The 13 Biggest, Boldest K-Pop Beauty Trends We Saw in 2018
As far as beauty trends in the K-pop world go, smoky eyes, platinum-blonde hair, and popsicle lip tint are about as classic as red lipstick and winged eyeliner. In nearly every music video that dropped in 2018, at least one member had each of those going on — or all three at once. (Seventeen's Woozi in the "어쩌나 (Oh My!)" music video and Seulgi in Red Velvet's "RBB (Really Bad Boy)" are just a couple examples.)
Beyond this K-pop beauty trifecta, our favorite idols tried out bolder, sparklier hair and makeup than ever before: Members of groups like BTS, Twice, EXO, and GOT7 bedazzled their lids, streaked their hair with holographic highlights, and swept unexpected blush colors across their cheeks — and that's all on top of the magical neon dye jobs countless stars got.
Keep scrolling to see 13 stunning the hair and makeup trends K-pop stars were loving in 2018, all of which we'll be experimenting with in 2019.
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1/131. Violet Hair Colors
Ultra Violet was named the Pantone Color of the Year in 2018, and K-pop starts followed suit with gorgeous variations of purple hair.
In GOT7's dreamy music video for "Lullaby," Mark had streaks of lavender, lilac, and violet for a multidimensional look while Ren from Nu'est W colored his hair lavender for "Help Me" promotions. Blackpink's Jennie played up her ponytail in the band's highly anticipated single "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" with long purple extensions. Dahyun, on the other hand, dyed her hair for the "Yes or Yes" music video that dropped in November.
We'll just have to wait and see if this year's Pantone Color of the Year Living Coral catches on as a hair-color trend among this crowd in 2019.
Pledis Entertainment; Chung Ha/Instagram; Pledis Entertainment and (G)I-DLE/YouTube2/132. Rhinestone Eye Makeup
Bedazzling is alive and well. Rhinestones were a simple way to add major glitz to the lids of K-pop stars this year. Pristin V's Eunwoo was seen in the colorfully fierce music video for "Get It" with a trio of gems under one of her eyes.
For promotions for both of her 2018 releases, Chung Ha glued a jewel on her lower lash. However, for "Rollercoaster," it was a circle in the middle of her lower lash line, but she moved it to the inner corners of her eyes and swapped in a star shape for her summer single, "Love U."
For the jacket shoot for N'uest W's final album WAKE,N, JR experimented with an asymmetrical bejeweled look, and Yuqi topped her brow bones with larger bling for (G)I-DLE's adventurous "Hann (Alone)" music video.
Not pictured: Taeyeon's cross-shaped crystals in Oh!GG's sleek "몰랐니 (Lil' Touch)." music video.
SM Entertainment and Cube Entertainment3/133. Spraypainted Buzz Cuts
K-pop fans were quick to draw comparisons between Wooseok's painterly neon green hair for Pentagon's summery Thumbs Up teaser photos to Key's spraypainted rainbow buzz cut for SHINee's "Good Evening" promotions. Wooseok's artistic spikes were only for photos, but Key changed up the pattern and colors of his hair's abstract design for televised performances.
4/134. Hair Tinsel
I've lost count of how many K-pop stars have experimented with hair tinsel this year. Among the dozens of looks, there are a few standouts: Chanyeol's holographic highlight moment in EXO's unapologetically sexy "Love Shot" music video; Sunmi with her mermaid-esque extensions during her "Siren" promotions; Twice's Tzuyu in the fun "Yes or Yes" music video; and Daehwi performing with Wanna One at the 2018 MAMAs in Seoul with matching twinkly eye shadow. Some honorable mentions include NCT 127's Doyoung, Momoland's Hyebin, Stray Kid's Hyunjin, and JBJ95's Kenta.
5/135. Glitter Liner
When you combine glitter and winged liner, you get many of the most stunning eye makeup looks in K-pop this year. The best part: we plebes can easily recreate them at home. Look to Sunmi's golden "Siren" wings; Hwasa's graphic take in Mamamoo's Havana-inspired "Egotistic" music video; the simple silver flicks on Lisa in Blackpink's futuristic "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du," music video and Seulgi's "Bad Boy" layered liner as inspiration.
Another reference to seek out: Soyeon's beetle-esque liner in the opening moments of (G)I-DLE's "Hann (Alone)."
Transparent Agency; EXID/Instagram; JYP Entertainment6/136. Bold Bobs
Tiffany Young marked the release of "Teach You" by cutting her long hair into a jaw-grazing bob. But she's not the only one to debut a bold haircut out of the blue. Both EXID's Jeonghwa and L.E. brought shorter hair to promo shots for their latest release, "I Love You." Twice's Jihyo even unexpectedly underwent a hair transformation in August, saying goodbye to her usual cascading waves.
7/137. Cheek Art
Colorful, graphic makeup doesn't need to be limited to your lids and lips. In 2018, K-pop stars proved your cheeks can be amazing canvases, too.
Kino played up the frog theme of Pentagon's Thumbs Up by writing ribbit in rainbow hues along his cheeks and nose while Nayeon (and several other members of Twice) adorned the apples of her cheeks with yes, just like the name of the music video the look was featured in: "Yes or Yes." Jessica Jung also decorated her cheekbone with letter-shaped stickers that spelled out her name.
Although lettering seemed to be the biggest cheek art trend, The Rose's Dojoon switched it up by adding little drawings on his cheekbone inspired by the city he was performing in that night. While in Australia, he went with a kangaroo, of course.
Dreamcatcher/Twitter; BigHit Entertainment; Starship Entertainment; JYP Entertainment8/138. Fiery Orange Hair
Last year's tangerine hair trend seen on K-pop stars like EXO's Sehun and Zico helped spark 2018's fiery orange hair color. Dreamcatcher's Handong, BTS's Jin, and Monsta X's Jooheon, as well as Stray Kids' Felix and Han, visited the salon for nearly neon dye jobs.
9/139. Colorful Eyebrows
For Crush and Monsta X's Kihyun, coloring their arches helped them complement their bold dye jobs. EXO's Kai and Pentagon's Shinwon, on the other hand, brushed red and blue brow pomades through theirs to add a fun hint of color to their minimalist makeup. You can recreate their looks with Kat Von D's Super Brow Long-Wear Pomade in 2019, if you feel so inclined.
Starship Entertainment; Momoland/Twitter; Seventeen/Instagram; JYP Entertainment/YouTube10/1310. Pink on Pink
Pink hair plus pink makeup equals one of K-pop's most popular beauty combinations. Among the numerous examples is Minhyuk when he went full magenta for the teaser photos for Monsta X's Take.1 Are You There?
Although Momoland's JooE prevously told Allure that pink isn't her power color, she sure worked it like a pro in the group's "Baam" promotions. Dino was also spotted on Seventeen's Instagram with a monochromatic pink look in an adorable selfie. And how could I forget Jisoo's pink wig and matching makeup from Blackpink's "Ddu-Du Ddu-du" music video? (The answer is: I couldn't possibly forget it.)
With dozens of rose gold palettes on the market, like the Huda Beauty Rose Gold Remastered Eye Shadow Palette, you can try out at least one half of the aesthetic — no matter what your hair color may be.
GOT7/Twitter; Hyoyeon/Instagram; Stone Music Entertainment/YouTube; Pentagon/Twitter11/1311. Orange Blush
Orange blush not only is a popular makeup trend for Pinterest users in Japan, it also swept the cheeks of several K-pop idols. BamBam, for one, took a break from his signature red eye makeup to play with the peachy hue. (GOT7 fans say he picked the look himself.) HYO went with a coral color for her "Punk Right Now" music video while IZ*One's Chaeyeon placed salmon shade just below her eyes in "La Vie En Rose." And of course, E'Dawn showed everyone how orange blush is really done during Pentagon's "Shine" promotions. You can join the orange blush club with the help of Glossier's Cloud Paints in Beam and Dawn.
JYP Entertainment; Pledis; SM Entertainment12/1312. Undercut Mullets
This controversial trend is still going strong for male idols — a wonderful or unfortunate thing, depending on who you ask. Regardless, many gave the retro look a modern upgrade by shaving the sides of their hair like an undercut.
Young K briefly tried out the cut for Day6's latest comeback. GOT7s JB, on the other hand, maintained it for most of 2018 before snipping off the party-in-the-back recently. The8 has been staying strong with his for multiple Seventeen comebacks while Kai debuted his at Gucci's Spring/Summer 2019 Show in September, but cut his hair in early December.
Monsta X/Twitter; SMTown/YouTube; BigHit Entertainment; Vogue Korea13/1313. Fake Piercings
No needles were involved in the making of these studded and ring looks. I.M pretended he had a brow piercing for a week or two while promoting "Shoot Out" with Monsta X. NCT's Taeyong also avoided pain with his temporary lip ring. (He told Allure earlier this year that he only has two real piercings for that reason.) BTS member V went for a similar look for Love Yourself: Tear. Another NCT member, Lucas, also faked a brow piercing for a Vogue Korea shoot.
Not seen: Seventeen's Vernon was also spotted at the 2018 MAMAs in Hong Kong with a brow piercing, and Wooseok sandwiched one of his brows between two black rhinestones during "Naughty Boy" promotions for a faux piercing.
