It’s hard to count how many Korean beauty products have become mainstream in the West in the past few years. K-beauty makeup trends? Less so—but not for long. Their measured approach to cosmetics—from an emphasis on skin-first ingredients to soft and diffused color trends—flips the script on ingrained beauty standards, which here often take on two extremes: full face beat or clean girl. There’s much to learn, and appreciate, about one’s features; where we might do mental gymnastics to conceal under-eye bags, the K-beauty mindset is to highlight it, not just embrace it.
A quick K-beauty refresher: What began as an insider-only category, discovered by devoted fans browsing specialty retailers like YesStyle and Olive Young, has now widespread appeal. Today, leading K-beauty brands are everywhere, from major beauty retailers to viral feeds on TikTok, signaling a new era of accessibility and influence. That momentum is only accelerating. Sarah Chung Park, founder and CEO of Landing International and creator of K-Beauty World, has noted that the appetite for Korean brands in global retailers is just getting started—a point echoed by Michelle Lee, former editor in chief of Allure and K-Beauty World’s CMO, who previously told Vogue that “2026 is poised to be an even bigger year for K-beauty as education and awareness grows.”
Speaking of education around Korean beauty, there’s a growing appreciation not just for the skin-care, hair-care, and makeup products themselves, but also for how these products are applied. Take a key trend, Aegyo sal (you’ll have to scroll to learn more)—there are TikTok tutorials amassing 60,000+ views into an entirely new audience outside of South Korea. Now that you’ve got a plethora of K-beauty products, it begs the question: How does the cool set in Seoul actually use them?
Ahead, our K-beauty experts break down the four essential Korean makeup trends to know in 2026, from fresh-faced techniques to playful, expressive color—so you can wear your favorites the Seoul-approved way.
Blurred Lips
Arguably, the entry point to Korean makeup are lip products—from lip oils to balms, glosses, and more—which are always prominently featured at major retailers like the everything store. Though it’s important to go back to basics, the blurred lip is like the little black dress of Korean beauty. “Some iteration of blurred lips has been hot in Korea for years. But the twist this year was a bit softer,” Lee previously told Vogue. “Rather than a distinct ombré look, lips were lined with a chunky, rounded, soft lip liner, and subtly blended.”
Chung Park points to Unleashia’s chunky liner as a leading contender in the category, with Rom&nd making an equally popular pick. Both help create a rounded, plumper-looking pout with no Botox required. And for a lip combo, there’s velvety long-wearing liquid lip formulas, rich in emollients for an impossibly lightweight feel.
Aegyo Sal
Under-eye filler and photo retouching be damned—in Korea, Aegyo sal is all the rage. Lee says it’s the subject of entire product categories devoted to creating this under-eye makeup trend. So what is it? “Aeygo sal accentuates that puffy area of ‘cute fat’ (what the trend translates to) below the eyes when you smile,” she explains. “It’s a trendy technique that creates the illusion of brighter, wider eyes, especially on people with East Asian eye shapes.” While Aegyo sal has been a prevalent makeup trend in Asia for some time, Lee explains it’s only recently had its western mainstream moment this year—another thing we can attribute to the TikTok democratization of beauty.
To recreate the look takes only two simple steps: a light, cool-toned contour just under the eye “fat,” with a bit of highlight on top. For a powder formula, Too Cool for School’s palette does the trick (all you need is a tiny flat eyeliner brush to apply). There are also double-sided pencils that make Aegyo sal even easier, with one side for shading and one side for highlighting. Below are best-selling picks from Colorgram, The Saem, and Flortte (a popular Chinese brand sold at K-beauty retailers) .
Under-Eye Flushed Blush
Diffused blush formulas aren’t going anywhere, anytime soon. And while, according to Lee, blush had a major moment in 2025, the way Seoul cool girls wear their favorite formulas has notably evolved. “This [makeup trend] is not the super lifted diagonal strip of blush we see on social media,” she says. “This style is a soft, diffuse plume of color right below the eyes, reminiscent of a cute animated character truly blushing.”
Another perk of the Korean blush category? The particularly fun and innovative textures—like Fwee’s Blurry Pudding Pots, Rom&nd’s roll-on blush, and Hince’s luminescent blush sticks. Meanwhile, A’pieu Juicy-Pang water blusher might fool you into thinking it’s nail polish, but it imparts a semi-sheer, dewy flush of color.
Softer, Straight Brows
While Western brows tend to be more arched and defined, Lee notes that K-beauty trends lean towards softer, straighter brows. It’s a brow shape you may have noticed not just on K-pop idols—in fact, plenty of TikTokers are shaving off the tail of their brow for a straighter, more lifted look. “The fluffy laminated look still held strong this year in the US, but the Korean straight brow started to gain ground here too,” says Lee. (Think of Jenna Ortega’s bleached brows, Mia Goth’s naturally skinny arches, or Charli xcx’s straight yet lifted brows.) “In Korea, we saw brows softening, whether by lightening the color or straightening the shape to make them look less severe.” This, she said, added to the overall softer, more monochromatic makeup looks.
“I bought the Peripera Speedy Skinny Brow mascara while in Korea. And for someone with very dark brows like mine, it actually makes a pretty big difference in my overall look to lighten them a shade or two,” Lee previously told Vogue. Another brow pencil worth considering comes from Etude, or you can look to Rom&nd and Unleashia for two popular brow-shaping gels.
Everything You Need to Know
Meet The Experts
- Michelle Lee is a beauty industry adviser and former editor in chief of Allure.
- Sarah Chung Park is a beauty industry veteran and founder and CEO of Landing International.
