Beautiful sunset last night. And then the Incheon Bridge (the longest in Korea) put on a light show.

Incheon observation: I have never seen as many densely clustered high-rise apartment buildings as there are here in Incheon/Seoul. The population density is unreal. South Korea is about the same size as Indiana, yet it has more people than all of Canada. I guess if you can’t build out, you start stacking your humans vertically. 

Today’s focus: The cult of Korean skincare. (Well, to be clear, *my* focus was Korean skincare. Ken’s focus was seeing how many laps around the shopping complex he could do while I shopped.)

Took the shuttle bus to Triple Street in Songdo, Incheon, which is a massive outdoor shopping complex. Triple Street is what happens when urban planners, architects, and retail developers get together and decide to build an entire neighborhood around shopping. I wanted to go to one store in particular – Olive Young. Think: Korean Sephora, except with more sheet masks and a stronger sense of urgency.

First: Remember all those vertical high-rise apartment buildings? Well the people who live there all wanted to ride the elevator at Triple Street. At the same time. Koreans can stuff more people into an elevator than I thought physically possible. Oooof. That was unpleasant. 

I don’t know what kind of dark magic is involved in Korean skincare, but they must be onto something because Korean women have beautiful skin. Guessing a Korean woman’s age is impossible – they could be anywhere between 20 and 200.

I’m probably the last person who should be shopping for skincare, but I promised my daughter some goodies. For the last 40 years, my skincare routine has consisted of soap and water. I’ve tried lotions, potions, serums and other snake oils, but I can’t seem to stick with any of it.

People love Korean skincare because it’s both affordable and (allegedly) effective. The philosophy behind Korean skincare is, keep skin healthy all the time, rather than the western approach, which is mostly, attack the problem once it’s visible.

And on that note, I think it might be too late for my neck.

So, shopping for Korean skincare. No one warned me this would be the Hunger Games. Full body armor would have been helpful. Way too many people. Elbows were thrown. And I wasn’t throwing elbows with Koreans, but other western women from the cruise. Absolute savages. Waving shopping lists in salespeople’s faces while they were already helping someone else. Pure “me first” energy. It was mortifying. 

I listened quietly to the salespeople who were trying to keep up with these women and their demands: I need something to tighten my neck! Under eye circles! Age spots!! I ended up buying all sorts of products – and have no idea what any of them are/do. What in the world is snail mucin?!? Whatever it is, women were fighting over it like the last television at Walmart on Black Friday.

I don’t know whether this stuff will tighten, brighten, or turn me into a newt. 

Time will tell. 

Found a couple of adorable Korean kids I couldn’t resist photographing. The red shoes!

Sidebar: This apple water-jelly pouch is my new favorite thing. I picked it up while waiting in line to check-out at Olive Young. It’s kind of like drinking a half melted Jello. I loved it. It’s supposed to be good for controlling blood sugar and lowering cholesterol. I’m really hoping one of our Asian grocery stores at home carries this.

Update: Since arriving home, I’ve learned that this particular apple konjac is made by/for Olive Young. So I’ve just gone off brand and ordered some from Amazon. Fingers crossed.

Geonbae!