My Best Tip for finding Products that Can replicate Korean Beauty Looks
My absolute favorite tool for finding K beauty inspiration is social media - and they use products you can get! It’s all in the marketing. Many major brands have multiple accounts for their market around the world - and while some of the content overlaps, these accounts will use the same products you can find in the US to create completely different looks!
Here’s a great example for you, look at the difference between the two posts advertising the “Precisely My Brow Pencil” on @BenefitCosmetics and @BenefitCosmeticsKorea
Here’s another Mac Luster Glass Sheer Shine Lipstick as advertised on @MacCosmetics and @MacCosmeticsKorea
Another idea is to find a Korean influencer or makeup artist who uses products from the US for their looks. In this post, @Weeny_insta creates a pretty look and includes all the products she used!
I will say that not EVERY product you see on the Korea accounts are available in the US, but they are great inspiration and I’ll do my best to track down dupes for anything you might be interested in!
I think now is a good time to tie in my experience as a Korean adoptee in America. The last post I made included pictures of myself, and looking at the photos was hard. Recreating a Korean Beauty look on myself was fun, but looking at the Jewel Light Under Eye Maker (the product I used) on the model compared to myself was…not as fun. If these trends supposedly work for my features, then why don’t I look just like the Korean model in the ad? I had to really remember this: “Oh yeah…she’s a MODEL!“
Feeling like my features don’t fit in (while it is maybe more common) is not exclusive to me as an adoptee and Korean American. Everyone will feel less than when comparing themself to the model and I encourage you not to. Perfect Instagram pictures and edited models make most everyone feel this way. And if you don’t look like the Korean or American models you’re seeing, it doesn’t mean you’re not Korean or American!
This is why I usually say the makeup trends I’m trying are INSPIRED by K Beauty. I want there to be a separation from finding what works for me, and trying to recreate something exactly. We’re all on a journey to ignore the beauty standards and find what works for us.
Did you find some accounts that use products in the US? Let me know @AdoptedBeauty on Instagram!
