Cosmetics and Beauty Ideals in Joseon and Earlier

Korean women in the Joseon dynasty (1392 to 1897) lived under a Confucian moral order that looked down on showy adornment, yet they still cared about their appearance. The surviving record is partial: much of it comes from museum exhibitions, household books and later retellings. This page describes what those sources report. It does not suggest that any of these practices are good for skin, and several were clearly harmful.

The ideal

A Korea Times feature on Joseon skin care says fair skin and long, jet-black hair were the main marks of beauty, and that a porcelain-like complexion, clear and free of blemishes, was most prized because it implied a life without outdoor manual labor. A London Korean Links overview adds that luxurious makeup was discouraged under Confucianism and that upper-class women tended to copy the style of gisaeng entertainers. An exhibition review in the same publication says a yangban woman might mix clay into her face powder to give her skin some color and set herself apart from them. These are period ideals, described here without endorsement.

Powder, rouge and brows

• Face powder (bun, 분): The exhibition review says ground rice was used as powder but did not stick to the face well, and that lead-based white powders were downright harmful. The overview names a powder, mibun or baekbun, made from ground rice and millet.
• Rouge (yeonji, 연지): Safflower (honghwa, 홍화) supplied the color for wealthier women, while cinnabar, a mercury compound, was used by poorer ones, according to the exhibition review. Cinnabar is toxic, so this is a history point, not a tip.
• Eyebrows: Brow ink was made from plant ash or soot mixed with oil and applied with a brush. Crescent and willow-leaf shapes are commonly described as favored brow styles.

Hair oil

Hair mattered as much as skin. The Korea Times article, citing court documents, says sesame oil (jinyu) was used to add shine, and that women added hairpieces (gache) for fuller styles, until a court ban on luxury hairpieces. Secondary overviews also mention castor and camellia oils (dongbaek-gireum, 동백기름) as hair oils.

The kitchen connection: jodu and rice bran

Some of the most ordinary cosmetics came from the pantry. The most common facial cleanser, says the Korea Times, was jodu, a powder of ground mung beans (nokdu), adzuki beans and soybeans that were milled, dehulled, ground again and sifted. It was rubbed on a wet face to scrub off dead skin cells. Its fishy smell was masked with fragrance, and a perfumed version became a luxury gift among court women. Ordinary women, the article adds, used cheaper cleansers: rice bran, wheat bran and the cloudy water left from washing rice (see rice water). Honey was applied to give the face luster. Mung bean also appears at the table, for example in nokdu bindaetteok. These are accounts of what people did, and whether such practices do anything for skin is a separate question.

The same article cites Gyuhap chongseo for a winter remedy for chapped skin made from eggs steeped in liquor for about a month. It is a historical curiosity, not a recommendation.

Silla and Goryeo

Evidence for earlier eras is mostly objects. The exhibition review describes Silla and Baekje earthenware powder bowls and oil jars and Goryeo celadon cosmetic cases, though not the cosmetics themselves. The overview dates cosmetic use to the Three Kingdoms period and says it flourished in Goryeo, with mung bean cleansing and plant lotions among the ingredients. Beyond that, detail is thin.