K-beauty event - Learning about Korean skincare and makeup

K-beauty event was held by Jina Kim and to be honest, I had no idea she was a well known Korean YouTuber/content creator! She has more than half a million subscribers on YouTube and almost 50k followers on Instagram. The event started with her introducing herself and asking us who are our favorite Korean celebrities and then she started introducing us to the Korean trends when it comes to skincare and makeup.

First we talked about skincare, different steps and products that are commonly used in Korea and also the difference between the effect they want to achieve with makeup compared to the western trends as an example. What stands out the most when it comes to Korean skincare is the dewy, "glass" skin effect that makes them glow and gives that youthful and healthy look. We also talked about the importance of knowing our skin tone and skin type so we can choose the right products according to that.

After we covered the basics, it was time for Jina to show us how to achieve natural, daily makeup look and it was very helpful and fun to watch her doing it on a model so we can actually see step by step process as she's explaining everything she's doing. Some of the tips for this makeup are to use the minimum amount of face makeup to avoid cakey look, no cheek contouring as it's not something Koreans would do, using light pink and peachy shades for eyes, lips and cheeks as it looks very fresh and youthful.

The final look was so subtle, emphasizing the features in a simple way with that famous glow. As I personally don't wear heavy makeup, I'll definitely implement some of the tips and tricks I have learned thanks to this event.

Second day was all about K-pop idol inspired makeup or stage makeup. I think that most of the us who attended this event love K-pop so we were curious to know how they go through performances, all the dancing under the heavy lights and still have their makeup looking perfect. Jina told us that the makeup artists touch up their makeup every 5 minutes, they use powders and setting sprays to keep everything locked in.

Of course, there is a big difference between daily, more natural makeup and the one you would do for stage or any bigger event really and that's not only typical for Koreans, I guess everywhere is the same. Again, with the help of a model, Jina showed us a step by step demonstration of idol makeup using more colorful eyeshadows, glitter, highlighter... It was definitely a fun and a lot more colorful look!

Compared to day one, she used more loose setting powder and setting spray, a lot of different shades of pink for the eyes, liquid sparkly eyeshadow as well, cheek highlighter which they don't use in day-to-day look, fake individual lashes... With all that, makeup still looked so fresh and nice, not overdone or cakey which really amazed me! I am even more in love with that effect as I find that we were so overexposed to the western trends of heavy makeup, heavy concealing, contouring, highlighting... and I totally understand why Korean skincare and makeup is taking over.

At the end of the day, I guess it's the best not to follow any trends blindly and to figure out what works the best for you. When it comes to skincare, the most important thing is to know you skin type and what your skin needs and for makeup I guess you can have more fun with it, try out different looks and ways of doing makeup. Once you figure out what works the best for your face shape, eye shape, what colors look the best on you, you can get the most out of it.