Travel - Seoul Travel Guide (Myeong-Dong)

All photos in this post are taken by myself in my previous travels to South Korea.

Hey travel lovers, as I promised you before, today I want to tell you some guides about traveling to Seoul. I had a post about “How to preparing before your travel to Korea”. So if you still not read it yet, you can find it HERE. Shopping is always the most important part of our travels, so I decided to start my Seoul travel guide post with Myeong-Dong (명동) shopping district in the first part. I will update you in continue with posts about tourist sights places, restaurants/coffee shops, nightlife and amusement parks.

Korea is the heaven of beauty and cosmetics products. You can find tons of skin cares in various brands and different cutie packages, with the best quality everywhere in Korea. And where is the most famous street for shopping beauty products in Seoul? Myeong-dong (명동)!

If you are a Korea lover or you used Korean beauty, it’s so strange to don’t know about Myeong-dong (명동) street at all.

Myeong-dong (명동) is one of the primary streets for shopping in Seoul, two sides of the street full of stores with various products of beauty, cosmetics and skincare, you can find the most famous and popular Korean brands in cosmetics here. It’s a long crowded street with alleys on both sides with still so many stores there. You can find good beauty salons and nail bars, spa and massage salons in these alleys with different price offer. This street is one of the liveliest streets in Seoul, in my thought. The street is full of colors, sounds and good smells. You can see so many delicious street foods. And still hear the sound of brand marketers in front of stores, who are giving you advertising gifts and welcome you to their stores. A bit of important advice from me? Get the gifts even if you don’t mind to buy it or don’t know about that brand if they persist you to enter, it’s ok to walk through their stores and look at their products, sometimes you can find something really really really needed for your skin in their stores.

In Korean beauty and skin cares products, we have good and the best brand. So you don’t lose anything if you buy something you don’t know. There is no bad quality brand in my thought, just pay attention to choose the right one for your skin type. There is so many sales clerk can speak in English, Chinese, Japanese and they will help you to find your needs.

You have LOTTE Young Plaza shopping mall in your right-hand and so many international clothes brands such as Giordano, ZARA, Adidas, H&M, Uniqlo and much more during this street. (Special clothes shopping post will be up soon.). Myeong-Dong (명동) is one of the famous streets among foreign tourists and for that, it’s a year that Korean Tourism Organization provides another help to foreigners and you can see some police officers with red color outfits, which are tourism police officers. They can speak in English, Chinese, Japanese and somehow other languages, and they will help you easily.

How to get there? You can go with subway line 4 (blue color line) Myeong-Dong (명동) station and exit 5. (Special post about Underground shopping malls in Korea will be up soon.)

Myeong-Dong’s Most Favorite Brands:

If you know or not, I’m addicted to Etude House cosmetics products. They have great quality in cosmetics and cute and girlish packages ever! You can find Etude House stores everywhere in Korea, no important if you are in Seoul or any cities else, you can always find one of their stores.

Korean girls are so much in love with this brand, and that’s why there is even more than 10 stores of Etude House just only in Myeong-Dong (명동) street!

Innisfree is another famous Korean brand in skincare. Their products are from Jeju Island’s nature and their cosmetics are all organic. Maybe they don’t have so many cute packages but yeah, their quality is awesome. If you have this plan to travelling to Jeju Island, I advise you to buy your Innisfree skin cares from their Innisfree Jeju House. You can find some skincare oils or creams which they only sell it there. And more? Of that, it’s the best feeling ever to walk among green tea farms and shop all organic skincare, while drinking so many fresh juices under trees! You even can experience more, I will tell you later in another post.

If you are EXO fan, then for sure you know about Nature Republic’s new collection full of EXO members. If not, all about brand I have to say, they have a great face skin sheet masks with affordable price. Don’t forget to buy their hair care products too! I have this CC cream and makeup base cream from Nature Republic and they are totally fine for my sensitive skin with red cheeks!

Skin Food is my next favorite brand in skincare and cosmetics. They provide good quality skin cares which are only specified for Skin Food brand. I have bought my Salmon Dark circle Concealer cream from there and it is perfect, literally perfect! It is oily and you need to buy its pencil also. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find my Salmon Dark circle Concealer pencil which is helping to hide my under eyes wrinkles, but still no problem!

HolikaHolika & Tony Moly, the two other famous brands in Korea for their cute packages and good quality. Recently HolikaHolika released some kind of Peeling Mist spray, which is like magic. Oh girl, I do believe in magic after the first puff of it on my face skin. I swear, my face skin wasn’t this much bright before it. It’s not a bad idea to try HolikaHolika’s Wonder Drawing eyebrow pencil. If you are lip balm addicted, then you can find the best ones in Tony Moly.

Olive Young, is the Korean branch stores such as Sephora and you can find everything you want there. These days some Korean brands such as Missha and VDL have released their products in cute design packages of Kakaotalk or LINE Friends characters, and you can find these cute things all in one place there.

Wonder what I bought from there? Here you are!

Oh they are so much and I’m sure I forget some of them to capture! Plus I have used most of them and now they do not exist anymore kkk.

There have so many other Korean brands like Clio, Banila Co, Aritaum, The Face shop and so much more. You need a full one day spend here and still, there are some alleys you didn’t find yet!!!

Wish you a great happy day in Myeong-dong (명동), lovelies!

Don’t forget to use #KoreaWithGilda under your photos on Instagram, then I can find your Korea’s picture at that time and recommend new places to go around you.

Xoxo,

PrincessGilda