K-Pop Makeup Artists’ Secret To Hiding Male Idols’ Facial Hair

In K-Pop, male idols rarely grow out their beards because looking bright and youthful is a highly desired feature. This is why they can typically be seen clean-shaven or with a very slight shadow on their faces.

Two professional makeup artists, Kim Ye Ji and Park Jeong An, talked about male idols’ beards and how they cover them in an episode of AYO‘s “Comment Defenders” series.

The women have worked with celebrities like Pentagon, Super Junior, Lee Jae Hoon, and Yoo Yeon Seok, so they know a thing or two about the subject!

According to Kim Ye Ji, she has noticed that having a beard really affects the way a person’s skin looks. It doesn’t matter how well they are able to hide it with makeup—their skin will still appear dull, which is why she thinks having no beard marks at all is how to tell if someone has a young face.

If they have a beard, even if we cover the skin well, it will look darkened, sunken, and old. So I think the standard for having a young face is not having beard marks.

— Kim Ye Ji

She tied it to her experience with the members of Pentagon. It’s easy to see that they’re still at the prime of their lives because they barely have any facial hair, so they can get away without shaving.

When I did Pentagon’s makeup, there were members who didn’t shave. But since they’re young, they don’t have much hair.

— Kim Ye Ji

She personally shaves it for them or lets them do it before she applies any makeup.

It’s grown spaciously, so I either shave it for them or after they do it in the bathroom, I put makeup on top.

— Kim Ye Ji

Meanwhile, Park Jeong An revealed that the way they cover it is by using a foundation shade that is darker than their actual shade. It becomes more effective after they first use a red concealer to correct the color.

In the case of beard coverage, the area around it looks very dark, so we use darker foundation to cover it, and it needs a bit of redness.

— Park Jeong An

Finally, they demonstrated how they do it. They grab a narrow brush with small bristles and only use a tiny amount of foundation at a time. It’s a tedious process but one that really gets the job done!

“Use a narrow brush to add foundation, and it gets covered well,” Kim Ye Ji explained.

Aside from discussing what they think of male K-Pop idols’ beards, they also shared how they apply five layers of makeup on their clients without it looking cakey.