'Beauty entertainer' leads new trend

Park Su-hye

By Bahk Eun-ji

Park Su-hye, 24, describes herself as a “beauty entertainer,” who uploads cosmetic and make-up tutorials on YouTube. She started uploading videos on the website four years ago.

“At that time, I ran a blog usually about costume-play makeup as a hobby. But I was interested in media content because I studied visual design in college,” she said.

Park, now better known as “Ssin,” is one of the first generation of YouTube stars in Korea. Her page has more than 460,000 subscribers and has had around 56 million views.

Unlike other beauty gurus, beauty and lifestyle vloggers make up some of the highest view counts on YouTube. Park’s style is wild. She doesn’t make an extra effort to be pretty, but tries to be honest even when she introduces products that have sponsored her.

“In the beauty industry, people, I mean mostly my viewers in this case, are very sensitive if the product review is sponsored or not, as they are already accustomed to commercial content,” Park said.

“I’m not saying I don’t get any sponsored items, but I really think about the consequences thoroughly whenever I choose, because it is directly related to my credibility,” she added.

One of the most popular video postings on her page is the product comparison series. Park chooses cosmetic items and reviews them. Recently, she compared five different types of spray foundation, which recorded around 350,000 views.

She is also famous for costume-play makeup videos. Park transforms into famous characters and people such as Elsa from Frozen, or even K-pop idol stars such as Exo and Block B.

Park believes that people like her channel because they can get vicarious satisfaction from her videos.

“I try on various makeup styles and give product reviews, which most people can’t do. I mean, who buys 5 to 10 of the same items from different brands just for comparison? I can do it for them; they can just watch the video to help them choose,” Park said.

Although she runs a beauty vlog, she wants to make her videos funny so that people watch them without being distracted.

“I feel this is worth doing when I read people’s comments under my video postings. It’s really important for me to read my viewer’s opinions, so I monitor all comments on my page to communicate with them directly,”

By doing so, Park said she always tries to share not only practical tips about makeup but also to entertain her viewers with her wit and skill at talking.

“That’s why I call myself a beauty entertainer, not a beauty guru,” she said.