How To: Korean Gradient Lips 2 Ways ⋆ Beauty Nerd By Night

Gradient lips are are all the rage in Asia now, and is most popular among girls in Korea. The Korean gradient lip is a lip look that is darker on the inner parts of the lips, and lighter on the outsides. This is also known to some as the “I-was-totally-just-eating-a-popsicle” look. This lip look creates a natural flush effect to the lips, and a softer look to the face. Gradient lips can also make a person wearing it look more youthful because it can brighten up the complexion.

The Korean gradient lips look is quickly catching on to people all around the globe. This is mainly because this lip look will also give your lips more dimension thus making it appear plumper (I have a post coming up on how to get big, plump lips. Stay tuned!). I personally LOVE this look. It’s easy to do, super gorgeous, and gives my lips a 3D effect!

There are a ton of different ways to achieve a Korean Gradient Lip, but I have included two of my go-to ways because they are the simplest that I’ve found. Below is a pictorial for quick reference, but further instructions will be below the pictorial. I hope you enjoy! 🙂

Look 1 (Left) is a gradient lip look done using two different lipsticks and Look 2 (Right) is done using a lip tint and a lip gloss.

Look 1

Choose two different shades of lipstick, a lighter shade and a darker shade (red, preferably). In my pictorial, I chose a nude pink (I used Rimmel Kate lipstick in #3) and a red (I used Rimmel Kate lipstick in #1) to give the most natural “popsicle” look.

Start off by applying the lighter lipstick to the entire lip as you normally would. This is the time where you can overline your lips if you want to.
Apply the red/darker lipstick in the inner parts of the lips, near the opening of the mouth.
Using your finger, gently rub on the part where the red and light lipstick meet to blend both the colours together seamlessly. Do not overblend the red part too much or the colour will start to fade.
You can leave it at that, or apply a clear lip gloss on top for a glossy finish. To keep it more natural looking, I opted for no lip gloss.

Look 2

Choose a lip tint of any colour, but red/rose is the best for this look. There a ton of different lip tints in the market that come in the form of liquid, cream and markers. I personally prefer the liquid form for this look. A good lip tint is the Benefit Benetint (which is what I used) or any rose-coloured lip tint. Pick out a lip gloss of your choice, preferably a sheer nude (I used NARS x Christopher Kane lipgloss in Nucleus, which is a peach nude), or even a clear gloss.

Start off by applying the tint in the inner parts of your lips, near the opening of your mouth. Dab the product on the insides of the lips and blend with your fingers. You could even stop here if you don’t like glossy lips!
Using your lipgloss, apply all over lips but try your best to avoid the tinted parts.
If you have streaks in the fine lips of your lips, blend it out using your finger to smooth the lip gloss application.

That’s how I usually do my Korean gradient lips, and I found myself creating the gradient lips in my car every morning (yes it’s so fast and easy that I do it in the car… parked, of course!!). I think this lip trend is gorgeous and anyone can pull it off! If you’re looking for a look that can make your face look softer and brighter in almost no time at all, then definitely try out this lip look to see if you like it! 🙂