Korean Lip Makeup Is All About Layering, Not Just Lipstick
For Korean beauty culture, Korean lip makeup is one of the most important rituals, complementing the image, setting the style, and reflecting the individual’s character. Moreover, the key to Korean-style makeup is to use different products in order to enhance the effect in layers.
It is enough to make a trip abroad to realize that, outside of Korea, lipstick is the most popular product for lip makeup. Meanwhile, Korean women prefer lip creams and lip glosses that blend with the texture of the lips
From Tints to Balms, It’s All About Creating the Perfect Combination One of the Secrets of Korean Lip Makeup
In Korean makeup, each product is crucial as a specific task – be it tint for healthy color, balm for softness, and gloss for shine on the lips. Besides, Korean women are crazy about the overlining trend that creates the effect of naturally shaped and plumped lips.
Therefore, it is not unusual to see Korean women applying one product after another for their lips. More often than not, they use tint and gloss in combination with balm. Honestly, it is way more fun to experiment with various products for the lips, depending on the occasion, rather than to stick to one lipstick color every day.
Why Are Tints More Popular than Lipsticks in Korea?
While lipstick remains one of the most popular products for lip makeup, tint claims to be the most comfortable and long-lasting option.
Everything boils down to the difference in makeup trends in Korea and the rest of the world. Whereas Westerners go for the bold and bright colors, Korean women aim for natural and soft makeup. More specifically, Korean lip makeup refers to gradient color and subtle tint on the lips.
The comfort of tint was also reinforced by the mask-wearing culture of recent years. Products like lip tints claim to last longer and transfer less color to the mask. Therefore, they gained immense popularity among Korean women as a daily-use lip product. Even nowadays, when the global pandemic is over, the trend for glossy lips is back in fashion in Korea, and transparent gloss on tint remains the most preferred option.
Overlining Is the Most Recent Trend in Korean Lip Makeup
The most recent addition to the Korean lip makeup trend is the so-called overlip, or overlining. This look is characterized by slightly extended outlines of the lips, as compared to one’s natural lip shape. This way, the lips appear to be plumper and more defined. It is worth noting that overlips were initially a part of the Korean celebrities’ makeup looks. However, as this look became extremely popular, it became a part of the daily makeup routine for the majority of Korean women.
Due to trends like overlips and gradients, Korean beauty brands promote the use of various products in combination with each other. Lip liner, tint, and gloss can be used in combination to create the desired effect of naturally-shaped and healthy-looking lips. Therefore, one product is no longer enough for the Korean-style lip makeup.
Korean Lip Makeup Aims for Natural and Healthy-Looking Effect
The biggest part of Korean lip makeup trends revolves around the natural and fresh look.
More often than not, tints, balms, and glosses are combined in order to create a soft color and glossy finish on the lips. The natural look with a tinted lip balm in soft pink is way more sought after than the bold and red lipstick. Moreover, Korean women apply gloss on top of their lip balm or tint in order to achieve the desired level of shininess. As far as Korean women are concerned, a fresh and natural look is the ultimate goal of lip makeup.
That is why Korean beauty brands offer a wide variety of products in one color. The subtle pink can come in version for warm undertones and cool undertones, in a sheer version and a more opaque version. Therefore, it is not enough to take one product at random – it can take ages to choose the best pink for your skin tone.
Perhaps, this is the ultimate way to explain why Koreans are obsessed with collecting lip products – it is not enough to have one product. A proper combination of different products is a must in order to achieve the natural and fresh look of Korean women’s lips.
