When it comes to applying makeup, Koreans has its own way to show their signature Korean looks through their makeup personality.  Learn these12 ways of how the Korean uses their everyday makeup and their choice of products;

Korean make a big deal when it's time to apply the product to their body or face, products that contain natural ingredients is their no.1 priority, they afraid to use too many chemicals, so everything must have a ‘green’ code. You must have heard that most households in South Korea like to recycle everything.  So they really care about what is inside the bottle they used.  Korean cosmetics not only used common green ingredients like orange, apple, and cucumber but uncommon foods like broccoli, caviar, pumpkin, paprika, and cabbage, the stuffs that are usually found in mom’s kitchen are the main ingredients inside the Korean cosmetics products. Wants to start putting on makeup like the Korean, start by getting rid of those ‘too much’ chemical products.

2.  Use BB cream instead of Foundation

Ever since I learned to use makeup from my mother, I only knew there has to be a foundation as a base for applying the makeup color. But Korean nowadays tends to use BB Cream (Blemish Balm) instead of the regular foundation, some use CC cream (Color Correction) to correct their uneven skin colors.  BB Cream was originally designed to cover minor scars after the plastic surgery, now they use it on an everyday basis.  Using BB cream create more flawless looks, at least that’s how the Korean feels.  Somehow using the traditional foundation is not a common way to do makeup in South Korea

3.  Sheer the Makeup

Being in Korean makeup style means you cannot put too many strong colors on your face.  Sheer makeup is like an unspoken rule. Even the Korean ‘nightclub style’ makeup is still far less compared to the western style. They like to show the fresh looks or the cute babydoll look.  Sheer makeup means you will stay looking young compared to when you put on a heavy makeup look that gets you older.  Do not confuse sheer makeup with minimalist makeup; there is nothing minimalist when applying makeup in the Korean way, read more then you will know what I’m saying.

4. Eye Liner Glam

Getting makeup as Korean means you must put a strong eye definition line on the eyes.  That might be because the shape of Korean eyes is less big than western eyes. It is likely heard that Korean get into eyelid surgery, just like you went to a dentist, no big deal, everyone must have it.  So, for those who might not have it, putting on a good amount of eyeliner is one of the ways to make their eyes bigger.  Eyes are the center point of people's personality, you can tell a lot from people’s eyes, most women like to put effort into this area even more. Guess it is easy to follow as this rule may apply in almost every country in the world, not just the Koreans.

5.  Innocent Pink Lips

Korean people have gifts for having nice natural soft pink full lips.  The trend nowadays is to use a lip tint, instead of a one-color lipstick.  The Koreans invented what this called a peel-off lip tint, that first you apply then wait for 3 min, then you peel it off, the stayed color last for a day, and is not easy to fade off, far better than your regular lipstick. The other way to put the lip tint is to re-apply the tint after you peel it off

6.  Go straight eyebrows

Korean look into a modest kind of makeup, they prefer straight eyebrows, instead of a high curve, a good straight, little bit thick, dark brown line for Korean eyebrows does it all. Korean like the natural look, they don’t like to put more shape to their original eyebrows, straight eyebrows can put you in a natural and again young-looking shape.

Westerner tends to like a high curve for their eyebrows; you might want to cut down those high curves if you like to have a Korean style.  Korean prefers to apply eyebrows powder using an eyebrows brush, compared to only using an eye pencil.

 

7.  Warm colors eyeshadow

Have you ever noticed all the K-pop stars that become Korean cosmetics icons? See their eyeshadow colors?
Most of them use warm orange, cream, brown, or soft pink colors; barely see a smokey black, dark blue, or purple one.  
 Refer to the no.1 again; the word Natural is a high preference for Korean makeup style. Use a color that is not too much different from Korean skin and only to brighter their eyes.

8.  Air Cushion ‘sin’

It’s a big hit in Korea; maybe since 2 years ago, it’s kinda a must, to have this item in your Korean makeup collection.  Almost every Korean brand released its air cushion product.  You can not have this one if you really want to makeup like a Korean. It’s like a sin if you don’t have it as Korean ~lol. Air Cushion is some kind of foundation that is splurged in a sponge, but it is unlike any foundation, they have this special air puff for you to dab on the sponge. 




The best using this air cushion, is you don’t have to dirty your hands or use brushes when applying it to your face, it came with high sun protection (can be SPF50), full of vitamins, minerals. And the color can be shimmering. This is another best innovation, again by the Koreans. “Bam” “Bam” the air cushion on your face.

9.  Cream blusher masher

This is one of the latest things I notice from Korean makeup, they prefer to use cream blusher than the normal powdered blusher.  Cream blusher does stay longer on your face, and gives you a natural dewy look, while powdered blusher can easily fade, and you need to re-apply especially during hot weather days. Though for beginners, the powdered blusher is easier to apply, this powder kind is also easy to find in Korea.  Been said that cream blusher must blend well when mashed on your face or you will look like a masked face.  Hmm then my conclusion is we need to learn from those Korean girls on how to use it as I saw them put too much blusher on their cheeks, good for them!

10.  The excessive moisture

In South Korea, the weather can be very extreme, during winter the weather is very freezing cold and summer can be super hot and dry.  These extreme seasons required Korean to nurture their skin with an excess amount of moisture; therefore the moisturization products become an essential part of their skincare and makeup.  You cannot just use your regular moisturizer, believe me, ~~ been there done that, on this early year winter, I learned my lesson~  Use a deep moisturizer on your face and skin, especially before you put your makeup on. Who said it is easy to have moist Korean skin? :D put your effort into it.

11.  The every night skin treatment  ritual (using more than 5 treatment products)

Good makeup basically must start with good healthy skin. Korean start by taking care of their skin thoroughly.  I was amazed when I watched this Korean girl’s tutorial video on how she does ritual skin treatment at night: right after using a makeup removal, use the cleansing oil, followed by pore scrub foam, continue with deep facial foam using deep facial system tools, apply those pore freshener toner, then use the eye cream, advance night repair serum, and the last ritual would be the night aging cream to prevent your wrinkle. How many products are those? Eight! Whoa~~and I cannot tell which one is more important than the other, seems like everything applied are crucial.  She has more than 88,000 subscribers on her video channel, I think what she did do represent most Korean women. What do you think? Do I have to remind you that this is doing an every night basis?

12.  Korean men do use makeup

Psst~~ let me tell you….OH NO, this is not a secret. But men in South Korea, do apply some makeup on their faces. Some call them a “Flower Man”, which means a man with an exceptionally good-looking face.

Concealer, lip gloss, powder, mascara, eye shadow, and brow pencils can be on their daily list.  The least they had could be a moisturizer and lip balm; most K-pop male stars will apply a nice amount of makeup on their face during their performances, including the lips. (like they haven’t enough lips temptation for me to see~ ugh).  Nowadays, BB cream is probably their favorite item for them. It helps them to get their skin perfection.  Korean soldiers on duty use this because the SPF factor can protect them from the harsh sun. Korean men also craze of getting an eye cream and anti-aging cream to preserve their youth. In 2013, Korean men are proven to spend $900 million a year on cosmetics based on research done by Euromonitor.  No wonder all those big Korean cosmetics brands use males as their icons.

Ordinary Korean men do taking care of their skin and face, face masks are probably the most common products they bought besides facewash and lip balm.  I had once a Korean co-worker, who actually asked me to wait when he suddenly remember that he must buy his skin face product during our lunch meeting lol~ how cool is that.