Subway Station Opens Powder Room for Men

Powder rooms are no longer limited to use by women as more and more young Korean men spend time primping and grooming. Seoul's Samgakji subway station opened a powder room for men for the first time in Korea in 2018. It has a big mirror and three shelves.

"I felt uncomfortable when I had to do my hair in public restrooms before, but now I can do that here," said one 24-year-old university student as he worked wax into his coif.

Men in their 20s and 30s can regularly be spotted moisturizing here. A Seoul Metro staffer said, "We opened the men's powder room because of numerous requests from commuters."

Yoon Sung-san, a 25-year-old office worker, said, "I use a dozen cosmetics products including foundation, eye shadow and mist. People tell me I look nice when I go out with makeup on and it's now become a daily routine."

According to market researcher Euromonitor, the market for men's cosmetics here grew from W730 billion in 2010 to W1.3 trillion in 2018 (US$1=W1,168). Korean men spend an average of W52,000 on cosmetics at a time, the most in the world.