One K-Pop Star Shares the Secrets to Korean Dream Skin

 

There’s a veil of secrecy surrounding the Korean pop star—one that’s carefully conceived and maintained. To meet an idol in the flesh often means accepting a sort of reticence. But in a sun-drenched suite at the Smyth Hotel in Lower Manhattan not two weeks ago, there was Jessica Jung, perched comfortably on a gray suede sofa and ready to reveal her full beauty routine for the first time. “I’ve never really shared my tips from start to finish before,” she says, unpacking a small arsenal of rainwater mists and petal pink lip tints. “I’m a little nervous!”

It’s one of many recent firsts for the Korean-American, who has been a part of the industry for 16 years now—since she was first scouted in a Seoul shopping mall at 11, along with her sister, Krystal Jung of f(x)—but is enjoying newfound freedom abroad. As one of the nine founding members of Girls’ Generation, she helped spark a new wave of interest in K-pop in 2009; now, on her own, she’s set her sights on bringing that hallyu magic stateside—not only with her first solo album, which debuted in May, but with Blanc & Eclare, a fashion and beauty line that bets on the bankability of the K-pop phenomenon and on Jung, in particular.

In many ways, she is Korea’s ultimate girl-next-door. That poreless dream skin and those sleek waist-grazing waves, along with her polished style (fitted denim, airy eyelet blouses), have drawn more than 4.3 million Instagram followers and some 5 million on China’s Weibo platform. As she sifts through the clean white jars and mask packs from her Serein skin-care collection, the conversation turns toward the global yen for K-beauty products driven, in large part, by stars like herself. “Korean skin care is about the daily and nightly routine, and I do it religiously,” she says, pointing to her lineup of cleansing water and foam, toner, serum, night and eye creams, and nourishing lip balm—applied every single night, without fail.

As for the makeup, “it’s not overdone,” Jung says, demonstrating the way she gently presses a cherry tone onto the center of her lip for a barely there glaze. “When I go out to the supermarket or when I’m feeling lazy, I just put a little bright lipstick or gloss and it brightens the skin,” she adds. “It’s about enhancing what I have.” Watching her apply the product is not only hypnotic, but a lesson in Korean skin-care techniques—the delicate way she taps a sun cream across her cheekbones, or swatches serum along her neck in long, sweeping motions.

“I’ve picked up a few tips here and there,” she says of her status as a burgeoning beauty guru, thanks in part to a recent cohosting gig on the Korean TV show Beauty Bible. There, and in the video above, you’ll find her dishing out stealth industry advice (who knew essence should be swabbed on the ears?), the kind that you never knew you needed and that few would think to share.

After a final spritz of setting spray, Jung tucks a few strands behind each ear and presents her finished look—the sort of easy, yet perfectly polished face that can only be a K-pop star’s take on no-makeup makeup. “It’s like lying to people, saying, ‘Oh, I don’t have any makeup on,’ but you did everything, you know?” she says, laughing. Looks like the secret’s finally out.

 

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