Aegyo Sal – Korea’s Obsession with Beautiful Eye Bags

Hey! Hey! Look who's just orbited out of cyberspace and made a perfect landing right next to a coffee mug! How're you doing? Get enough sleep last night? No bags under your eyes today? Good...unless you're headed for Korea on a flight today. But fill that coffee mug first and wrestle a megamuffin onto your plate while I tell you about why eye bags are considered fashionable in the Hermit Kingdom.

While most Western women spend ridiculous amounts of money to conceal or get rid of the puffy bags under their eyes, Korean women consider them a sign of beauty and resort to a variety of cosmetic procedures in order to get them.

Aegyo Sal, as the bizarre baggy-eyes trend is known in Korea, should not be confused with the saggy or dark purplish eyebags caused by lack of sleep and aging, those are considered unattractive pretty much everywhere. 

The trendy feature refers strictly to the slight puffiness of the lower eye-socket which has to match the color tone of the skin. Contrary to general beliefs and perceptions, Korean women find these little pockets of fat under the eyes cute and believe they give them a more youthful look by brightening the eyes. 

Ever noticed how a person’s eyes become puffy when they smile? The Koreans have, and they’ve come up with way of creating that illusion of a bright joyful facial expression without actually smiling – the aegyo sal.

You don't have to spend good money on cosmetic surgery, creams and do-dads to make your eyes puffy. A few late night movies and five hours of sleep a night will do the same thing and save you buckets of cash. Not for us, though. If a movie doesn't start by 7:00 PM, it's a late movie!

See ya, eh!

Bob