How to Do a Korean Lip with a Gradient and Jelly Finish

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Professional makeup artist Anqi Xue explains what makes the Korean lips look unique

Co-authored by Anqi Xue and Elaine Heredia, BA

Last Updated: March 23, 2026 Fact Checked

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Korean Lips Tutorial

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Best Products

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Why Choose Korean Lip Products

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You may have seen your favorite K-pop stars like Lisa and Jennie wearing a blurred, pouty lip with a glossy, jelly-like finish. This look is called Korean lips, and if you're dying to recreate it, we've got you covered! In an exclusive interview with a professional makeup artist, we learned what makes Korean lips look so distinct so that we could bring you the most accurate Korean lip tutorial. Later in the article, we'll share the best Korean lip products to use, as well as explain why people enjoy K-beauty lip care so much. Let's go!

How do you get blurred Korean lips?

Professional makeup artist Anqi Xue says that the signature Korean lip look has a soft, blurry effect around the edges. To recreate that, follow these simple steps:

Conceal your lips with your regular foundation.
Darken your inner lips with red lip stain and blend it outward.
Outline your cupid's bow and the corners of your lips with the lip stain.
Coat your lips with pink lip gloss to make them look like "jelly."

Section 1 of 3:

How to Get Korean Lips

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Conceal your lips with your regular foundation. If you're applying a full face of makeup, just pass your foundation brush over your lips as you go. If your sole focus is on creating Korean jelly lips, apply liquid foundation with a lip brush or dab on powder foundation with a small powder brush.
- Pro tip: Exfoliate your lips with a lip scrub and apply your favorite lip balm a few minutes before trying the Korean lip look. Exfoliating and hydrating will help your lips look and feel smooth and fresh!
Meet the wikiHow Expert

Anqi Xue is a professional makeup artist. She specializes in American, Japanese, and Korean color and makeup analysis, as well as Korean-style makeup.
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Darken your inner lips with red lip stain and blur it outward. Apply a red-tinted lip stain to the inner, center part of your bottom lip, then use your finger to blend the lip stain slightly outward. Next, apply the lip stain to the inner, center part of your upper lip and blend it out, as well. This will give you that "softer, more blurry kind of lip effect" that Xue says is typical of a Korean lip.^{[1]
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Expert Source

Anqi Xue
Professional Makeup Artist

Expert Interview}
- Pro tip: Concentrate the lip stain in the center of your lips and avoid extending it up to or past your natural lip line. Otherwise, you might end up with clown lips instead of Korean lips!
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Outline your cupid's bow and the corners of your lips with the same lip stain. Add a tiny amount of lip stain to your cupid's bow and the corners of your mouth. If it looks too harsh, blend it out with your finger or a beauty sponge to soften it. This step will give your lips slightly more definition. Xue adds that you can also “use blush to soften edges around the lip.”^{[2]
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Expert Source

Anqi Xue
Professional Makeup Artist

Expert Interview}
- As Xue explains, “Lip liner is not used very often” to define Korean lips. She says this differs from the sometimes “very harsh lip line” that’s common in American makeup.^{[3]
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  Expert Source
  
  Anqi Xue
  Professional Makeup Artist
  
  Expert Interview}
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Coat your lips with pink lip gloss to create a "jelly" effect. Apply a pink lip gloss or lip oil all over your top and bottom lips. This is the secret ingredient to making your lips look as plump and shiny as jelly!
- This TikTok by @immbunny shows what your Korean-style lips can look like!

Section 2 of 3:

Best Korean Lip Products

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Get the Korean jelly lips look with the best K-beauty has to offer. If you want authentic Korean jelly lips, it makes sense to use Korean lip products! South Korea is world-famous for its beauty offerings, including lip scrubs, balms, stains, and glosses. The K-beauty products for lips that we recommend below list hydration and natural, nourishing ingredients like peptides as top benefits.

Section 3 of 3:

Why do people love K-beauty lip products?

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K-beauty lip products use ingredients that are healthy for your skin. Korean beauty (AKA K-beauty) standards include using creative and health-focused ingredients to achieve hydrated, glassy skin. That's why the best Korean lip products often contain peptides, ceramides, hyaluronic acid (HA), shea butter, vitamin E, and even snail mucus! They also tend to leave out at least some harmful chemicals common in American beauty products, like phthalates and parabens.
- Ready to revamp your skincare routine with K-beauty? Learn how to do it from other wikiHow readers on our "What are your best Korean skincare routine tips?" forum!
In the US, beauty brands are divided into 2 tiers: drugstore and luxury. American drugstore lip products cost $15 or less, but many of them are cheaply made, smell like chemicals, and don't always wear well. Luxury lip products look, feel, and smell better than their drugstore equivalents, but the trade-off is a price tag of $25 or more per item. K-beauty offers the best of both worlds, with high-quality lip balms, stains, and more often costing less than $15 each!
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K-beauty is also associated with K-pop, which has taken off in the US. K-pop skyrocketed to the American public consciousness in 2017, when the boy band BTS won the Billboard Music Award for Top Social Artist.^{[4]
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Research source} Since then, other K-pop sensations like BLACKPINK and, more recently, KATSEYE and Tomorrow X Together (TxT) have stormed the music scene. Even kids are interested in it, thanks to the runaway hit animated movie KPop Demon Hunters (2025)!
- Along with music, female K-pop stars like Lisa and Jennie have put a face to K-beauty and inspired millions of fans to recreate their dewy makeup looks.