Be the Asian Style "Ulzzang"
Translated literally, ulzzang means "best face" in Korean, but the term has expanded in popular culture to refer to a subtle South Korean style. Originally used to refer to the large eyes, small lips, high nose bridges, and pale milky complexion of Korean fashion models, ulzzang status became popular in the wake of Cyworld picture contests, in which voters would select among the most stylish photographs submitted. If you want to cultivate this style, you can learn the eye, hair, and clothes basics and how to get your fresh new ulzzang style online. See Step 1 for more instructions.
Contents
Steps
Getting the Eyes and Lips
- Consider circle contact lenses. You don't have to have naturally large eyes to give the illusion of ulzzang beauty. Circle lenses give off the illusion of large eyes, even if you have smaller, more normal-sized eyes.
- See an ophthalmologist and ask your parents before wearing cosmetic lenses. They're not right for all eye-types, especially if you have astigmatism or other shape-issues with your eyes. You can also learn to give the impression of larger eyes using make-up.
- Use a thin layer of eyeliner. Paired with contact lenses, a highlighting note of eyeliner will make your eyes really "pop."
- Apply mascara to the tip of your eyelashes. You may also apply false eyelashes if you want to, but make sure your eyelashes aren't thick. Ulzzang is notable for its use of natural-looking skin tones in the make-up, so you don't want the lashes to look heavy or clumpy.
- Use nude eyeshadow and other natural-looking make-up. It's best to sweep a white/beige eyeshadow across the lids to keep the make-up safe with most outfits. Use skin tones rather than more colorful additions.
- For lipstick, select natural color tones that will highlight and plump your lips without changing their color dramatically. Glossy skin tones are perfect for cultivating the ulzzang look. You want to highlight and emphasize your own natural beauty, making it look effortless and simple.
Getting the Clothes
- Wear skinny jeans or slacks. Generally, ulzzang style is notable for the use of skinny jeans of all colors, worn by both boys and girls.
- Find the right fit and then get a variety of colors of a style that you like and that looks good on your body.
- Get some vintage print t-shirts. T-shirts featuring unusual artistic prints, often off-center on the shirt, are quite popular. These types of shirts are widely available at clothing stores like Macy's, Kohls, and even Target.
- Avoid overt brand stamps on shirts and choose shirts that feature cartoon characters or other artistic designs. Many popular shirt styles look as if they've been hand-made, screen printed and one-of-a-kind, with clever in-jokes or visual puns.
- Wear over-sized sweaters. The combination of tight-fitting jeans with loose sweaters is a marker of the ulzzang style. V-necks are popular, as well as regular-fit sweaters in bright colors or featuring prints of the same variety as ulzzang-style t-shirts.
- Match clothes and accessories with your boyfriend or girlfriend. One unique aspect of online ulzzang culture is that it often revolves around photographs that feature the style of a cute-looking couple, usually wearing some kind of couple's outfit that matches in some kind of theme.
- Wear matching colors or complimentary colors, rather than wearing identical outfits. Often ulzzang style clothes are sold in couple packs. Wearing "I love my girl" and "I love my boy" t-shirts together, or wearing corresponding heart necklaces is common among ulzzang photos.
Getting the Hair
- Get the ulzzang style haircut. Generally, the cut is similar for boys or girls, featuring layers of hair and side-swept bangs. Some highlights are also common, but shouldn't be severe or particularly dramatic. Natural hair-color is more desirable than, say, blue anime-style highlights.
- Boys typically have a medium-length cut with side-swept bangs, longer somewhat in the front than in the back.
- Girls often have straight bangs or side-swept bangs with either straight or loosely curled hair. Generally, the hair is dark brown or chestnut-colored, as opposed to blonde.
- Cut your hair to a slimming length. There's no universal haircut for beauty. Talk to your hairstylist and pick one that will flatter your unique beauty and features, emphasizing your jawline and the shape of your face. It's less important to get a particular haircut than to get one that looks good on you.
- Take good care of your hair. Ulzzang styled hair is generally very healthy-looking and shimmering, highlighting the natural beauty of your coloring. Use fortifying shampoo and conditioner, as well as regular brushings to keep your hair healthy.
- Be careful of using too much heat on your hair, which can fry it some and leave it frazzled looking and damaged. Let the natural oils in your hair do their work.
Getting Online
- Get a cellphone with a camera. Ulzzangs don't have perfect features, but know how to dress well and utilize technology to make their pictures look as attractive as possible. Get a good quality cellphone with a camera and the right apps to make your pictures as sharp as possible.
- PicLab HD only costs $1.99 and allows you to customize your filters and add type. It's a professional-looking way of taking ulzzang photos. HandyPhoto and Frametastic are also good cheap options offering similar features.
- Facetune is a mobile photo-editing app that allows you to fix up blemishes and adjust coloring in your photos. Many ulzzang photos are heavily edited, so you might consider getting this if you don't have Photoshop.
- Take lots of selfies. Cultivating an online presence that includes lots of cute-looking self portraits is an important part of ulzzang culture. Snap pictures of yourself out doing fun things, or shake up a dull evening by getting dressed up and having a photo shoot.
- Use clothing catalogs and fashion magazines for inspiration. The social networking presence of the ulzzang looks like it was pulled straight from an Eddie Bauer catalog. Plan cute photo shoots with your partner when you're out on a date.
- Enter an ulzzang photo contest. Soompi, a K-Pop and South Korean culture site, has a regular Ulzzang contest featuring a prestigious package for the winners, including an audition and interview with major South Korean fashion magazines. Many more informal contests are also available on Facebook and other social networking sites.
- Many K-Pop stars got started by cultivating an online ulzzang presence and entering these kinds of contests. Give it a shot!
Tips
- Do your hair in cute styles, with small bows, or clips
- Make an online account for sharing your Ulzzang pictures and meet other Ulzzangs
- Try to learn to read and speak Korean
- It'd be nice if you had photoshop to edit your pictures. (Although photoshop can be really expensive it's best if you try to get it for free.)
Warnings
- Don't wear circle lenses for more than 3 hours to begin with, or it might cause irritation. Then everyday onward, increase by 2 hours. Example, first day: 3 hours. Second day: 5 hours, and so on.
Things You'll Need
- Wigs if you want too.
- Circle contact lenses
- Camera
- Eyeliner
- Lip gloss
- Mascara
- False natural lashes
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