An Entire Country Refers To This Look As 'Best Face'

Since my last piece was all about gyaru, I figured I'd devote this piece to ulzzang, gyaru's cute Korean cousin.

 

While gyaru is about being an super-made-up anime princess; ulzzang is more about looking like a really cute, grown-up baby, complete with with porcelain skin, rosy cheeks and impossibly large (yet somehow natural-looking) eyes. In other words, totally me. Psych. I'm hardly grown up.

 

Ulzzang's direct translation is "best face."  Here's a cute chart by Elysaa Jusshi that points out the differences between both styles.

 

Gyaru Vs Ulzzang - who will win the next battle?

 

Ulzzang looks usually involve circle lenses, but for the sake of simplicity and laziness, I'm going to show you how to do it without.

 

 

First off, eyebrows. Korean brows are all about straight lines and simplicity. They shun the arch for a youthful, thick, straight brow shape. Since my natural brows have those pesky little arches, I covered them up with glue and reshaped the rest. You can see how I did that here.

 

Forgive me for the wonky brows, I didn't blend yet (read: I thought I did, but the pictures told me otherwise) and flash is unkind to caked-on concealer. Don't make the same mistakes as me. Blend with vigilance.

 

 

Using liquid liner, line your upper lid extending slightly past your eye.

 

 

 

Take a matte brown shadow (Urban Decay's Buck--I upgraded to single eyeshadow and non-Naked palette version, you guys!) and gently work it into the crease and lower lash line.

 

All dollar store lashes are not created equal.

 

 

Add your aegyo-sal, that special eye bag that makes you look younger. You can find my tutorial on that here. The shadows are done with Buck while the highlights are done with Urban Decay's Virgin, a shimmery ivory.

 

Line the lower waterline with a white eyeliner pencil. Add some fake lashes to your upper lashes.

 

 

 

This is where the magic happens. Use individual lashes on the outer quarter of your lower lash line. If the lashes are too long (mine were), cut them, but not bluntly--cut in an upwards motion so that the ends are still tapered. You're a full-on doll!

 

 

This is about porcelain skin, so I used Makeup Forever HD Foundation to porcelain me up. For lips and cheeks, I used my trusty Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge in Pale Pink. Be generous. You're trying to look like a doll, so think rosy.

 

Apply highlighter on the bridge of your nose, cheekbones, centre of your forehead, and the centre of your chin. Glowing is highly desired.

  

Peace, love, and ulzzang. 

 

 

Super cute, right? I like to call the looks below "where ulzzang meets edgy." Blech, so cringe, but captioning pictures of yourself is pretty weird.

 

This is not a jumpsuit but Annie made me wish it was.

 

Because Photobooth is an ulzzang's best friend.

 

If you love Korean cosmetics like I do, you should check out Soko Glam, a NYC-based online shop dedicated to bringing best-selling Korean beauty products to the good ol' US of A. Charlotte and her husband Dave started the project out of love, so it's got to be great, right? They've also got a pop-up shop happening in NYC this month, so if you're around, check it out!

 

What do you think of ulzzang? Do you prefer gyaru? Would you wear falsies every day for the sake of beauty? Should I cut my hair, or do I look like Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men?