If you live in Korea, you can’t really escape Olive Young. It’s everywhere, tucked between cafés, glowing on busy streets, and somehow always calling you in, even when you swear you’re “just going to look.”

For me as a university student, it’s not just a beauty store anymore. It’s kind of like a ritual.

The thing about Olive Young is that it just gets what people want. You can go in to grab toothpaste and end up leaving with a new serum, two lip tints, and a face mask you didn’t know you needed.

It’s the way they lay everything out, bright, neat, easy to touch and try. You don’t feel pressured, and you don’t feel judged for spending 30 minutes testing cushions on your wrist.

It also feels like a mirror of Korean beauty culture right now — fresh, curious, always changing. They’re quick to pick up on trends.

One week everyone’s talking about Round Lab, the next it’s Torriden, and Olive Young already has the full line displayed like it’s been there forever. It’s weirdly satisfying to see what’s new before it blows up online.

But it’s not just about skincare or makeup. There’s a vibe. It’s a little escape between classes or after work. The music’s soft, the lighting’s flattering, and the testers are endless.

Sometimes I’ll stop by just to see what’s trending or to kill time with a friend. And yes, the point system and birthday coupons don’t hurt either.

I think people love Olive Young because it makes self-care feel easy. You don’t have to spend a fortune or know everything about skincare ingredients. You just walk in, explore, and find something small that makes you feel good.

When I think about it, that’s probably why Olive Young is such a thing here, it fits into everyday life.

It’s casual but curated, familiar but still exciting. It’s that one place where everyone from students, tourists, and office workers somehow ends up wandering the aisles, testing, smelling, and discovering little pieces of joy in between everything else.