Korean Makeup For Oily Acne-prone Skin: A Step-By-Step Tutorial

Getting that perfect flawless makeup finish for an oily skin type can seem pretty impossible. A little sweat and your foundation is practically melting off your face, yikes. Or if you’re having an acne breakout, even the thickest foundation can’t cover the redness and texture, leaving you with no choice but to cancel your plans (or wear a mask). Yep, it can be a nightmare! But don’t worry, my fellow oily and acne-prone skin friends, today we’re going to discuss everything about choosing the right products for our skin type and the techniques to make your makeup transfer-free and long-lasting! Read on for the Best Korean makeup for oily acne-prone skin.

Psst, the key is not to layer tons of products onto your skin, but to prepare it correctly to minimize the greasiness and avoid further breakouts!

Korean Makeup For Oily Acne-prone Skin: A Step-By-Step Tutorial

Step 1: Prepping Your Skin With The Right Skincare

Every good makeup look starts with a healthy and clean canvas. Prepping your skin is a MUST before applying any makeup. Start with a cleanser of your liking that is gentle and has a low pH to avoid any inflammation and dryness, especially if you have sensitive skin. Then, apply toner to hydrate and prepare your skin for the next products. Since this is a daily skincare routine, you don’t have to use a serum or essence, but if you want to, choose the ones that are ‘sticky.’ Why? Like glue, it will make your foundation stick to your skin better and lock it into place.

The most important part is moisturizing. You might be wondering, won’t a moisturizer make my skin greasier? Nope! Your skin produces oil because it lacks hydration, so apply a lightweight moisturizer to stabilize your skin barrier. Finish your skin preparation with sunscreen and wait at least 10 minutes for the products to absorb well before starting your makeup.

Step 2: Base Makeup

Choosing the right foundation for oily acne-prone skin type is a little tricky. You want a full-coverage foundation to cover your acne marks and redness, but not too thick, or else you’re skin can’t breathe and produce more pimples.

Personally, I like a BB cushion because it’s compact, easy to use, and provides good coverage. But if you want something lighter for daily use, you can opt for a CC cream, concealer, or a powder foundation. Remember to always choose a matte and powdery finish foundation.

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For contour and highlight, you can try a liquid contour stick since it’s more long-lasting and subtle than a powder contour. But if you’re still a beginner, it’s best to stick with the powder contour since it’s easier and safer. You can also apply a primer or a setting spray before the foundation for extra safety measures. 

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Tip: Use a damp beauty sponge to blend liquid products! 

How to Apply Base Makeup

1. Choose a foundation shade that matches your natural skin color or a tone lighter. For concealer, you can choose two or three shades lighter.
2. Apply a mattifying primer on your T-zone area and press it gently to fill your pores. Or, you can use a setting spray instead. 
3. Apply the foundation evenly using a damp beauty sponge or a brush. Remember to blend it into your neck and hairline too.
4. Apply concealer on areas that need more coverage, like the under eyes and any acne scarring.
5. Apply the darker contour shade along your jawline and cheekbone and the highlight shimmery color under your eyes and on the tip of your nose. 
6. Set it with a transparent matte loose powder. If you have extra time, try ‘baking’ the powder on the oiliest areas. Leave it for about 5 minutes before brushing the powder away to get that crease-free complexion.
7. Apply blush on the center of your cheeks and extend it toward your cheekbones. Blend it well.
8. Finish with another layer of the setting spray and wait until it dries before moving to the next steps.

Korean Base Makeup Product Recommendations

Step 3: Eye Makeup

Eye makeup is mostly experimental. Korean eye makeup is about making your eyes pop with a fresh youthfulness. Don’t hesitate to play with some colors and find variations you can adopt to your casual look or full-blown glam makeup. The palettes are mostly natural, with lots of pink, coral, and brown, but you can also step it up a little and use a bolder color. 

How to Apply Eye Makeup

1. Create an outline for your eyebrow with a shade darker than your eyebrow hair. Fill the empty gaps with light strokes to produce a natural feathery eyebrow look.
2. Apply an eye primer or a concealer over your lids. Blend it with your fingers.
3. Use a neutral shade close to your skin color, like brown, for the base color. This color will serve as the blending color for the next colors. Apply it with a brush evenly over your lids and undereye. 
4. To make your eyes pop, choose a lighter shade like pink or orange and apply it on the center of your lids. You can also use a shimmery and glittery shade. Dab it with a flat brush or your fingers. Blend the outer area with the base color. 
5. Use a darker shade on your outer eye corner to make it look bigger and deeper. Apply it like an outward-pointing triangle and blend well.
6. One popular trick is making an aegyo sal to make you look younger and cuter. Use a light contour shade under your eyes and blend it well to make it as natural as possible. Apply a lighter shade on your eyebags and blend.
7. For the eyeliner, use a water-proof liquid or pencil eyeliner. Draw it close to your waterline. You can create the classic winged cat-eyed eyeliner or the famous Korean ‘puppy eyes’ technique. For the puppy eyes, draw the eyeliner downward at the edge to make your eyes look slanted.
8. Finish with waterproof mascara or fake eyelashes. 

Korean Eye Makeup Recommendations

Step 4: Lips Makeup

Perhaps the most popular Korean makeup product of all time is lip tint. Liptint has a watery and gel base, perfect for a daily stained finish that makes your whole makeup fresh and bubbly. The long-lasting effect won’t rub off even if you eat or wear a mask. There are different types of lip tint you can adjust to your needs: water-based, gel, oil, and creamy. And just like eye makeup, experiment with the colors however you like!

How to Apply Lip Makeup

1. Apply a lip balm to hydrate your lips. Or exfoliate it with a gentle scrub beforehand.
2. Start with a lighter neutral color as your lip base, like coral, light pink, or brick brown. Blend it well.
3. Apply a darker color on the inner part of your lips, then blend it with your fingers to create an ombre appearance. 
4. If you want to make it brighter, apply a second layer for a bolder look. 

So that’s it for the Korean makeup look for oily acne-prone skin and some of our recommendations on the products to add to your routine. I hope it helps! 

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