Ji Hyun, and Son Ye Jin.
They are all beautiful. No need to compare. That’s why fan wars happen, because women are pit against each other. That being said, ALL k celebs get some work done, even the men. Koreans’ obsession with beauty is unhealthy and does not set a good example for their fans. Just enhance naturally like exercising, eating healthy, good skin care, facials, etc.
Agree
100% Agree!
I agree with you. Each actress has her own beauty. Why make comparison now? Some of those actresses are not even hallyu stars in 2005.
kim tae hee is the nation’s goddess. beauty with brain. she is the epitome of beauty in Korea
I don’t find Kim Tae Hee on the top range. She is pretty but somehow still being overshadowed by the rest
Agree
I never got the hype over her looks either, until I watched Yong Pal, where her unique, beautifully sharp features were on full display. Each to their own, but I think she really deserves the goddess status. She does look better in motion though lol
She got the nicest body of the lot.
she definitely fits the korean standard of tiny face, white skin and delicate features so its not hard to see why there’s such a craze for her. personally, I prefer son yejin’s innocent beauty, combined with her acting prowess and, of course, her taste in men, lol.
Everyone on that list is very beautiful. No questions. that was they good old days before some people in Asia started thinking beautiful meant looking like a Japanese Anime character. I miss those days.*sigh*
Yet another example that veteran actresses dominate not only dramas and movies but also beauty standards. Just proves that there isn’t anyone in the younger generation to replace them. I think the next big generational shift will come from actresses born in 2010 but the current lot of 1990s-2000s actresses have no impact. Its the same for Hollywood, Zendaya will never beat the classics like Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Angelina Jolie and Kate Winslet. And nobody is going to beat Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. Classic looks are ultimately the best. I agree these days most actors and actresses look alike not just because of plastic surgery but they all have the same styling and makeup too. Everyone is trying to copy the classic veteran actresses and nobody is their own person. They are all lookalike of some much bigger star.
That’s silly way of thinking. You can’t compare todays’s standards to back in the days. Just like the old Hollywood, there’s no big movie stars any more. The industry has changed including an acceptance of a wider range of beauty. Same goes for Korean entertainment. If u asked the majority of twitter/IG, the newer netizen aren’t even familiar w/ most of those listed actresses. At their height, they were all the rage w/ lesser acting abilities.
Now with today’s standard & more platforms available, the newer actresses have acting chops and there are more varieties of beauty. Producer take more chances w/ talent versus beauty to sell tickets. These polls are a reminder of the what was, but they are the past.
Well-said. So tire did these “younger generation bad, older generation good” predictable takes on here lmao
@Lee Well-said. So tired of these “younger generation bad, older generation good” predictable takes on here lmao.
I remember people were also saying that the Leonardo Dicaprio batch of young actors don’t have distinctive trademark like the older generation actors like James Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, and Cary Grant, and that these youngsters are boring in comparison.
And now here we are, Leonardo is now the standard movie star and is even being called “the last movie star” alongside Tom Cruise lmao. It’s just a tired old cycle of bashing younger generation of actors/actresses and then praising them and finally giving them credit once they reach their 40s or something, and people then start bashing on the younger ones again. Yawn 🥱
There is no use of comparing the old generations with the new ones , acting, beauty, scripts, directing ,all have changed with time . The only thing we can compare is longetivity . The old generations have a long and steady career, the young ones will not have it .Not because of lack of talent but because we are living in a world in which all goes fast . Fast fashion, fast music, … . I like to watch Di Caprio as i like De Niro, Paul Dano, Romain Duris, Lee Sung Min or Kate Winslet, Ingrid Bergman, Gene Tierney, Eva Green, Kim ji Won, Park Eun Bin .
Totally! The landscape is so different now. There aren’t any household names anymore due to people watching one of the millions of things out there in their own silos. In the past, there were only a few channels and 1-2 tvs. The chances of people coming across one of those 9 actresses on screen was higher than if they were to debut now where in a given hour of any day, hundreds of different shows could be streamed at the same time.
Still, kudos to many of those classic k-actresses who are still rocking it today when there seems to be new talent and beauty appearing every day.
Totally, yesterday was all about Game of thrones or Squid Game , today is The Glory or Stranger things ,… tomorrow it will be another drama with new faces . I used to collect covers of magazines, in the 90’s top models were the great stars ( Crawford, Schiffer, Evangelista, …) and the actors of FRIENDS, Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock , in the 2000’s it was Sex and the city, Desperate Housewives, Georges Clooney, Brad Pitt , Di Caprio, Angelina Jolie, … and now every week it’s la Star du jour . I can’t even remember the names of the new singers, actors ,… there are too much productions . So it’s easy for us ( older people) to remember the older ones as we have seen them in many projects . The same goes for music, books,…
To be fair, some juniors do resemble some veterans in some instances and it’s not their fault if they’re born with such looks. Media will name them as second this and that at some point or even to the extent that it already makes them uncomfortable, but seriously, it will die down as time goes by. So to generalize the younger batch and say “nobody is their own person” this early when they don’t even have that much opportunities to prove themselves yet is exaggerated and discouraging. The pressure of being compared to the veterans is actually one thing some young actors and actresses bear and strive to overcome aside from the current cutthroat competition. Of course, while we see juniors naming veterans as their role models, no one among them will exactly replicate and replace the legendary seniors because for sure nobody wants to. Everyone in the younger gen knows they all have to work hard for a long time and carve their own name in the industry.
Newbeauty standards are jennie, han so her, wonyoung and newjeans minji who landed three ambassador deal with chanel at once. Topping brand reputation. Idols are new standards for beauty. Han so her is exception
IU is beautiful
My top pick is Han Jimin. She not only exudes natural beauty but her charm radiates because of her kind nature. She always has a ready smile that comes from her heart. When it comes to beauty i think if i were a painter i would love to paint her perfect features. No surgeries and beauty enhancements. I saw her baby pictures and i would say that everything she has is inborn. Thanks to a good genes.
Are they real or plastic? Really beauty is from within.
Can someone tell who is the one on the top right? She looks familiar but I can’t remember who she is for the life of me lol
Also, they’re all beautiful. As are the younger gen actresses 😍
Surprised that Im Soo Jung is included tho, she’s pretty but I don’t get the impression that she’s known for her beauty in korea? I could be wrong tho
She’s Lee Na Young, the wife of Won Bin.
Oh it’s LNY, I didn’t recognize her there lol. I was thinking maybe it’s Lee Min Jung but LMJ didn’t have hair like that in any of her dramas either lol. Thanks for the reply!
I don’t know, they’re all undeniably beautiful, but I think the popular actresses from the younger generation look different from each other as well. I mean, you can’t tell me Kim So Hyun looks like Suzy and that Suzy looks like Han So Hee, right? They’re all beautiful but clearly don’t look like each other. Kim Tae Ri has a distinctive look as well, same with Kim Go Eun, Kim Ji Won, Lee Sung Kyung, and Nam Ji Hyun.
I think it’s only the lower-tier actresses who tend to look alike, but the more popular ones clearly look different from each other.
yeah it’s the same in kpop tbh. i notice the nugu idols from very small companies look very alike and interchangeable, like they all went to the same cheap plastic surgeon lol. meanwhile the idols from the top companies look unique from each other (ie. irene looks very different from tzuyu. then the blackpink girls also have very different facial features from each other, and you also have the unique-looking ones like jihyo, joy, ryujin, etc)
Recent Korean actresses all don’t fit into that mold you speak of. Which young actress out there has the big eyes, high nose, shaved cheeks combination?
Kim Tae Hee is the prettiest for me. The others have pretty faces and charms but KTH got the whole package for me and a nice slim but curvy body
I like Kim Tae Hee too. When I first started watching Korean dramas, I always get Han Ye Seul mix up with her. I know some fans will say Kim Tae Hee’s acting is not up to par to the others. Looks and beauty, she is up there
Kim Tae Hee and Han Ga In (where is she now?) are the most criticized for their acting skills. Song Hye Kyo was, as well, but The Glory recently changed public opinion. Personally in The Glory, I feel that her acting could be more, but her taking new genres is already a big improvement.
Jun Ji Hyun excels in comedic or action, but outside these 2, her range is quite limited.
Ha Ji Won has similar genre ranges to JJH but is better in some areas (action is her game).
Lee Na Young and Im Soo Jung, Han Ji Min, and Son Ye Jin are the top-tier performers from that list.
That’s only for the lower clergy of actresses, I guess. In which way Han Hyo Joo, Kim Ji Won, Kim Go Eun, Han So Hee, Kim So Hyun, Kim Da Mi, Suzy and Park Eun Bin look alike?