We all like to believe that we’re rational decision makers, especially when it comes to shopping for makeup. Will I use it often? Is the price reasonable? More importantly, is it good? Almost every beauty lover will comb through pages and videos of reviews from magazines, blogs and YouTube channels to answer said questions. It doesn’t stop there of course – not until we’ve made a few trips to the store to test the product out for ourselves.
Then, there’s always that one item we throw logic out the window for, usually with “limited edition” and “worn by some-popular-actress-or-beauty-icon” found at the top of the sales pitch. Marketing gimmick or not, we’ll take one, thank you.
This time however, we’ve found a few brands that appeal to both our sense of logic and our (arguably irrational) need to stay on trend – and in this case, on K-Beauty trend.
Now, makeup artist-established brands may not be anything new in the Western world – see, Nars, Bobbi Brown and Charlotte Tilbury – but they’re on the rise in South Korea, with new brands being launched and others expanding into markets overseas. Add to that the continued popularity of Korean dramas and music and it’s no surprise that they’ve been met with great reception. After all, these were created by the people behind the viral Korean beauty tricks and trends we’ve all once tried out of plain curiosity, or stuck to simply because they work.
Trends aside, the most popular products from these brands are actually the ones made for practical, multi-purpose use – think a foundation-cum-concealer, dispensed from a textured mixing plate; a watery skin-prepping toner-cum-cleanser; plus a plethora of products that promise to shorten your daily routine yet achieve almost professional results at the same time.
If that isn’t enough to pique your interest, all the products are priced within a comfortable Goldilocks-esque range – not so cheap that you have to worry about their quality, yet not so stratospherically “luxe” that they’ll burn a hole in your pocket, either.