Sure, you may already have a plethora of balms, glosses, and oils taking up handbag real estate, but there’s always room for the best Korean lip products. As is for the Korean skin-care products you know and love, K-beauty lippies stand out for their innovative formulas and playful approach. “Korean brands really excel at, and experiment with, textures,” K-beauty expert and and former editor in chief of Allure, Michelle Lee, tells Vogue. “While you can certainly find glosses and tinted balms in Korea that are very similar to Western lip products, there’s a larger variety of textures and formats to play with.”
Vogue’s Favorite Korean Lip Products
Texture aside, Korean makeup puts an emphasis on lip care as well as finish, making pretty much every product a skin-care-makeup hybrid. “K-beauty lip formulas tend to blur the line between skin care and color. You’ll often find treatment-grade ingredients like hyaluronic acid or ceramides in a tint or gloss format,” Sarah Chung Park, founder and CEO of Landing International, adds. “The goal isn’t just pigment—it’s comfort, hydration, and that healthy, plumped-up look.”
And the best part? These high-performance, ingredient-rich products often come at a steal. “It wouldn’t be unusual to find a great Korean tinted lip balm for $15 that might cost $28 in a Western brand,” says Lee. Ahead, the pros weigh in on the trending lip products that Seoul’s coolest swear by—check out all their picks below.
In This Story
- What’s unique about Korean lip products?
- Describing the K-beauty lip look
- How we tested
- Meet the K-beauty expert
Best Sheer Color: Rom&nd Glasting Melting Balm
- Why We Love It: According to Lee, Rom&nd is Seoul cool girls’ favorite for lip products, and Chung Park agrees. “For everyday use, this vegan tinted lip balm is so comfortable to wear and adds a beautiful sheer wash of dewy color,” says the former. She also often uses this pick as part of a lip combo, after using lip liner to “dress it up” a bit. “I’ll line lips, apply Melting Balm, and blend; then top it with gloss if I want to amp up the shine.” Thanks to a blend of botanic oils, you can be assured that this pick provides superior hydration—all while leaving behind a sheer wash of color for a little oomph.
- Key Ingredients: Microcrystalline wax, jojoba seed oil, sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, evening primrose oil, shea butter, mango fruit extract, olive oil
- Finish: Glossy
- Shades: 17
- Size: 3.5 g
| Love It | Leave It |
|---|---|
| Ultra-moisturizing formula hydrates dry lips | Some find this to have a slightly sticky feel (though this contributes to longer product wear time) |
| High-shine finish |
Best Matte: Peripera Ink the Velvet Lip Tint
- Why We Love It: Peripera’s soft matte tint has been a long-running favorite of Lee’s, and there’s no sign of it taking a back seat in her lineup anytime soon. “I ordered Peripera’s velvet lip tint many years ago from Korea to try an ombré lip look, and that product is still a bestseller all these years later,” she says. “Velvet is definitely an accurate descriptor for this light, moussey liquid matte lip.” With a whopping 30 shades to choose from, options run from bold to subdued—but no matter what shade you pick, Lee assures that they all still manage to look light, airy, and almost airbrushed.
Editor’s Experience: “The Peripera lip tint comes in a cute dropper bottle with a little doe-foot applicator. The dropper bottle is a fun twist that makes it enjoyable to apply and store in your bag.” —Concetta Ciarlo, beauty shopping writer - Key Ingredients: Dimethicone, dimethicone crosspolymer, hydrogenated castor oil
- Finish: Velvety, soft matte
- Shades: 30
- Size: 0.14 fl. oz.
| Love It | Leave It |
|---|---|
| Super long-lasting color (some might even say it’s hard to remove!) | Some find the scent a bit strong |
| Comfortable and lightweight feel | |
| Highly pigmented |
Best Tint: Etude Dear Darling Water Tint
- Why We Love It: For a perfectly stained pout on a budget, this lightweight tint from K-beauty-favorite brand Etude delivers every time—and its nearly 10 thousand glowing reviews on Amazon are proof. “It comes in a nail-polish-like bottle with a doe-foot applicator and can be applied more on inner portion of lips and blended out for an ombré look, or applied more evenly,” Lee explains. For those who tend to have a more parched-prone pout, she recommends using a touch of lip balm first to ensure the product doesn’t cling to dry patches.
- Key Ingredients: Glycerin, berry fruit complex
- Finish: Glossy
- Shades: 5
- Size: 0.31 oz.
| Love It | Leave It |
|---|---|
| Vibrant and long-lasting color payoff | Some users report this pick staining their teeth if not careful with application |
| Affordable price point |
Best Lip Oil: Nooni Korean Hydrating Lip Oil
- Why We Love It: A good lip oil should hydrate without feeling sticky, and Nooni’s does exactly that. The cushiony formula glides on smoothly, wrapping lips in lasting moisture while giving them a soft, juicy sheen. It’s the kind of everyday product you reach for without thinking—comfortable enough for bare-lip days, yet glossy enough to finish a makeup look. And because it lightly enhances the natural tone of your lips rather than masking them, it keeps everything looking fresh, healthy, and effortless.
- Key Ingredients: Apple fruit extract, jojoba seed oil, rose hip seed oil
Finish: Hydrating, high-shine gloss
Shades: 5
Size: 0.12 fl. oz.
| Love It | Leave It |
|---|---|
| Lightweight, hydrating lip oil | Some find the product color dries down slightly different from initial application |
| Buildable, sheer color payoff |
Best Volumizing Gloss: Fwee 3D Voluming Gloss
- Why We Love It: This gloss delivers plush, pillowy lips without the heavy, sticky finish. Its formula combines hydrating hyaluronic acid with plumping peptides to visibly smooth fine lip lines and create that soft “3D” volume effect. A blend of conditioning plant oils adds slip and comfort, so the gloss wears like a cushiony treatment rather than just shine. The result is a juicy, glassy finish that makes the lips look naturally fuller and beautifully luminous.
- Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, plumping peptides, and nourishing plant-derived oils
- Finish: High-shine, volumizing gloss
- Shades: 5
- Size: 0.13 fl. oz. / 4 g
| Love It | Leave It |
|---|---|
| Cushiony feel | Some find this a bit sticky |
| Vibrantly pigmented gloss |
Best Tinted Balm: Unleashia Sunset Dazzle Gloss Balm
- Why We Love It: It’s no secret that buttery balms are very much in right now, but have you tried a K-beauty version? “I keep asking myself, How many more tinted balms can I have? Well, clearly, I can always have more,” muses Lee, noting the shade range of Unleashia’s balm is small but mighty. “The formula is divine—rich and creamy without feeling heavy—and it’s super moisturizing.” Another perk is its silicone donut-tip applicator, which she adds makes application pleasantly smooth. Chung Park agrees, noting this pick “combines sheer tint and shimmer in a cushiony balm,” making it perfect for that glazed, healthy finish.
- Key Ingredients: Meadowfoam seed oil, sunflower seed oil, jojoba seed oil
- Finish: Hydrating gloss with a subtle shimmer
- Shades: 6
- Size: 0.12 oz.
| Love It | Leave It |
|---|---|
| Ultra-hydrating formula | Some find the formula can get a bit clogged in the applicator |
| Fan-loved, pleasant scent | |
| Nonsticky feel |
Best Lightweight Gloss: TirTir Waterism Tinted Lip Gloss
- Why We Love It: Don’t mistake TirTir’s gloss for the sticky Y2K formulas of the past. Formulated with hyaluronic acid to draw in moisture and squalane to lock it in, it keeps lips soft and hydrated long after the shine fades. Lightweight and barely-there on the lips, it glides on smoothly without any tackiness, creating a sleek, water-gloss finish. Essentially skin care in gloss form, it leaves lips plump, dewy, and naturally luminous.
- Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, squalane, olive oil, jojoba oil, grape seed oil, macadamia oil
Finish: Sheer, dewy gloss with a “glass-lip” effect
Shades: 6
Size: 0.12 oz. / 3.5 g
| Love It | Leave It |
|---|---|
| Hydrating, nonsticky formula | The color payoff isn’t pigmented enough for some |
| Lightweight feel |
Best Plumping: VT Cosmetics Reedle Shot Lip Plumper
- Why We Love It: As with makeup trends overall, Lee predicts K-beauty will continue to blur the line between skin care and makeup. Bolstering Lee’s prediction, this is basically the lip-care counterpart to the acclaimed VT Cosmetics spicule serum. “This lip plumper, which VT calls microneedling-inspired, uses micro-size silica particles to plump the lips,” Lee says. “You’ll feel a little tingling, similar to other plumpers on the market that have capsaicin from spicy peppers to increase blood flow.” Best to enhance lips’ fullness and volume, this imparts a sheer glossy finish across two intensity levels—one for beginners and another for experts.
- Key Ingredients: Centella asiatica extract, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, micro-spicules
- Finish: Glossy, plumped, and lightly tingling
- Shades: Sheer (available in beginner and expert plumping levels to adjust spiciness)
- Size: 0.12 oz / 3.5 g
| Love It | Leave It |
|---|---|
| Blends plumping mechanisms like micro-spicules with hydrating ingredients | Might be too spicy for some |
| Imparts noticeable fullness | |
| Available in different plumping intensities |
Everything You Need to Know
What’s unique about Korean lip products?
“Korean brands are great at making cool, enjoyable formulas,” says Lee. “Also, not surprisingly, Koreans love their skin-care ingredients and prioritize the look of plump, soft, moisturized lips. So you’ll often see moisturizing, hydrating skin-care ingredients in the formulas.”
What particularly sets K-beauty lip products apart is the textures, adding to an improved sensorial experience. “Korean consumers also value innovative textures (think: jelly balms, watery tints, or melting glosses) that feel light but deliver impactful color payoff,” says Chung Park.
The K-beauty lip look unpacked
“Right now, the trend is glossy and hydrated, with that glass-skin-but-for-lips effect. The blurred lip or gradation style is still popular too, where color is concentrated at the center and softly fades toward the edges,” says Chung Park. Below, she and Lee break down the defining characteristics of a K-beauty lip look—from the way it’s applied to the shades and textures that define it.
- Finish: “Whether it’s a matte or glossy look, Korean lip color trends are typically more blurred and softer at the edges so their products help to create that look,” says Lee, noting that glossy finishes are slightly more popular than matte.
- Product Size: Lip products tend to have larger, more round applicators to add to a blurred finish—whether that be a donut-tip lip balm, doe-foot applicator, or pencil size. “Lip pencils tend to be rounder, softer, and chunkier—the makeup equivalent of drawing a line with a large crayon rather than a sharp colored pencil,” says Lee.
- Shades: Typically, everyday shades tend to skew more natural and muted in Korea, to accentuate natural beauty. “The most popular lip shades are rose, peach, fig, grape—and they tend to be fairly sheer,” says Lee, who adds that K-beauty is just starting to get more experimental with bolder colors.
How we tested
When we test and review a product, we take a holistic approach to deliver well-rounded product recommendations. First, we lean on Vogue’s vast network of experts—board-certified dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and K-beauty founders—to gain professional acumen on the industry’s standout products, ones these specialists would actually use on their clients. We pair their expertise with our editorial best practices to curate the thoughtful edits you read on our site.
As it relates to Korean lip products, we selected the best based on the following characteristics: ingredients, texture, finish, shade range, and the lip looks they create. To do this, we paired our own personal tests of each formula with expert guidance and reviewer insights to determine which we would recommend to you.
Meet the expert
- Sarah Chung Park is a beauty industry veteran and Korean beauty expert. She is the founder and CEO of Landing International.
- Michelle Lee is a beauty industry adviser, Korean beauty expert, and former editor in chief of Allure.
