Meet Our New Korean Beauty Correspondent

It's no secret that we, along with the rest of the world, are kind of obsessed with everything and anything Korean beauty right now. Seoul has replaced Paris as the city where in-the-know girls look to see what's new, what's now, and what's next in beauty.

Problem is, it's hard to keep your finger on the pulse when you're not, you know, actually in South Korea. All that knowledge comes secondhand, based on what someone else decided was worthy enough to pass our way. Hell, it took 30 years for BB creams to finally make it Stateside. What else have we been missing all this time?

Knowing you all have the same voracious appetite for Korean beauty products and trends as we do, we put out the call for an on-the-ground correspondent in Seoul. We combed through hundreds of entries from some very dedicated beauty nerds, and in the end we picked one Joyce Kong to carry the R29 torch in South Korea.

Joyce is a former magazine editor and current digital branding consultant who is fanatic about all things beauty. Fluent in both Korean and English, she's always up to try the latest products and treatments, but she's also not above getting her DIY on.

"I've always been interested in makeup and skin care, which is shocking for someone as lazy about regimens as I am," she says. "I'm a total DIY girl, which runs in the family. My mother was a chemistry teacher before she got married, and now she makes all her own soaps, cleansers, lotions, serums, toothpaste, laundry detergent — you name it."

Joyce sent us the above video as her submission, and we think it gives a pretty clear idea of why she's the perfect choice to be our Korean beauty correspondent. In her monthly column for R29, she'll be reporting on everything from cool products she's tried, the trends girls on the streets of Seoul are sporting, and all the beauty newness that catches her eye.

While Joyce has a few column ideas up her sleeve already, we definitely want to hear what you're interested in learning more about. Tell us in the comments what you want to hear Joyce dish on, and tune in next week to read her very first post.