Korean Beauty Vocabulary: 30 Words with Romanization and Audio

Korean Beauty Vocabulary at a Glance

The list is a map of the whole topic, and each of its middle groups opens a deeper lesson. You begin with the words for the shops and the umbrella terms, then meet six words for makeup, six for skincare and six for hair, and you end with the words for clinics and services. This page is a child of Daily Life, and it sits next to Health and Medicine because skin and cosmetic clinics belong to both. For the clothes side of appearance, see clothing vocabulary.

This hub teaches a few words from each area. The three lessons below it go further: the makeup lesson covers 35 words, the skincare lesson 35 and the hair salon lesson 30. The next section ranks the words on this page by how soon you will need them.

Which Beauty Words Should You Learn First?

Learn 화장품 (cosmetics), 화장 (makeup), 스킨케어 (skincare), 미용실 (hair salon) and 선크림 (sunscreen) first. Those five words cover the shop, the routine and the salon, which are the three places beauty talk begins. After that, learn the product names you actually buy.

• Words to say. 화장품, 선크림, 립스틱, 미용실, 커트. These are what you ask for and what you book.
• Words to recognise. 드럭스토어, 백화점, 시술, 피부과. You see these on shop signs and clinic doors.
• Words to understand when spoken. 샘플 and 시술. Staff use them when they offer a trial or describe a treatment.

At five new words a day, the whole list of 30 takes six days plus review. Start with the first three groups, then add hair and services.

Korean beauty talk is full of loanwords because many products and trends arrived with English names. If you read a Hangul label slowly, you can usually hear the English word inside it: 토너 is toner, 로션 is lotion, 마사지 is massage. The scene below puts eight of the 30 words on one picture.

Word · 8

1. 1

   화장품

   Play

   hwajangpum

   cosmetics

2. 2

   쿠션

   Play

   kusyeon

   cushion compact

3. 3

   립스틱

   Play

   ripseutik

   lipstick

4. 4

   선크림

   Play

   seonkeurim

   sunscreen

5. 5

   토너

   Play

   toneo

   toner

6. 6

   팩

   Play

   paek

   face pack; sheet mask

7. 7

   미용실

   Play

   miyongsil

   hair salon; beauty salon

8. 8

   피부과

   Play

   pibugwa

   dermatology clinic

Where Do Koreans Buy Beauty Products?

There are three common places, and each has its own word. A 화장품 가게 (hwajangpum gage) is a cosmetics shop, usually one chain or one brand with its own range. A 드럭스토어 (deureokseutoeo) is a drugstore-style shop that sells cosmetics, skincare, health items and daily goods in one place, and it lets you try samples. A 백화점 (baekhwajeom) is a department store, where the cosmetics counters usually sit near the entrance. Many people also buy online, but the shop words above are the ones you read on signs.

At a counter, you will often be offered a 샘플 (saempeul), a small free trial pack. The polite response to a sample is 감사합니다 (thank you), and to refuse, 괜찮아요 (it is fine). Staff may ask about your skin type, which is why the skincare lesson teaches the skin words.

Product words are mostly English loanwords because many products came to Korea with English names: 립스틱 (lipstick), 선크림 (sunscreen), 토너 (toner), 로션 (lotion). Words for skin concerns and clinics, such as 피부과 and 시술, are mostly Sino-Korean, built from Chinese-based syllables. This mix is why beauty vocabulary is easy to start and rich to learn: the loanwords give you instant recognition, and the Sino-Korean syllables repeat across many terms.

Beauty Basics and Shops

The first group holds the umbrella terms and the places where you buy. 미용 and 뷰티 both mean beauty, but 미용 is the older, more formal word, and 뷰티 is the modern loanword used in product lines and video titles. 화장품 is the word for cosmetics, and 드럭스토어, 백화점 and 샘플 are the shop words.

Two sentence frames carry most of the group. The first is place + 에 가요 (I go to place), as in 화장품 가게에 가요. The second is place + 에서 + noun + verb, which places an action at a location, as in 백화점에서 화장품을 사요. The ending 에서 means at in the sense of where the action happens, and 에 means to or at in the sense of destination.

The verb pair 써 봐요 means to try using. It combines 쓰다 (to use) with 보다 (to try), and you will hear it often when staff offer a sample.

Shops sell products, and the next group names the makeup you apply.

Makeup

Makeup words are almost all loanwords, except 화장 itself. 화장 is the plain word for makeup and for putting it on. 쿠션 is a cushion compact, 립스틱 is lipstick, 마스카라 is mascara, 아이라인 is eyeliner, and 향수 is perfume, which many people put on as the last step.

Each makeup word pairs with its own verb, and that pairing is the real vocabulary. 바르다 and 칠하다 (to apply as a coat) both go with lipstick, 그리다 (to draw) goes with eyeliner and eyebrows, 뿌리다 (to spray) goes with perfume, and 하다 (to do) is a safe general verb for 화장 and 마스카라. 바르다 (to apply on the skin) is used for liquids and creams, and it is the verb in the skincare group.

The Korean Makeup Vocabulary lesson gives 35 words with shades, tools and base products. For the single word, see makeup in Korean and lipstick in Korean.

Makeup sits on top of skin, so the next group covers what you do to the skin first.

Skincare

Skincare is where Korean beauty is best known worldwide, and the vocabulary is practical. 스킨케어 is the word for the whole routine. 토너, 로션 and 선크림 are three products, 팩 is a sheet mask, and 보습 is the idea of keeping skin moist.

The verb 바르다 (to spread on) is the main skincare verb: 선크림을 발라요, 로션을 발라요. The verb 붙이다 (to stick on) goes with a sheet mask: 팩을 붙여요. In the polite present, 바르다 becomes 발라요, because it is a 르 irregular verb: the ㅡ drops and an extra ㄹ is added.

One trap needs a warning. In Korean skincare, 스킨 can mean toner, not skin. The word for the skin itself is 피부 (pibu). The Korean Skincare Vocabulary lesson explains the products and the concerns in detail, and the single-word page skincare in Korean gives the quick lookup.

The next group moves from the face to the hair.

Hair and Salon

Hair services have their own set of words. 미용실 is the hair salon and 이발소 is the traditional barber shop. 파마, 염색 and 커트 are the three services most people ask for, and 드라이 is the blow-dry that finishes a visit.

A salon request is built from noun + 을/를 + 해 주세요 (please do noun for me). The frame 커트만 해 주세요 (only a cut, please) shows how the particle 만 limits the request. Add the length and style after you book, with the words in the Korean Hair Salon Vocabulary lesson, such as 앞머리 (bangs) and 단발 (bob).

The related single-word page on hair salon in Korean explains the word 미용실 in one place.

The last group covers clinics and treatments that go beyond the salon.

Services and Clinics

The final group is about professional treatments. 피부과 is a dermatology clinic, and 성형외과 is a plastic surgery clinic. 성형수술 and 시술 name the treatments, and 네일 and 마사지 are the two relaxing services you can book at a beauty shop.

Plastic surgery is a sensitive topic. This page lists only the neutral terms, 성형외과 and 성형수술, and leaves opinions to the reader. The difference between 성형수술 and 시술 is useful: a 수술 involves a cut, while a 시술 is a lighter procedure. For the single word, see plastic surgery in Korean and beauty in Korean.

A skin problem that needs a doctor is a 피부과 visit, and you can use the health vocabulary from Health and Medicine to explain it. Booking and prices follow the patterns on the shopping phrases page.

How Do You Pronounce These Words?

Beauty words contain several sound changes, because many end in a consonant that changes before the next sound. Standard pronunciation follows the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) rules. The romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which writes tense letters such as kk and tt but does not show tensing caused by a neighbouring sound.

Say the tense sounds in 립스틱 and 피부과 with a tight throat and no puff of breath. The page on tensification explains why a stop sound makes the next consonant tense. The vowel ㅓ in 토너, 커트 and 드럭스토어 is said with unrounded lips, so it sounds like a relaxed eo, not like the English o.

Audio and Slow Playback

Every word and every example sentence has its own clip. The five clips below replay the trickiest words slowly. Play one, repeat it aloud, then play it again and compare.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with Beauty Words?

These five mistakes cause most of the confusion in beauty shops.

1. Reading 스킨 as skin. In skincare, 스킨 often means toner. The word for the skin itself is 피부.
2. Using one verb for every product. Lipstick takes 칠하다 or 바르다, eyeliner takes 그리다, and perfume takes 뿌리다. Learn the pairs together.
3. Confusing 성형수술 and 시술. A 수술 is an operation with a cut, and a 시술 is a lighter procedure.
4. Calling the salon 이발소 by default. 이발소 is a barber shop. For a general hair salon, say 미용실.
5. Treating 화장 as only formal makeup. 화장 is the everyday word for makeup, and 화장을 지우다 means to remove it.

Pairing each noun with its verb removes most of the risk.

Practice: Flashcards and Worksheet

Study in three steps. First, run the flashcard deck in recognition mode until you recognise each of the 30 words. Second, switch to listening mode. Third, take the quiz. The deck covers all 30 words with audio, and your progress stays in your browser. The vocabulary flashcard decks page lists the other decks.

A printable worksheet for these words (word list, matching, writing practice, fill-in-the-blank exercises and answer key) is available in A4 and US Letter from the download card on this page. For practice, copy the 30 words by hand and write the meaning beside each one. Then write two sentences of your own, such as 미용실에서 커트를 해요 (I get a haircut at the salon).

Where to Go Next

After this page, choose the area you need. Korean Makeup Vocabulary has 35 words for base, eye and lip products and tools, Korean Skincare Vocabulary covers the routine and skin concerns, and Korean Hair Salon Vocabulary teaches how to ask for a cut. To move up a level, return to Daily Life.

Pages in This Section

Three lessons sit below this page, and each one goes deeper into one part of the list.

• Korean Makeup Vocabulary: 35 words for base products, eyes, lips, shades and tools, with the order that Korean tutorials follow.
• Korean Skincare Vocabulary: 35 words for cleansing, toners, creams, masks, sun protection and skin concerns, with label terms.
• Korean Hair Salon Vocabulary: 30 words for the salon, cuts, colour and perm, hair care and the requests you make.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Beauty in Korean?

Beauty care is 미용 (miyong), a Sino-Korean word used for hair and beauty services. The English loanword 뷰티 (byuti) is common in product lines and online content. Cosmetics are 화장품 (hwajangpum). For the single-word lookup, see the page on beauty in Korean.

How Do You Say Plastic Surgery in Korean?

Plastic surgery is 성형수술 (seonghyeongsusul), and the clinic is 성형외과 (seonghyeongoegwa). A lighter procedure with no cut is a 시술 (sisul). These are the neutral standard terms. For more, see the page on plastic surgery in Korean.

Which Beauty Words Should Beginners Learn First?

Five first: 화장품, 화장, 스킨케어, 미용실 and 선크림. At five new words a day, the whole list of 30 takes six days plus review. Then move to the deeper lessons for makeup, skincare or the hair salon, depending on what you need.

How Do You Pronounce 백화점 (baekhwajeom)?

Say bae-kwa-jeom, as in [배콰점]. A final ㄱ before ㅎ merges into a ㅋ sound that moves to the next syllable. The Revised Romanization keeps the spelling, baekhwajeom. Press the audio button on this page for the normal and slow versions.

Is the Romanization on This Page Official?

It follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which South Korea adopted on 7 July 2000 and whose rules the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) publishes. It is a learning aid and does not show every sound change, so rely on the Hangul and the audio.

Is There a Printable Worksheet for Beauty Words?

A printable worksheet for these words (word list, matching, writing practice, fill-in-the-blank exercises and answer key) is available in A4 and US Letter from the download card on this page. For practice, copy the tables on this page by hand or use the flashcard deck, which carries the same 30 words.