Hi! Welcome to my series of Korean weddings. In today’s blog post, we will cover what all the brides are curious to learn: Korean wedding makeup that is characterized by its natural and romantic look. I also included hair and makeup looks for the groom in Korea at the bottom of the blog post, so I hope you enjoy this post.
I got married last summer in Seoul, Korea, and I flew to Seoul for my brother’s wedding next Sunday. (I am so excited about my brother getting married!!)
As a Korean, I have a bit of experience with Korean weddings. I attended weddings, held my wedding in Seoul, and helped coordinate my brother’s wedding.
Then let’s get started with a little bit of a background story of a Korean wedding.
A Bit About Korean Wedding
Korea is a society that emphasizes family unity.
The wedding ceremony in Korea also heavily reflects that part of Korean culture.
Korean weddings also have a rich history within the ruling class, which expanded to common people in the late Joseon Dynasty and continues today.
Therefore, the Korean wedding has somewhat complicated (but rather short) procedures, including the wedding gifts.
My Other Articles About Korean Weddings
- Korean Wedding Attire for Guests | Men & Women Outfits | Spring, Summer
- Korean Wedding Attire for Guests | Men & Women Outfits | Fall, Winter
- Korean Wedding Gifts
- Korean Wedding Hairstyles
Then let’s look at what Korean weddings are about.
The Essence of Korean Wedding Traditions
The wedding has evolved in Korea throughout history.
However, some key factors of Korean weddings make them unique and have been part of their traditions.
- Rich History in Wedding Tradition:
Korean wedding also has a rich history within the ruling class which expanded to common people in the late Joseon Dynasty and continues today.
Therefore, it is formal and has specific systems to follow.
- Joints of Families:
Korea is a society that emphasizes family unity. The wedding ceremony in Korea also heavily reflects that part of Korean culture.
- Gift Exchanges Between Families:
In the Josun dynasty in Korea, the gifts exchanged between the bride’s and the groom’s families were the biggest part of the wedding gifts in the wedding.
Other Korean Wedding Beauty Articles
Korean Wedding Hairstyles | Long, Medium, and Short Examples
Korean Wedding Makeup Trends
Korean Wedding Makeup in the 80s and 90s…
Back in the days when my parents were getting married in the 80s or 90s, they put on such heavy makeup!
My mom said she couldn’t recognize herself when she saw herself in the mirror on her wedding day.
There was no personalization or consultation before the wedding, and the makeup artists put standardized makeup on every bride and groom.
Now, makeup artists analyze every part of your face and apply makeup that looks good on you.
Modern Korean Wedding Makeup Trends
Modern Korean wedding makeup has become more and more natural and has an “effortless” look, just like the center of Korean makeup trends nowadays.
Korean makeup is characterized by its focus on healthy and natural glow on skin.
Other than K-pop idol makeup looks, most Koreans wear natural and soft makeup on most occasions.
Taking good care of your skin is a big part of Korean culture. As a Korean woman and someone who has been in the K-beauty industry, I am also passionate about spreading the knowledge I learned in Korea!
Some of the Korean makeup and beauty blog posts I wrote are here. 🤗
Korean Makeup Looks | The Ultimate Guideline & Comparison
Beauty Tips for Beginners | Three Pillars of Skincare I Learned from K-beauty
Korean Wedding Makeup 2023 for Brides
Makeup trends are always changing. But modern Korean wedding makeup, like many other wedding makeup, is natural.
However, natural makeup can mean very different things in other parts of the world at different times.
So here are some features of Korean wedding makeup in 2023.
The natural romantic look for the wedding day.
1. Natural Romantic Look
Natural Makeup to Show Your Natural Beauty
First and foremost, Korean wedding makeup is focused on being natural.
It is your wedding day, and we want you to look your best, not try to become someone else.
We try to pursue a natural look that goes well with the bride’s skin type and the wedding dress, rather than excessive makeup with lots of colors.
Focus on Skin
As I mentioned in my post about Korean makeup guides, all Korean makeup looks try to achieve healthy skin.
And on your wedding day, you want to make sure your skin looks as clean as possible.
One tip to achieve it is to wear a very thin layer of foundation on your face overall.
Then use a concealer to cover any blemishes or brighten the shades, like under eyebags or around your nose.
Lively Romantic Look
What is a romantic makeup look?
When you are so happy, you smile big with your whole face and you blush a little… That is the romantic makeup look.
A little bit of blush and some colors on your eyeshadows make you look very lively and give you a romantic Korean wedding makeup look.
Depending on your preference, you may increase or decrease the intensity of the colors on your cheeks and eyeshadows.
However, it should still have a natural look.
Lneige Lip Glowy Balm for the night and lip gloss for the daytime. Image from the Laneige
Lip Products Recommendation
Products I Pick
Before the important wedding event, put on this lip balm from Laneige. Your lips will be so moisturized and ready for the big event! Then, at the actual event, wear this lip gloss to make your lips plump, natural, and romantic.
Foundation Recommendation
Product I used
This is one of the best cushion foundations in Korea that can make your skin look flawless! It stays for a very long time, and I wore this foundation on my wedding day too. It has a puff that makes it so easy to fix your makeup throughout the wedding. The only downside is that it has a very limited shade range, which fits the demographic in Korea. But if the shade fits you, this is a great foundation.
2. Clean Aesthetic
No Cakey Look
This goes together with the natural Korean wedding makeup look…
You want the whole face to look clean and beautiful.
And what do I mean by “clean”?
It means makeup that looks light without looking cakey.
If you wear too much foundation or concealer to make your skin look flawless, that is not a clean aesthetic.
Even if there is a huge focus on flawless skin in Korean makeup, you should still want your face to look clean and natural.
Moreover, remember that you will smile a lot on your wedding day, so if you wear too much makeup, it will crease over time.
Besides, if you are having a wedding in Korea with Korean photographers, they could photoshop any blemishes.
When you wear thick (but natural-looking) makeup, it is very important to wear makeup on your neck, chest, or any open upper body part.
Wear Makeup on Neck and Chest
Another tip to look clean is to wear makeup on your neck, chest, or any open upper body part that connects with your face.
That way, the color and tone of your face blend in with the rest of your body well.
There shouldn’t be harsh or noticeable contour on your face. In Korea, people don’t put contour to make your cheekbones stand out. Lightly brush around your face to make your face structure soft and nice.
3. Subtle Contour Around the Face
Another key to Korean wedding makeup is to have natural makeup that doesn’t look thick while still working on the weakness of the face and emphasizing the strength of your face.
Using a contour, lightly brush with powder that is one shade darker.
4. Natural and Defined Eye Makeup
Natural Shades on Eyelids
Natural eyeshadows are used in Korean wedding makeup.
And this is great news for those of you with monolid eyes!
Monolid eyes are so gorgeous and unique. But it can be challenging to make your eyes look more defined with makeup without putting on too many eyeshadows or eyeliners.
Natural shading works so beautifully on monolid eyes, try it!
When doing Korean wedding makeup, the whole look is natural anyway. So it is a perfect opportunity for these people to show their natural beauty.
Eyeshadow Recommendation
Natural Korean Shadows
This is another very popular eyeshadows in Korea from Holika Holika. This has a great range of natural yet romantic and glamorous eyeshadow shades. This could work with a variety of skin tones, and they also have many more color variations available. So check it out if you want to try a Korean natural yet glam eye look!
Eyeliner Recommendation
Product I used
Every Korean knows about this gel eyeliner from Tony Moly. This is a great, affordable eyeliner that draws very natural eyeliner. It glides on so easily, so anyone can draw a nice eyeliner with this. It’s been a steady seller since 2013, and it’s been a choice for many Koreans so far!
Individual Fake Eyelashes
Another key makeup tip for Korean wedding makeup is putting on individual eyelashes.
On most days, Koreans skip wearing mascara, as I mentioned in my Korean makeup guide.
Koreans would wear mascara on special days… So can you imagine what wearing individual eyelashes means?
Something very special!
Wearing individual fake eyelashes is one of the most glam makeup routines you could pull off.
Whole eyelashes could feel so heavy and tiring, or worse, fake, on the wedding day, so the artists chose the individual eyelashes on the bride.
It is quite common to put individual eyelashes on the top lid, but in some cases, they also put little eyelashes on the bottom.
5. Natural Eyebrows
The makeup artist, Park Ha-Young at Cha Hong Arder Wedding said:
“Draw your eyebrows gently as if they were originally beautiful.”
So no tattooed, crisp, full eyebrows you see on Instagram, please!
You only fill the gap and make your eyebrows more defined, as if you were born that way.
You may change the shape of your eyebrows only slightly.
Korean Wedding Makeup 2023 for Grooms
The principles of Korean makeup still apply to the groom.
The difference would be that you want the bride to look lovely and the groom to look strong and manly.
1. Clean and Natural Look
It is important to keep the skin smooth overall when it comes to men’s Korean wedding makeup.
Apply a foundation and concealer that match your skin tone evenly.
Use concealer to cover any blemishes.
For the bride’s wedding makeup, it is generally more acceptable to use a tone one shade lighter or darker.
However, keep it more natural with men’s makeup.
Clean shaved, defined features, and natural look on the groom.
2. Define Features & Facial Structure
Natural Light to Dark Brown Shades
With natural eyeshadows or powder, contour the face to give more depth.
With men’s makeup, it is important to keep it natural.
So use natural light to dark brown shades to outline, shape, and define the features of the face or the facial structures such as eyebrows, eyelids, cheekbones, jawline, and such.
3. Clean Shaved
Men in Korea usually clean shave their face and neck.
It’s because Koreans don’t have much hair on their bodies, so it is very rare to shape your face with a beard for men.
Therefore, a clean shave is generally considered well-put-together and dressed in Korea.
Tips for Korean Wedding Makeup
1. Get Help from Beauty Consultants
There are so many different kinds of beauty consultants in Korea – from personal skin tone checkers, hairstylists, and face-shape consultants, to beauty consultants.
So consult them to know your style, even if you are hiring hair and makeup artists for your wedding.
You can always tell your artists about your preferences and styles.
2. Check Out Many Places
If you have time and resources to do so, I highly recommend checking out many beauty shops and artists before your wedding.
Every beauty shop has its own style and every artist has different skills.
So the best way to find the style that you want is to get makeup from several places to find the place you like.
About Korean Wedding Hairstyles
The whole wedding look is not done until you get your hair done too!
The Korean wedding hairstyle is characterized by the features below.
For the Bride:
- Effortless, clean aesthetic with natural dark hair tone
- Updo hair with Fine hair to shape the face
- Soft, wavy hair down
- Loose, short hair
According to the power blogger from Korea Hwa Ik Nam (화장품 읽어주는 남자), the well-loved hairstyle for a groom is using long hair to create volume, tuck the side hair behind the ear, and secure the fringe in a 6-to-4 parting.
It can be summarized as follows:.
For the Groom:
- Effortless clean aesthetic with natural dark hair tone
- Use spray or wax to create volume on hair
- The side hair is pressed down
Korean Wedding Makeup & Hair Artist
I hope you learned the wedding hair and makeup styles in Korea so far. It’s really fun to try Korean wedding hair and makeup at home, but if you are a bride or a groom at the wedding, you might want to hire some help!
Hiring a Korean Wedding Makeup & Hair Artist
Most brides and grooms in Korea stop by makeup shops to get their hair and makeup done, then proceed to the wedding hall.
You can hire a makeup artist to come to your place and get makeup done in the comfort of your home. Then you could go to the wedding hall. The makeup artist will follow you to the wedding hall and keep revising your makeup throughout your wedding.
Wedding makeup and hair usually takes about 3 hours.
Some wedding halls offer wedding hair and makeup services, so you should check that before looking for an artist.
Usually, booking a makeup artist at a makeup shop in Gangnam, Seocho, and Jamsil (three popular districts in Seoul) costs approximately $200-400.
My Experience with a Korean Wedding Makeup & Hair Artist
The wedding hall I booked had offers that included the hair and makeup for the parents of the bride and the groom.
So that was checked off from my to-do list right away, thankfully. (One less thing to worry about on your wedding day, whew!)
I hired a hair and makeup artist for my groom and me to do the makeup at home.
I knew I would be too tired to go to the makeup shop very early in the morning to get the hair and makeup and then go to the wedding by 11:00 AM. (My wedding ceremony started at 11:30.)
She was also what was called a “helper” as we call it in Korean, who helped me with my dress and checked my makeup throughout the whole wedding ceremony.
She was basically a personal assistant who helped me with everything as a bride throughout the wedding.
Although she was kind and helpful, I wished I had more time and money to go get my hair and makeup done before the wedding so I knew what makeup I was getting from her.
The makeup I received wasn’t as exactly as I wished for on my one and only wedding day…
So if you have more resources to research and get your hair and makeup to your liking, please please do!
Summary of Korean Wedding Makeup & Hairstyles
I hope you enjoyed this blog post about Korean wedding makeup and hairstyles.
As a bride, this would be one of the things you are more keen to know!
Take lots of pictures and videos, so you have this moment saved.
Or even if you are not a bride, this is a great hair and makeup style you could try for yourself at a formal event or at a party where you want to look your best.
Have fun at the Korean wedding! Wish you all the best!
Other blog posts you might be interested in checking out…
Other Articles on Korean Beauty
Korean Makeup Looks | The Ultimate Guideline & Comparison
In this article, I go through the essential points of Korean makeup. Read the ultimate guideline for Korean makeup looks here. I also included the comparison between Western makeup vs Korean makeup and Japanese Makeup vs Korean makeup.
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