SOUTH Korean women are using more lipstick to brighten their overall looks in an economic gloom, and men are turning increasingly to soju liquor and sex, traders and analysts said.

While retailers are struggling to move electronic gadgets, clothes and household goods as the economy weakens, some items remain traditionally recession-proof.

Convenience-store chain GS25 said sales of condoms at its 3,300 outlets nationwide jumped 19.3 per cent year-on-year between early August and mid-November.

Couples may also be putting off having children until better times, observers said.

Cosmetics firms said lipsticks, which offer women a cheap way to look good in lean times, are selling well.

LG Household and Health Care reported a 15-per-cent increase year-on-year in the sale of lipsticks last month. Amore Pacific said its lipstick sales surged 44 per cent in the first nine months to September.

According to LG Household and Health Care, lipsticks are "relatively easy to get access to".

Meanwhile, soju, a cheap vodka- like liquor widely consumed in South Korea, might be a more potent economic indicator.

"Koreans tend to give up whisky and beer and satisfy themselves with this economical booze in tough times," said analyst Yoo Jin at Good Morning Shinhan Securities.

Supermarket chain Lotte Mart said soju sales last month rose 13.9 per cent from a year ago.

Cigarette and instant-noodle sales are also doing well.

Said Mr Yoo: "Cigarette sales are hardly affected by an economic slump as smokers tend to puff heavily, which they believe is a way to cope with stress."

When South Korea's economy was shaken by a credit-card crisis in 2003, the total sales of 35 listed food-and-beverage companies rose 9.1 per cent from the previous year.

In 2003, cigarette sales grew 8.9 per cent, instant noodles were up 6.4 per cent, and soju went up 3.1 per cent, said Mr Yoo.