NewJeans have been going viral on all realms of the internet over the past few months. Ranging from their Y2K fashion styling to their fresh R&B/pop sound, the group is making a name for themselves as the newest it girls. It’s no different in the beauty sphere with countless people trying to recreate their makeup looks. Beauty TikTok influencer @jooshica has amassed over 3.8 millions views for her recreation of Danielle’s and Haerin’s makeup look, while fellow TikTok beauty influencer @sunnyschannel has gained 900k+ views for her “NewJeans-core tutorial.”
NewJeans’s makeup artist, Lee Nakyeum, has also released a tutorial in collaboration with beauty YouTuber, HYOJIN, for the general guidelines she follows when doing the girls’ makeup. In this article, EnVi will be detailing Lee’s tutorial alongside recommending several alternative makeup products to achieve the look.
Step 1: Prime and Prep
Before any makeup, Lee makes sure to go in with adequate skin prep. Specifically, she mixes together a 1% hyaluronic acid serum with a moisturizing cream. The mixture is then massaged into the face in upward, circular motions to get rid of puffiness.
Afterwards, Lee uses the BENEFIT Pore Professional Pearl Primer and the CLIO Veganwear UV Setting Primer. She notes that at least one primer should be a bit shimmery for a radiant base. For those with drier skin, she recommends mixing the primer with a watery sunscreen or tone-up cream.
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Step 2: Base Makeup
The NewJeans makeup look starts off with two shades of foundation — one lighter than the skin tone and one darker. Lee uses the Chanel Ultra Le Teint Foundation, but any natural to soft-matte foundation will work. Similar alternatives are the Shiseido Skin Self-Refreshing Foundation, Make Up Forever HD Skin Undetectable Longwear Foundation, and Infallible Fresh Wear 24HR Foundation.
Lee’s approach towards base makeup is rather unique. Instead of using a foundation shade that matches the skin tone, Lee starts off by using a foundation that’s one to two shades darker to outline and contour the outer edges — anywhere outward of the eyebrow tail, outer eye corner, and mouth corner — of the face. Whatever is left on the brush is then used for nose contour and the eyes.
Then, Lee goes in with the foundation that’s one shade lighter to highlight the center parts of the face which consists of the T-zone and under eyes.
For any remaining dark circles, Lee uses the Laura Mercier Flawless Fusion Ultra Longwear Concealer. However, any medium-coverage concealer works. A drugstore option is the Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circle Treatment Concealer.
An additional touch of glow is added by brushing on a mixture of the concealer and the 3CE Glow Beam — a liquid highlighter — to give the T-zone a light glowy sheen, adding to the youthful look. One alternative for the 3CE Glow Beam is the Saie’s Dew Balm Bouncy Marshmallow Highlighter.
The base is locked in with the Make Up Forever HD Setting Powder in the shade lavender (₩57,000),which is unfortunately exclusive to Korea. A more easily accessible alternative is the KimChi Chic Beauty Puff Puff Pass Set & Bake Powder in shade 01 Ivander.
Everything gets finished off with a layer of powder contour. Lee uses both the SUQQU Glow Powder Foundation—which is exclusive to Asia and Europe—and the Etude Contour Powder. An alternative with a larger shade range is the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Up to 24H Fresh Wear Foundation in a Powder. She first goes in with a lighter shade of contour around the nose. Then, a darker shade is used around the sides of the face and points of emphasis.
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Step 3: Eyes and Eyebrows
Two keywords to remember while trying to achieve the NewJeans look are natural and youthful. For eyes, Lee strongly emphasizes following the shape of your own eye and keeping everything subtle and light.
Lee starts off by drawing a small wing using the CLIO Sharp So Simple Waterproof Pencil Liner. She slightly smudges the wing to make it less harsh and almost uses it like eyeshadow. Afterwards, she uses the same pencil liner to tightline just the waterline area directly beneath your irises to create the illusion of larger eyes.
For the overall eyelids, Lee goes in by lightly brushing on a matte light brown from the I’M MEME I’m Hidden Card Palette, although any middle-tone brown eyeshadow will do. She follows the shape of the eyelid and stresses to not go too far out to the eyebrow. Anything left on the brush is then applied onto the Aegyo sal.
After the eyeshadow, the eyeliner is defined again using a dark brown eyeshadow; Lee uses the TONYMOLY Crystal Single Shadow in shade M17 Hash Brown to brush over the original eyeliner shape and sharpen the line. As the eyeshadow is no longer available, we recommend single shadow alternatives from HOLIKA HOLIKA, The Saem, and Colourpop in shade Cloud Nine.
The eyes are then brightened up using the CHANEL Les Beiges Healthy Glow Natural Eyeshadow Palette. Some alternatives are the neutral shades from the Colourpop Gone Metal Shadow Palette and the CLIO Shade & Shadow Palette. Lee mixes the palette’s neutral-toned glitter shade with a light nude matte, which really makes the eyes pop out but ensures that the look stays natural.
Moving onto eyelashes, Lee advises in her tutorial to curl the root of the eyelashes “10 times” before applying mascara. Rather than using the mascara wand, Lee chooses to use an interdental brush to mix together and apply the ETUDE Dr. Mascara Fixer and Maybelline Volum’ Express The Colossal Washable Mascara in shade 232 Glam Brown.
For eyebrows, Lee recommends using a lighter shade than the natural eyebrow hair color and drawing a straight brow shape to create a softer and blurred look. She fills in the eyebrows with light, back-and-forth strokes using the Shu Uemura Hard Formula in shade Walnut Brown. One alternative for the Shu Uemura Hard Formula would be the ETUDE Drawing Eyebrow in shade Brown. One thing to take note of are the light brushstrokes; it’s almost as if she is coloring the eyebrows, but she emphasizes to not harshly press down with the pencil.
The eyebrows are finished off by applying the ETUDE Dr. Mascara Fixer using a new interdental brush.
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Step 4: Cheeks
Having rosy cheeks is a key component to the NewJeans look. Not only does the blush give the face a pop of color, but it also creates a youthful and sunkissed look.
Lee starts off by using the Chanel De Lip & Cheek Balm in shade No. 2 Healthy Pink in the center of the cheeks. An alternative to Chanel is the lilybyred Luv Beam Cheek Balm in shade 03 Emotional Beam and the e.l.f. Putty Blush in shade Tahiti.
She emphasizes to not go too high onto the cheekbone and to really focus all of the color on the center of the face and slightly below the under eye. While the focus is in the center of the face, she also lightly dabs the blush out to connect it to the lower ends of the cheek and the undereye to create a cohesive flushed look.
The blush balm is set by patting on a mix of the Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Blush in shades Coral and Pink. Some alternatives we recommend are the persona Superblush in shades Bubble and Georgia and Colourpop Pressed Powder Blush in shades Dee-lish! and Saving The World.
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Step 5: Lips
In comparison to the base, the lips are rather simple. Rather than applying the lipstick straight out of the tube, Lee lightly dabs it on so that the color isn’t too dark. The lipstick shouldn’t be too pigmented as the core of the NewJeans look is simplicity.
Specifically, Lee uses the MAC Love Me Liquid Lip Color, a satin-t-velvet liquid lip. Some similar alternatives are the Milani Color Statement Lipstick, and L’Oréal Colour Riche Satin Lipstick.
The shade Lee chooses is dependent upon the skin tone undertones, but in general, the lipstick should be a shade of red. For warmer undertones, it’s best to lean towards a coral-red, whereas cooler undertones match pink-reds. Neutral undertones can go either way.
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Step 6: Highlight
NewJeans’s makeup focuses on a skin-like finish, thus, the highlight should be very subtle. Since she’s already previously used a liquid highlighter on the high points of the face, this time Lee focuses the highlight only on a small portion of the nose. Using a small, sparse brush, she lightly taps on the Fenty Beauty Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter in shade Lightning Dust/Fire Crystal on the tip of the nose and the nose bridge.
Any pale gold will work for the look. Some more affordable options we recommend are the Colourpop Supershock Highlighter in shades Flexitarian and Stole the Show and the Makeup Revolution Highlight Reloaded in shade Just My Type.
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Step 7: Finishing Powder
The look comes to an end with a finishing powder. Lee uses the AMELI Baked Powder in shade 05 Snow White on the T-zone and any areas that are too saturated with product. Not only will this brighten the face, but it will help tie everything together. Any pressed powder with slight pigment such as the Kosas Cloud Set Setting Powder is a good alternative.
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While NewJeans have a rather simple and natural look, there are a lot of steps and care that goes into doing their makeup. As their makeup and brand grow over time, NewJeans are set to continue influencing the beauty world with new trends and iconic looks.
Keep up with NewJeans on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Youtube.
Want more NewJeans? Check out EnVi’s deep dive into their successful brand here!
