The Korean Woman Who Went Viral For Not Removing Her Makeup For 2 Years

It is no secret that in Korea, makeup is sort of an essential part of life. Not just women but people of all genders are known to use at least a few makeup products to enhance the preventability of their face on a daily basis. However, just because it is normalized doesn’t mean the practice is free from criticism.

A picture posted by a Korean netizen who destroyed her makeup during the “Escape The Corset” movement to protest toxic beauty standards in the country | Reddit

There are concerns over how people feel pressured to meet the strict beauty standards in Korea since physical appearance decides a lot of someone’s fate in their personal and professional life. So, the over-emphasis on makeup, even in day-to-day life, could often indicate potential body dysmorphia or similar conditions.

One extreme instance of this would be Bae Da Mi, who went viral in 2011 for not removing her makeup for two years straight!

Bae Da Mi | tvN

Bae Da Mi was featured on an episode of the tvN show X-File when she was just 20 years old. The program revealed that she wore makeup around the clock for two years.

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The episode offered a detailed glimpse of her life and makeup “addiction,” which seemingly started during high school. Since then, her family hadn’t seen her bare face for years as she refused to remove it, even while going to sleep. Bae’s mother tried reminding her that she was still beautiful without makeup, but Bae was convinced that it was the only way to maintain her idea of beauty.

Bae reportedly couldn’t stay away from mirrors. She would carry a mirror everywhere she went.

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In fact, the episode showed her stopping mid-way while skiing to fix her makeup, even though her face was barely visible with the skiing gears.

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The 20-year-old had an odd night routine as well. She would bring out her mirror and apply a new layer of makeup on top of the existing one, which was piled onto several layers of her old makeup.

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During her conversation with a crew member, Bae revealed that she even threw away her photos from elementary and middle school because she would hate for anyone to see her bare face.

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This obsession cost her quite heftily. On camera, it was visible that Bae’s skin had taken a good beating, with her pores all clogged and her face full of bumps. Despite the physical harm, Bae was adamant about not removing her makeup, pushing her mother to the point of desperation where she had to reach out to the TV station, sharing her daughter’s story to seek help.

During the episode, dermatologists finally convinced Bae to remove her makeup, followed by a detailed analysis of her skin. According to the tests, her skin was so damaged that it was similar to that of a 40-year-old.

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This shocking result seemed to snap Bae into reality a little, as she agreed to start removing her makeup from then on. She also confessed that she was unaware makeup could cause such extreme damage to someone’s skin.

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To help Bae transition into a more “normal” routine, a makeup artist helped her with a more natural and minimal look. She even removed her blonde wig to reveal her natural brown hair and claimed that she felt much more like herself after this transformation.

| tvN