The Lo Down: 5/7/26
I fear Seoul ruined shopping for me forever...
Shopping
I recently returned from Seoul and fell in love with it almost immediately. The culture, the art, the food, and of course, the shopping, were all endlessly inspiring. The shopping was so epic, in fact, that that’s all I’m interested in talking about right now.
I went into the trip with a bit of a strategy to only buy Korean designers. And I was mostly successful.
One exception I had going into it: I knew I wanted a pair of Margiela Tabi’s, which I specifically wanted to buy from the Hannam flagship store, a renovated 1970s house on a quiet leafy street, complete with a café and sunny little front porch. The sales associate there did, however, fully lie to me and insist the colorway I bought was exclusive to the Seoul & Paris stores. It is not. I would’ve bought them regardless, but instinctually, I always prefer buying pieces that feel special and are harder to find elsewhere. Thankfully I didn’t also cave on the red leather boots she assured me were exclusive, too - they are, in fact, very available online. Still, buying them in Seoul saved me several hundred dollars, so a win is a win.
Beyond that, I stayed fairly committed to my Korean-designers-only rule - minus a couple of RE/DONE tees, though those were Seoul exclusives, so I think that still counts?
Here’s the haul, along with links to the brands in case anything catches your eye. Most of these labels don’t have wide distribution in the US…SSENSE tends to have one of the better assortments of Korean designers online, but the markup is pretty wild. I checked, and the OSOI bag I bought is currently retailing on SSENSE for 117% more than what I paid in Seoul.
All of which to say, the prices and deals to be found there are kind of incredible, the selection is easily the best I’ve ever seen, and almost nothing I bought (aside from the Tabi’s) felt remotely bank-breaking.
Truthfully, fashion has felt a little stagnant to me lately, and Seoul made everything feel exciting again. I could’ve spent another full week just popping in and out of stores there and still not gotten bored. The stores are incredibly immersive and experiential - not just places to buy things, but spaces you actually want to spend time in. It’s easily my favorite place I’ve ever shopped - and trust me, I have shopped.
Clockwise from top:
Hat from Ronron
Shirt from ADSB Andersson Bell
Long sleeve tee from Stereophonic Sound
Tee from RE/DONE (from Lotte Department Store)
Non-exclusive Maison Margiela Tabi ballet flats
Bag from OSOI
Clockwise from top:
Banana milk keychain from a souvenir shop
Hair clips from NYUNYU
Top from LCDC, trousers from Le17septembre
Belt from NYUNYU
Snoopy ‘Seoul Searching’ tee from RE/DONE, pants from Le17septembre, aforementioned NYUNYU belt
Clockwise from top left:
Sunglasses from Double Lovers (red) & Gentle Monster (silver)
Hoodie from Coor
Plate from Night Fruiti
Tee from LCDC
Perfume from 025S (in the scent: Flipped Chair)
Bag from MARGESHERWOOD
Cutie comb/gua sha (?!) a GWP from LE17septembre
And as for skincare…
There was definitely some trial and error involved, but my strategy was to start trying to build a routine early on in the trip, so that by the end, I’d know which products I wanted to stock up on before leaving.
My biggest takeaway is that pharmacies > Olive Young. Olive Young is great for certain things - sheet masks, Aestura, Anua, etc - but overall, I found the more interesting and higher quality products at pharmacies.
And the Sulwhasoo store in Bukchon is honestly a religious experience. I didn’t make it to their spa, but it’s on my bucket list for next time. Naturally, I had to pick up a few things there to try.
Like clothing/accessories, K-beauty products sold in the US tend to be more expensive than they are in Korea, and the formulations can differ a bit because of FDA regulations - especially when it comes to sunscreen, where Korea is honestly light years ahead.
That said, there are more and more good US resources for Korean beauty (Sephora, Song of Skin, Soko Glam, Olive Young, Ulta, etc) - but nothing compared to getting products straight from the source.
Top row: Sulwhasoo Perfecting lip color; Dr. Lienjang Custom Serum Set; Pharmacy-grade acne treatment (for during active breakout and for post care)
Middle Row: Anua & Rejuran sunscreens; too many face masks to count; Sulwhasoo Perfecting Tinted Cream (which they unsurprisingly only had in various shades of white…and I was somehow the palest shade…)
Bottom Row: Aestura & Rejuran cleansers; my new daily routine, which consists of: Dr. Rejuall Advanced PDRN Rejuvenating Cream & Aestura Atobarrier Cream (morning) and Exoproxyl CICA EXOSOmethod PLUS, Lissederm Beta Calming 24 Hour Cream, and HEVEBLUE Black Yuja Bean Lifting Auto Eye Cream (night); Sulwhasoo Concentrated Ginseng cream (+ samples of the rest of this line)
A more comprehensive Seoul recap - restaurants, stores, museums, galleries, and other things you need to see - coming soon…in case this shopping recap alone didn’t already convince you to book a flight.
Until next week -
xo
Lo
Epic finds, regretting not buying more!!