My Korea Trip - Celebrity MUA & Photo Shoot
Dear readers,
Part 1 of my series on my Korea trip. This post covers my professional photoshoot/experience with a celebrity makeup artist (MUA) in Seoul. Part 2 coming next week about my color analysis and nano brows.
1. Celebrity Makeup at Yoning
Service providers: Seo Yoon of Yoning for makeup and Octobee Film for photo shoot
Total investment: KRW350,000 or USD$250 for hair and makeup and KRW360,000 or USD$257 for 2 photo concepts
Total time: 1-1.5 hours for hair & makeup and 1-2 hours for photo shoot (depends on number of concepts and if you’re sharing appt with friend)
NB: Download and transfer money to WISE, the global money transfer app, as you will need to put a deposit using WISE upon booking; remainder can be paid via credit card at Yoning and via WISE at Octobee Studio after the appointment.
Why do a photoshoot in Korea?
Don’t we have good photographers in the US? Definitely, and the family photographer we use in the Seattle area, Angele, is amazing. But the Korean studio photo aesthetic is completely different (and not everyone’s cup of tea). It’s highly posed to paradoxically achieve a natural look, lots of soft light with limited shadowing, and focus on monochromatic styles. The look is soft and natural, not bold and sexy.
My friend Aily encouraged me to do a photo shoot because you “only turn 40 once”. Also, the price for the quality of makeup artist/hairstylist and photography is much cheaper than in the US. For $500, you can work with an MUA (makeup artist) and photographer in Korea who do Asian celebrities. Could you hire an MUA and photographer in the US who do Lily Collins (Emily in Paris) for $500? Nope.
I was also curious about trying Korean style makeup and picking up some tips to use back home - professionals are the best people to get advice from vs random influencers who don’t know your skin tone/type!
Step 1: Choosing the studio and MUA
Aily and I were debating between another studio who has done famous US-based influencers, vs Octobee Film, which does more Asia-based influencers. We picked Octobee Film because it had the same aesthetic as the other studio and we thought it would be less expensive because it hadn’t been promoted heavily by US influencers.
Octobee Film works with several makeup and hair studios in Gangnam, where its own studio is located. It recommended two regular studios that are very good and two studios that work regularly with Korean celebrities. At first, I was leaning towards choosing the regular studios as I didn’t think it would make a huge difference to go with a celebrity MUA. I looked at all of the studios’ instagram accounts and even had my husband and friends pick which one they liked best. They all picked Yoning, which is a celebrity studio. I was still skeptical so I asked Octobee Film which makeup artist has the most experience with more mature women, because I don’t want to be made up like a 20 something. They said, definitely Yoning. Done!
We paid a deposit via Wise, the international money transfer app, to Octobee Studio for both the makeup/hair appointment and the photo shoot appointment.
Step 2: Makeup and hair at Yoning
Aily and I went to Yoning at 9am to get our hair and makeup done. The studio is quite large and they have designated hair stations and makeup rooms, which are private. All the staff were chicly dressed and incredibly efficient. Assistants confirmed with us our desired hairstyles (mine was straight and Aily’s was waves), then prepped our faces and hair by applying skincare products to a clean face and hair products to hair that we had washed and dried that morning at the Airbnb (it’s an extra cost for Yoning to wash and dry your hair, so Octobee Film advised us to do it at home).
My MUA was Seo Yoon, who worked with an assistant to give me a soft but glam look. Her makeup room had the most dizzying array of Western and Asian makeup products and she worked very quickly - my total time in makeup chair was maybe 15 minutes. Her English is limited, but she is friendly and I communicated with her via the Papago translation app. We bonded over Meyers-Briggs, with me being an ENFJ and she an ENFP. I also asked to take pictures of the products she used on me, so I could buy them later. The craziest part was when she curled my eyelashes with a tteokbokki skewer that she heated up with a lighter (this is a very common method among Korean MUAs). The effect was incredible, but I’m not sure I would try it at home!
I LOVED my finished look. It’s natural yet glam and emphasizes my Asian features, rather than trying to Westernize my face. The issue I run into with Western MUAs is that they tend to do my face as if I had Caucasian features. The result is usually mediocre at best and repellent at worst. I was blown away by this look and am going to try to replicate it at home (have tried several times and not there yet…need better technique!). Seo Yoon recently posted a makeup tutorial on her Instagram, check it out! The only thing I didn’t love so much was the straight brows, which are so Korean - they prefer straighter brows vs arched, as they believe it gives you a more youthful look. Also, I didn’t mind this, but Aily wasn’t a huge fan - Korean MUAs typically use a foundation that’s several shades lighter than your actual skin because Asians love light skin.
2. Studio Photo shoot at Octobee Film
Service providers: Seo Yoon of Yoning for makeup and Octobee Film for photo shoot
Total investment: KRW350,000 or USD$250 for hair and makeup and KRW360,000 or USD$257 for 2 photo concepts
Total time: 1-1.5 hours for hair & makeup and 1-2 hours for photo shoot (depends on number of concepts and if you’re sharing appt with friend)
NB: Download and transfer money to WISE, the global money transfer app, as you will need to put a deposit using WISE upon booking; remainder can be paid via credit card at Yoning and via WISE at Octobee Studio after the appointment.
After we finished hair & makeup at Yoning, we took a quick cab ride to Octobee Studio, located in the basement of a building in Gangnam. Our photographer that day was a young man named Gyumin, one of a couple of staff photographers. The studio has hair and makeup products on hand if you need to touch up.
Aily brought her own outfits, but I wanted to choose from the studio’s array of tops (no extra cost) since I liked how they looked on the Instagram account. They are all shades of white or black, which suit my face perfectly. We both decided on two concepts (aka two types of sets/outfits) - you can do more, at additional cost. I chose a black asymmetrical sleeveless top for my dark concept and a white boatneck collar top for my light concept (see below).
Gyumin shot one concept for Aily, then one concept for me, then Aily’s second and finally my second. He was very efficient and fast and his English communication was good - I had no trouble understanding his posing requests. It can feel awkward to do poses that don’t seem natural, but he assured me that even if it feels unnatural to me, it looks good on camera. I really started getting into the zone for my second, dark concept - it felt a bit like creating magic! I would have liked being a print model in another life!
At the end of the photoshoot, Gyumin asked us to sit in front of a computer and pick 7 photos across both concepts to be fully finished and retouched for final delivery. I also opted for full high-definition original copies of my dark concept for an additional KRW50,000 (USD$36), sent that same day. We also received the 7 edited photos two weeks after the photo shoot.
Check out my Instagram for all the photos! I 100% recommend the experience of working with Seo Yoon at Yoning and my photo shoot with Octobee Film. It was a seamless, pleasant and efficient experience, and very good value and quality for the price.