The Eyes
When it comes to beauty, Korea has certain standards and trends much like the beauty standards in America. Though both having specific expectations of beauty, the trends of beauty between Korea and America are quite dissimilar.
In Korea, beauty is maintained to be as innocent looking as possible. To demonstrate, Korean beauty favors big eyes and a fair complexion. The emphasis on big pupils and porcelain-like skin helps the individual appear to have a doll-like aesthetic, ultimately creating them to look like a pure doll. Koreans achieve having bigger eyes by using “circle lense.” Circle lens helps the pupils look bigger as they come in all different sizes.
- This picture from Charlotte Winslow’s Youtube video “CIRCLE LENS TRY-ON! 👁” where she tries and reviews several pairs of circle lenses she ordered.
- The image shows Winslow’s eye’s before putting on the circle lens (the left side of the image) and after putting on the lenses on (the right side of the image).
- The before and after picture perfectly exemplifies how drastic the change in the size of the pupil is with the circle lens.
How Colored Contacts do so Much for an Idols Image
Many beauty lovers in Korea also use colored lenses. While colored lenses are not widely used in America, it is a normal everyday cosmetic item in Korea. While the colored lens can be used for people to create an innocent look, numerous K-Pop idols utilize them to create a more powerful image. The use of colored contacts usually varies from the type of concept the idol groups are trying to achieve. For example, In BTS’s “Blood, Sweat, and Tears,” the boy group sings an emotional song with intense choreography and adding bright colored lenses helps capture the fierce concept. An example of an innocent concept can be viewed in Girl’s Generations”Party” and Taeyeon Kim’s “I” music video. You can almost always expect colored circle lenses from your favorite idol in live performances, music videos, photo shoots, and more.
From the image above (provided by Berenicebe115 post on Weheartit) of BTS’s Jungkook during their performance of “Blood, Sweat, and Tears,” it is obvious to see how striking the eyes are, creating an overall strong and compelling feel from the artist.
- The two images above from Korean Map’s article “Korean Beauty Tip Tuesday: K-Pop Beauty Essential – Colored Contacts” shows Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon in “Party” and “I” music video displays how she changes her to look into a more girly and innocent for her music video concept.
Oversea’s opinion Towards the Trend
As stated before, the use of circle and colored contact lenses is normal within Korea; however, many people outside of the culture have trouble liking the beauty trends appeal. Many oversea’s fans claim that the use of colored contact lenses make the idols look unnatural and unreal. Fans oversea’s also state that it makes the idols seem like they are hiding their Asian features by covering brown eyes with a more American trait such as blue or green eyes. While many are not used to the beauty practice, idols still continue to use contact lenses as many individuals find them attractive.
Personal Opinion
Personally, I love the look of colored contacts. I do not agree with some fans claiming that idols are trying to override their Asian features with Western ones. I believe that the dramatic effect of having blue, green or purple eyes really adds to the performance visuals of the group. I also just really like the look of them because you don’t really see an Asian with blue eyes a lot so it is cool and fascinating to see them wear them.
What do you all think of colored contacts? Do you think that idols are too unnatural looking with colored or circle lenses on? Do you believe that idols are trying to Westernize their looks? Or do you trust that they are simply using the contacts for visual effect for their performances? Comment your opinions, I would Love to hear your thoughts!
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