ADVERTISEMENT
Masters in the art of cute, a lot of Korean girls have been sporting the gradient or just-sucked-on-a-cherry-lollipop lip for some time now. It’s like a soft bloom of color from the center of the mouth, which helps emphasize the eyes as a bonus. The end result is a coquettishly innocent and surprisingly flattering look. Korean Instagram is rife with lips-slightly-parted testaments to the killer combination of a gradient pout coupled with doe-y eyes.
Even if you're not such a fan of looking super sweet and doll-like, I find that this modest bit of pigmented lip can be pretty versatile, as well as a fresh alternative to a full lip of color. I absolutely adore the way Mary Katrantzou worked it into her last runway show like an updated version of the geisha pout.
The fun part is, in response to this trend and the way color is applied to achieve the look, lipsticks have taken on all kinds of interesting manifestations — markers, peel-off stain masks(!), cushion pens, and good ol’ lippie in stick form. I guess another upside is that the trend stretches your lipstick dollar. Click through to the tutorial, and you’ll see what I mean.
ADVERTISEMENT