Why We All Want Glowy Skin With Elise Hu, Author Of ’Flawless’

Dying To Ask

The Korean Wave continues and it's coming after your pores. Korean exports of beauty products have surpassed smartphones.

Elise Hu is the author of "Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital."

Hu is a journalist and podcaster who currently is the host of "Ted Talks Daily."

Flawless is inspired by her years working as an NPR bureau chief in Seoul, South Korea.

The book examines how South Korea's pervasive beauty culture spread globally as the latest ripple of a Korean Wave of entertainment and tech.

"Six out of 10 of all Netflix subscribers in the world have watched some sort of Korean content. When it comes to Korean beauty, Korea is now exporting more cosmetics and skin care and skin care tools than it exports in smartphones," Hu said.

Hu's book is part memoir, part international investigative reporting, and well-researched.

Fun fact: Elise and I are both graduates of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, and our former professor connected us for this interview!

On this 'Dying to Ask':

• How Korean beauty culture seeped into and then dominated beauty culture around the world
• What is technological gaze, and how it impacts your feelings about yourself
• How Zoom forever changed and blurred the visual and virtual world
• Why is glowy skin a thing?
• A reality check on how much beauty costs in terms of time and money
• And how do we get to a better balance in our lives where we're more accepting of who we actually are?