Even if you’re not a Kbeauty fan, you have to admit — Koreans have nailed the youthful, natural makeup look. Their skin looks smooth and poreless, their cheeks look lit from within, and they know how to enhance their monolid or doe-shaped eyes. Get Korean makeup tips from the people who know it best: Kbeauty makeup pros and vloggers.

Cool down your skin

Yena, who shares Korean makeup tips on her vlog and Instagram, uses chilled face masks or a chilled face roller before applying makeup. It helps makeup look better and last longer. “If your skin temperature goes up, your skin will get dry and that oil-hydration balance will be destroyed.”

We tried this tip, and suggest using a chilled mask if your skin feels dry or is prone to redness, and a chilled face roller if it’s puffy from PMS (or if you have hangover skin).

Pat in your moisturizer

Hydration is key to both Korean skincare and makeup, but the biggest mistake people make is rushing it. if you apply makeup on top of dripping skin, it’ll slide and cake. Even applying cream on top of serum too soon will make both ineffective. “You’ll end up applying it unevenly, and the product will evaporate instead of being absorbed,” says top Korean beauty vlogger Lamuqe.

On busy mornings, just use a light hydrating serum or essence for your skin type, let it warm in your hands, and then gently pat in. If you’re really in a rush, spritz a face mist.

Use a CC cream

If you have an uneven skin tone, use a CC cream. CC stands for “complexion corrector” and are made especially to target redness, spots, and dullness. You can use it in three ways:

  • For full coverage: a primer under foundation
  • For fresh office makeup: all over the face, with foundation or concealer only where you need it
  • For lazy weekends: on its own

Use thin layers of a long-lasting foundation

Get a high coverage foundation, but apply very sheer layers. You can press it on with a damp sponge, or stipple it with a flat-top foundation brush or kabuki brush.

Eyebrow Embroidery

Powder your eyebrows

This is the simplest but smartest Korean makeup tip we’ve heard! Before applying any kind of brow makeup, mattify the area with foundation powder. That will help prevent fading and also help lighter brow colours show up.

Master tightlining

Tightlining basically means applying eyeliner really close to your lashline — almost up to the waterline. It makes your eyelashes look thicker and can really enhance your eyeshape. Many Kdrama and Kpop actress use this Korean makeup look. See it here with Crash Landing on You actress Son Ye Jin — here with co-star Hyun Bin (you’re welcome).

From the video, you’ll see that you don’t see her eyeliner, but her eyes look more defined. That’s the magic of tightlining!

Layer your lipsticks

For long-lasting lip colour, apply a watery lip stain (sometimes called lip tints) before any other lipstick. Even if your lipstick fades, you’ll still have that colour from your first coat. Check out our list of the best lip tints for every budget!

lip balm

Never skip lip balm

When you’re about to start your makeup, apply a rich lip balm on your lips. Do your thing, and then blot off the lip balm when you’re ready to apply lipstick.

Apply foundation to your “Heart Zone”

Kangpil Kim, the chief makeup artist of Banila, says most people don’t use cushion compacts the right way. The very concentrated pigments aren’t meant to applied all over the face — it’ll just make your skin look like a mask.

Instead, apply cushion compacts to your “heart zone”: your cheeks, forehead, nose, and chin. Start in the center and then blend outwards. It looks more natural and also highlights your face, for instant contouring.

Press and Roll

Korean makeup guru Pony says that the best way to apply cushion compact is to take a sponge, hold it between two fingers, and then press and roll. To get into smaller corners like the nose, just fold the compact and tap.

DIY Cheek Tint!

This Korean makeup tip saves time and money. Use the same lipstick you used on your lips on your cheeks. Just mix it with CC cream to turn it into a cream blush. That instantly pulls together your makeup look, and keeps it super fresh and natural!

Soften contours with CC cream

Contouring can make your face look slimmer, but it can also make you look older. Try this Korean makeup tip instead: apply bronzer on the hollows of your cheeks. Then, dip a clean makeup brush or sponge into CC cream and then blend out the bronzer to soften it.

Use peach eyeshadow on your dark circles

You don’t need to buy colour correcting kits to cancel out dark circles. Instead, pat a peach matte eyeshadow under your eyes and apply concealer on top of it! This brightens up the eye area without looking too stark.

Always use a face mist

Ko Won Hye, one of most famous Korean makeup artists who works with stars all the time, applies face mists at every step of makeup application. Moisturizer, mist; foundation, mist; concealer, mist again! He does this to achieve the chok chok skin and help cream products really sink into the skin.

The trick is to hold the face mist away from the face so you get a fine spray. Pat in excess moisture with a sponge.

Only contour one feature at a time

While Western makeup applies contouring all over the face, Korean makeup will contour only one feature at a time. If you’re going to contour your cheekbones, don’t apply highlighter on your temples or fake a slimmer nose. Just focus on enhancing one feature instead of “fixing” your entire face.