ROK men are one-fifth of entire planet's market of make-up for men

ABC News has a piece on how South Korean men's purchases of cosmetics are responsible for a whopping 21 percent of the entire market across the globe. If you live in Seoul, this is hardly new or surprising, given the way that KoKo men have learned — often at the prodding of their girlfriends — to primp and preen and exfoliate. 

And that means, ladies and gentlemen, that make-up for men is the real "Gangnam style."

[Kushibo rides fake horse in order to drive point home.]

I know of this first hand, as my ex-fiancée used to clear my pores, powder my face when it was greasy, and other things I'm too ashamed to admit. After we broke up and I was dating a girl from America who was (literally) hands-off when it came to make-up, I almost felt like asking, "Don't you love me?" 

Sorry for taking you into the twisted world of KoKo-'Bo and no-KoKo-'Bo relationships, but it was relevant. 

Anyway, from ABC News:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/korean-flower-men-increasingly-turning-cosmetics-plastic-surgery/story?id=17328380#.UGVoNUIYRQs

Every morning Chung Yong-Hyen, 35, goes through a daily ritual of applying five skin care products.

"I wash with face cleanser, serum booster, toner, moisturizer, and sun screen," he says while being pampered at Amorepacific Spa in downtown Seoul.

The lean 6-foot tall marketer in public relations visits the spa once or twice a month and spends about $500 every season on various products "to maintain and take care of" himself.

Chung's lifestyle may seem at odds with conservative Korean culture in which macho men tend to have dominated the social scene. But the latest numbers show a surprising trend of Korean men striving to look beautiful. Nearly 21 percent of global sales of men's cosmetics, a total of $495.5 million, have been sold here last year, according to Euromonitor International, a global market research firm.

That makes Korea the largest market and by far the largest in terms of per capita – only 19 million men - as well.

Marketers make a point that the new consumers of cosmetics are straight men who are embracing a new version of handsome.

The whopping sales figures are expected to increase by 79 percent this year, reaching $885 million, according to South Korea's largest cosmetics company, Amorepacific.