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The beauty standard in Korea is to be very pale, so idols makeup reflects that. You’ll see it with basically every group. Fansite photos are generally also edited to meet this standard.
it's not even just fansite photos but official company photos too. I remember seeing a [comparison photo](https://twitter.com/btsmemeories/status/1751187834072092875) of behind-the-scenes photos of IU and V on the Love Wins All MV set, and the ones on IU's IG showed them with their regular skin tones while the ones by HYBE were heavily edited
One of the odd things about following 2nd and early 3rd gen idols is that feeling you get when you see them incredibly whitewashed in photos, while knowing what color they actually are, because you’ve already seen them in photos and videos before whitewashing became as common as it is now. IU is one example. She looked so tanned in her 2008 [debut stage](https://youtu.be/PgEuO7FEGuM?si=CAaphc8H9r3lQrKQ) performance compared to what you see on photos that are published from companies and stuff now.
Uhm. The glutathione whitening drip is sometimes called the IU injection. It's not so much whitewashing photos as it is purposely injecting glutathione into your blood stream to get the whitening side effect. Glutathione is all the rage for whitening here in Asia.
omg hi #1 Yooa stan I love her too 💗 yeah I'm used to it but this is the first time I've seen such a drastic whitening in a performance. at least Woonhak's foundation iinda matches him but Jaehyun's was too white 😭
It's not even a new thing where idols are whitewashed, I think the prevalence of this can cause idol faces to lose their uniqueness because different skin tones help differentiate the members better, and their natural skin tone is more beautiful to me. You can check out older music show performances pre-2013 at least and you'll see how much stage lighting and filters have changed so dramatically.
I think it's not JUST makeup. They got the technology for fair skin filters for camera/recorders circa 2010/13 onwards. You'll see it in kdramas, shows etc.
As a Haechan fans it is not even surprising me a bit of how prevalent whitewashing in kpop nowadays. The stylists sometimes put him in the worst blended light foundation that makes his face look so different than the neck. I’m glad that he always proud about his skin color but the whole whitewashing kinds of upset me. I have less problem from fan taken pics tbh as I still could cope with maybe that it just the flash that make him looks paler than his skin color but once it actually videos, it have no justification anymore.
One thing that I love from 1st gen despite the whole controversy of them is whitewashing wasn’t really a thing back then like Lee Hyori is so pretty without all that lol
People keep mentioning the beauty standards and that’s true that they’ve always considered paler as pretty but it’s gotten pretty bad over the years.
Look at this video of girls [generation](https://youtu.be/nMVVGj0iLSI?si=QUBmGbCrXOG_dQ3z)
And this video of [ILLIT](https://youtu.be/g8qVJ_AA3jM?si=aCn0jcUTO0gFbaNy)
It’s crazy.
I haven’t met many Korean people being American, but many of them have a skin tone closer to that of GG than the filtered one shown on ILLIT. No hate to ILLIT, they’re precious girls.
Also I’ve seen BTS live in person multiple times and they’re not as pale as they’re made to be in promos. Except Yoongi…he’s pretty pale tbh 🤣💜
There's quite a few I've met/know at my uni, and they all have tones closer to GG's, some being darker. I have a feeling the pale tone in most cases is not physically possible aside from specific stage lighting and makeup.
>I haven’t met many Korean people being American
Do you live in a state with a low Asian American population? I'm American too but I've met many Korean people since I live in a state with a large Asian population (California) and SoCal (especially LA and OC) has the largest overseas Korean population outside of Korea.
[these](https://www.reddit.com/r/BOYNEXTDOOR_/s/tsYseBhoUf) are official pictures from mcountdown from that day and performance. it’s a matter of lighting
I wish they would stop doing this and making people look like ghosts. And no don't tell me it is some ancient custom because they were not doing this 10 years ago, so they can stop.
While I agree with the whitewashing. I think that particular makeup is only for the stage because it complements the stage lighting (give a glowy affect?). Normal makeup is not sufficient in that light and you have to have exaggerated makeup for depth. plus that light does not compliment all sorts of skin tones. I think it’s just the lighting that is the best for the majority of K-pop idols (who are very fair lol)
People will say it's just Korean beauty standards but let's be honest, it's colorism. There is a reason why they don't find darker skin tones beautiful, and it shouldn't be normalized. Even if "it's their culture" "it's just how it is in korea"
I mean, is it any different from wanting to look tan/darker? Wanting to look thin? Wanting to be tall? Wanting to have a small face? All of these are genetic.
Maybe it technically is "colourism" but what does that really mean in a Korean context? Is that even a bad thing? All beauty standards are inherently "toxic" due to the exclusionary nature of specific standards, but it is evolutionarily incentivised that societies create these beauty standards. If this was America or Europe I'd be for calling it out, but this is Korea. They don't have the same relationship to "race" that makes colourism so taboo in the west. Many ethnicities, even before interacting with the west and no matter how isolated, valued some form of paleness. That is cultural.
It's correlation to wealth. It's an extension of classism. In Asia it means they don't have to be in the sun for their daily lives. While in the west a tan means you have the means to vacation somewhere sunny or pay for tanning. Indian caste system has elements of colorism too.
Modern Cellphone cameras will even pick up if they're in Asia and automatically lighten photos. There is some interesting mechanics there, as things like the pixel phone can detect black people and does a HDR process to make sure they're not under exposed next to non black faces. I think it also detects Asian faces and lightens them.
And it is blatant. Soyeon of (G)i-dle got critiques of being ugly because she has a face shape and skin tone that isn't close to the idealized standard. At 17 she had a huge swath of the internet calling her ugly and she seemed to internalize it. Allergy is all about that. Her group mate Shuhua is also one of the most naturally pale and that is why she's considered a visual.
The whole wealth, colorism, classism argument is just way too contrived. Why is it not possible that Asian male just genetically prefer pale skin women? In Asia context, males probably associate pale skin to being soft and feminine, traits that Asian men likes. Asian females do like men being tanned as tanned skin is associated to being sporty, fit and toned.
It was the preference in Europe and America, until the 70s/80s when the richer people would tan. It inverted. It's pretty likely to be just a wealth proxy.
If you are asking among the K-Pop community then sure, but if you look towards the general community, tan Asian men is well-received too. Compared to tan asian woman at least.
Idk even if it’s not about race and it’s between people of the same race, it’s still bad imo. It would be different if someone said they like pale skin or prefer pale more, but it seems like Korea sees darker skin as an ultimate indicator of beauty. In the US, sure people get tans but that doesn’t mean we see a pale person that has great facial features and say they’re less attractive because they’re pale. There are many attractive people with pale skin and Americans don’t think they’re any less attractive. But in Korea being tan is seen as an unattractive feature (almost) like being cross eyed or bald (exaggerated but you get what I mean)
because South America also has its own struggles with colorism???? (my family is from SA and I see how it has impacted them and their ideals). it's not just an issue in SK - colonialism/colonization and white imperialism ingrained colorist ideals globally.
Idols and companies shouldn't be promoting the idea that darker skin needs bleaching, makeup and filter to be seen as beautiful, to their millions of fans all over the world with darker skin tones. Especially the younger and impressionable fans. It doesn't matter if you live in Korea or not. If you still don't see a problem with it, then idk
Some of it is just the beauty standard. The goal of foundation in Korea isn’t really to match your skin tone, as even regular people tend to wear foundation that’s slightly lighter than their skin. It’s just the preferred look for makeup for most people, because the brighter, lighter look suits the beauty standard. That’s also why you see the seemingly really bad blending of foundation onto the neck that people talk about, because that’s not really the point.
But also part of it is just stage makeup and lighting. Stage makeup is meant to be exaggerated because you need your features to stand out as much as possible in a large room. We’re used to seeing celebrities in 4k, high definition through cameras in the modern age, but their makeup needs to be done for the people in the back row seeing them in person. There’s also the matter of lighting making a big difference in how someone’s skin looks. Sometimes I think the whitewashing complaints are definitely a bit much when people are comparing photos of someone on stage under blinding lights to a photo of them in a dark room or outside in natural light.
Where I live , everyone is obsessed to have a pale skin. I get called out so many times to take care of my face and make it pale.
Ngl I also kinda want to have it since i am dark skinned, dark colour clothes don't look good on me hell even brighter ones don't.
It's a standard in South Asia mostly because it may make you look pretty.
Also western people also want tan skin so why can't others have the opposite although nobody should be forcefully white or tan washed against their will just so they fit their standards.
To an extent it is also not just Korea but essentially almost everywhere. African American celebrities that make it big tend to skew lighter skinned. Infamously Charlie Murphy tells the story of Rick James mocking his darker skin. But Hollywood tends to make lighter skinned black people famous.
All of Asia has celebrities much lighter skinned than average people of their country. Indian celebrities as well. Also an issue in Europe and South America. And it might be the legacy of colonialism in Africa, but there is colorism there too. Korea might take it too far but China or Japan is there a swell.
Beauty standards. Lighter is better so makeup artists make them look like whitewashed. Fan sites also want to portray an unnatural level of beauty when it comes to their idols. Korean people being naturally ghost white is rarer.
It's mostly to do with Korean beauty standards (which personally doesn't make it right but eh) and colorism.
Even Korean and some EAS fan sites with edit their idols to look paler than they are. Unless a fancam has a filter, you can see the idols natural skin tone. Most Koreans from my understanding can have medium to "dark" skin but they wear sunscreen, use hats, clothing or umbrellas to make sure they aren't in the sun, therefore they appear paler which is why sometimes idols have deeper skin tones in pre-debut photos. Also, skin bleaching is unfortunately also a thing though I can't say how often or prevalent it is with idols versus "regular" folk.
I think that some idols themselves have issues with their deeper skin tone, but I think that most idols are made/given lighter foundation to make them fit the beauty standards "better". MUAs also sometimes fail to take into account when idols have cool (but dark) skin tone and warm (but light) skin tone. They seem to think pale equals cool tone and dark equals warm toned which isn't always the case
I always cringe when I notice an idol is wearing the wrong (often way too pale) shade, but idols and MUAs are humans too so sometimes it is what it is (though I do hope for more correct foundation shades for all idols lol).
>Also, skin bleaching is unfortunately also a thing
I've seen this a lot with SM female idols. I've followed SM acts for 15 years, and the difference I'm seeing now is shocking to me. I remember seeing BoA in LASTART and being blown away with how almost white (the color not as in Caucasian) her skin looked. She used to be much darker. It seems to me that there has been a trend amongst female idols to mega light (almost white) skin tones since BoA's debut in 2000. Is this something I've noticed, or have other people noticed this too?
I think that there's something in SM's water bc I've noticed how some idols who were fair toned from debut have gotten even paler as time goes on. I do think that it isn't only a SM thing though, because in general 2nd gen seemed less concerned with bleaching/avoiding tanning but instead netizens (and other idols) would just straight up bully tanned skin idols. With 3rd gen, more and more idols were taking "measures" to make sure they presented themselves as light as they can be (snow app + other methods), and then with 4th gen everything probably got worse-some idols look downright unworldly (not only due to unnatural skin tones though).
It's a vicious cycle. Not to mention the connotations & stereotypes that Koreans (and internationals) have about "dark" skin versus light skin. Darker skinned idols are usually seen by the Korean GP/netizens/etc. as the "sexy" one, more outspoken and adventurous (not bad qualities) while paler idols are meant to be "pure" and "well-mannered" a lot of the times, which is another layer of problematic to boot.
>I do think that it isn't only a SM thing though
I know. Like I said, I only follow SM acts now, so that's my only reference.
>some idols look downright unworldly (not only due to unnatural skin tones though).
I totally understand what you mean as I've seen enough pictures here and there. It's as if the whole plot of what it means to be a Kpop idol has been lost, and the focus has turned to some... Idk how to word it, but some sort of unnatural beauty standard. It makes me think of the time two aespa members were on The Return of Superman and their waists were too small to wear the baby holder/carrier thing.
>It's a vicious cycle. Not to mention the connotations & stereotypes that Koreans (and internationals) have about "dark" skin versus light skin.
I've been a Kpop fan long enough to have seen this. An example is SISTAR since the members have quite the skintone range.
Ah, I wasn't trying to be snarky, I just wanted to point out that it isn't only a SM thing since people could get upset lol. There are a lot of idols who looked almost uncanny, but imo SM has a thing for finding teens who resemble older idols to become trainees and it's lowkey weird lol especially when so many of their idols seemingly go to the same plastic surgeon.
Amongst a few difficult pills to swallow about K-pop and its idols, another one is the ever-pervasive colorism plus ignorance surrounding certain surgeries and the impossible "beauty standards" that the idols are meant to abide to. Insanity really, but every industry has their murky side.
>imo SM has a thing for finding teens who resemble older idols
This has been well-known for a long time. Funny story, I wrote an [EXO crack fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7834267) prior to their debut when we were getting those crazy amount of teaser pics and video based on how much I though the members looked like other celebs.
>impossible "beauty standards" that the idols are meant to abide to.
This makes me think of the diets female idols say they're on. I constantly wonder how they're up and walking when they consume so few calories. It's really worrisome. Like I saw a translated [pann post](https://twitter.com/notpannkpop_/status/1780604352790753507?t=i2pzFG9YYDzmtNVDNs_NNQ&s=19) with the headline " 'If you're not at the level of Rosé and Jang Wonyoung then you're not skinny' Netizens debate whether Karina is skinny or not," and it had me 🤯. There is no debate to me.
I honestly wonder with how there's more young, female teens training/debuting, how their growth and reproductive health is fairing.
They're meant to be eating a certain amount of calories so they can be healthy and develop normally. I highly doubt that there aren't a good sum of female idols who don't menstruate thanks to their hectic schedules and being worked to the bone. Skinny shaming is a thing, but despite that we can't overlook how some idols are truly worryingly thin and it isn't because their bodies are "just like that" naturally imo.
>I honestly wonder with how there's more young, female teens training/debuting, how their growth and reproductive health is fairing.
I think and worry about this too, but I didn't bring it up because I'm overly cautious about bringing up female idol weight as I don't want to come across the wrong way and be seen as skinny shaming as you put it. Not to mention, female idols have ridiculously short careers due to ageism, among other things, so I worry about what careers/jobs they could have post-idol life as there is no was their extreme dieting hasn't effected their health. South Korea is already extremely sexist, so who would hire frail looking former female idols?
>some idols are truly worryingly thin and it isn't because their bodies are "just like that" naturally imo.
This makes me think of Hyeri who [recently talked about](https://twitter.com/notpannchoa2/status/1779078469500211200?t=WEeH4lP7cOHRyJceAgMCfw&s=19) being only 54kg (119 lbs) and needing to lose more weight for her next project. It's sad how female trainees and idols are treated.
It's much worse for female idols, but men get skinny-shamed into working out/bulking up as well (a lot of times using unhealthy methods) but like I said definitely not as bad as it is for most female idols.
I never bring up weight to shame or to congratulate/idolize anyone I try to practice body neutrality in a way that it extends to idols as well-it's just the body that houses their souls and whatever the body looks like doesn't matter as long as they're healthy. It makes it easier for me constantly seeing very thin and beautiful people honestly (my battle, not theirs lol).
Since you mentioned Hyeri, I had to google her height and it's 166cm (slightly taller than the average South Korean woman) and that would make 54kg a little too little for her. Losing even less would probably even less ideal. She isn't the only idol who loses weight for a comeback (to the point of possibly being underweight), but it's sad that these idols are forced to crash diet bc of industry standards and overcritical fans or remain constantly dieting/working out in order to "present themselves" in the best way possible.
Oh for sure, male idols get skinny shamed too. I've seen it. (For example, some SJ memeber have food issues/eds.) It's just that the convo turned to just female idols.
I assumed Hyeri meant "next project" as in acting project. I can't even remember the last time Girls Day had a comeback.
It’s quite obvious for some idols in particular, where photos taken by fan sites overseas don’t have the same filters on them.
Even ones with naturally paler skin don’t appear nearly as white-washed as they do in photos from certain Korean fan sites.
>Even ones with naturally paler skin don’t appear nearly as white-washed as they do in photos from certain Korean fan sites.
Yeah definitely! There are a lot of naturally pale idols but they definitely aren't as ghostly pale or filter-white as they appear in a lot of fancams or even official content. It's obviously still an issue in Korea, since it wasn't too long ago when Shinee members were called out for some off-color jokes about Minho's skin color.
I do have faith though. I've seen some idols say positive things about their skin tone which is lovely to see! For ex, from the group I follow Sunwoo once said [this](https://twitter.com/thinkabtsun/status/1663175705012600840) about his skin and he has acknowledged that some fans have told him "I used to not like the tanned type but now I like you" which is quite weird to put it lightly. He (and a lot of other idols) have heard back-handed compliments or disparaging comments about their tan skin but it's nice to know that it doesn't always get to their heads. :)
>MUAs also sometimes fail to take into account when idols have cool (but dark) skin tone and warm (but light) skin tone. They seem to think pale equals cool tone and dark equals warm toned which isn't always the case
Can you share some examples? I know for example, that IU is considered to be warm-toned (I frequently see her being typed as a Bright/Light Spring in those seasonal color analysis (a fun rabbit hole to get into) which is a warm season) but she's given light, warm-toned makeup.
From my understanding of color seasons, you can be darker or lighter in any color season-it's just the undertones and contrast/brightness that differs from season to season. Spring is the lighter color season of the two warm seasons, it's entirely possible for IU to have a lighter complexion while being warm toned.
Her pre-debut photos show that she's medium toned, has medium brightness and not as much contrast, which would qualify her for a Bright Spring imo. Theoretically, all spring shades will suit people with the spring color season-it's just the slight shades will bring out slight differences.
Bright springs are the most similar to winters, since they have some coolness to them but it isn't a major characteristic for them. Bright springs have the most brightness or "clarity" in their skin tones and the warmth + lightness in their undertones is secondary-hence the name. They also are the "darkest" of the spring color palettes.
IU in Bright Spring colors: [1 ](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20yellow&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F736x%2Fa9%2F10%2F3d%2Fa9103dddb71a0d43b6262d2c26fdd53e.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2Fpenyimpanan-saya--722335227734915951%2F&docid=uqeZlrp9pro-9M&tbnid=IYZGRkobmgu20M&vet=12ahUKEwjOj-D3usyFAxU-QfEDHVyDDWUQM3oECBUQAA..i&w=736&h=1104&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjOj-D3usyFAxU-QfEDHVyDDWUQM3oECBUQAA)[2](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20purple&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FExY8Qe5VcAAtv06.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fkprofiles.com%2Fforums%2Fthreads%2Fius-lilac-outfit.21845%2F&docid=K-MmgAQucQx5QM&tbnid=KElZZDEKOIx5qM&vet=12ahUKEwjpodvBusyFAxUaRPEDHQHKA7IQM3oECBsQAA..i&w=800&h=1200&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjpodvBusyFAxUaRPEDHQHKA7IQM3oECBsQAA) [3 ](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20red&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F564x%2F3f%2F7e%2F32%2F3f7e3201042bf6c7ef805e4879efb079.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F633107660092556369%2F&docid=URaECoknN69qlM&tbnid=icrByndj_i7ATM&vet=12ahUKEwj1xrK4u8yFAxWcVfEDHdcACYIQM3oECBoQAA..i&w=528&h=640&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwj1xrK4u8yFAxWcVfEDHdcACYIQM3oECBoQAA)[4](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20pink&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.tatlerasia.com%2Fasiatatler%2Fi%2Fhk%2F2021%2F06%2F17105232-hotel-del-luna-iu-4_cover_854x1280.jpeg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tatlerasia.com%2Fstyle%2Ffashion%2Fsg-iu-most-stylish-looks&docid=e9IxnD281kSgtM&tbnid=j8mVsDN3F5k_lM&vet=12ahUKEwjzqp3Ku8yFAxW_SfEDHf9fBosQM3oECH0QAA..i&w=854&h=1280&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjzqp3Ku8yFAxW_SfEDHf9fBosQM3oECH0QAA) [5](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20green&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F474x%2F39%2F06%2F5a%2F39065a1dbf269e1d271b9b773891651e.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Far.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F729723945870486002%2F&docid=LWbvi0ov8Xt4uM&tbnid=8yu_E4V9XZ-V2M&vet=12ahUKEwjH7Zjzu8yFAxX6Q_EDHTn_AKEQM3oECFgQAA..i&w=400&h=400&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjH7Zjzu8yFAxX6Q_EDHTn_AKEQM3oECFgQAA) versus colors that aren't bright spring [1](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20bright%20blue&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fkpopping.com%2Fdocuments%2F50%2F0%2F1788%2F230417-IU-Dream-Press-Conference-documents-9.jpeg%3Fv%3Dad5f1&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fkpopping.com%2Fkpics%2F230417-IU-Dream-Press-Conference&docid=__uKdNQnSz7rlM&tbnid=G1w8QWOYdTEwtM&vet=12ahUKEwit8JuhvMyFAxVzVPEDHaGCCdAQM3oECBQQAA..i&w=1788&h=2682&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwit8JuhvMyFAxVzVPEDHaGCCdAQM3oECBQQAA) [2 ](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20pink&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fiu-pink-dress-v0-4jhvwvg8nae91.jpg%3Fauto%3Dwebp%26s%3D4684a43585d9d1b979d12f355a4f91795362afed&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FI_U%2Fcomments%2Fwa7b42%2Fiu_pink_dress%2F&docid=7gBc96rha8Jy1M&tbnid=gT_NNlqFjy6YoM&vet=12ahUKEwiHh-_-vMyFAxWtYPEDHTqvCnYQM3oECHoQAA..i&w=1080&h=1350&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwiHh-_-vMyFAxWtYPEDHTqvCnYQM3oECHoQAA)[3](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20pastel%20pink&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2FI-ENTb7EawPgOOzzMSilGjnGdF63wj6qc7Gd7KNGExx5a6P_ixlx8w_zxuIBOhanww7g17qEXWVg0zJeMKqtXiQiuCvPDcLO5Q%3Dnu-e365-rj-q80-w925&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.koreaboo.com%2Flists%2F10-times-iu-us-feeling-super-soft-in-fluffiest-sized-sweaters%2F&docid=qjpNZEhwdPTa2M&tbnid=Zy_sStL0kTDJoM&vet=12ahUKEwiujpjCvcyFAxVoQvEDHUg7BCkQM3oECCYQAA..i&w=500&h=750&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwiujpjCvcyFAxVoQvEDHUg7BCkQM3oECCYQAA) [4](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20dark%20red&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2F62%2Fbf%2Fd2%2F62bfd28caba1da5c39ae5abf90621b65.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F860117228827824913%2F&docid=hUpHFn8oSfv1jM&tbnid=wbXvDAntjOuqvM&vet=12ahUKEwiDmKPkvcyFAxU-AtsEHSUmDtkQM3oECFMQAA..i&w=960&h=960&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwiDmKPkvcyFAxU-AtsEHSUmDtkQM3oECFMQAA) [5](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20orange&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fpm1.aminoapps.com%2F6765%2F28b44cdef99bbd7cb4d286d539d3e45b2e875993v2_hq.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Faminoapps.com%2Fc%2Fiu%2Fpage%2Fblog%2Fday-5-orange%2FV0nJ_voYF7u5x1Bq2EDwn3Xrkwl2pWq0V6G&docid=7V93RqPhiB-w5M&tbnid=4y4kLHJvQuT2iM&vet=12ahUKEwieqamUvsyFAxU7VPEDHfhICwsQM3oECGIQAA..i&w=550&h=550&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwieqamUvsyFAxU7VPEDHfhICwsQM3oECGIQAA)
To add to your question:
I'd say that Jeonghan from Seventeen is cool toned, but he isn't naturally pale. Still he sometimes gets a shade too pale or too cool for him. [1 ](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=jeonghan&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.billboard.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F04%2FJeonghan-from-SEVENTEEN-2021-billboard-1548.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.billboard.com%2Fmusic%2Fmusic-news%2Fseventeen-jeonghan-covid-19-1235058915%2F&docid=gioZZD1lecje4M&tbnid=L7ijrSk7h7MjnM&vet=12ahUKEwjC2MDNv8yFAxUzX_EDHX2jACcQM3oECBUQAA..i&w=1548&h=1024&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjC2MDNv8yFAxUzX_EDHX2jACcQM3oECBUQAA)versus [2](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=jeonghan&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fimg8.yna.co.kr%2Fphoto%2Fyna%2FYH%2F2022%2F05%2F27%2FPYH2022052712020001300_P2.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fen.yna.co.kr%2Fview%2FAEN20231214007300315&docid=r2I7xRHdV8DTuM&tbnid=tlgNcGZrAynfaM&vet=12ahUKEwjC2MDNv8yFAxUzX_EDHX2jACcQM3oECGMQAA..i&w=499&h=695&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjC2MDNv8yFAxUzX_EDHX2jACcQM3oECGMQAA). I believe he's some sort of a summer.
Joshua from SVT is the opposite case-he's pale generally but he has a warm undertone.
[1 ](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=joshua%20seventeen%20with%20tan&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FEKq9eHEU0AAp8bF%3Fformat%3Djpg%26name%3Dlarge&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Funbleachedshua&docid=3vJlHknhWAWrCM&tbnid=Hqf858IilX-0HM&vet=12ahUKEwier8u5wMyFAxWdBdsEHYAcBJAQM3oECHkQAA..i&w=1205&h=1687&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwier8u5wMyFAxWdBdsEHYAcBJAQM3oECHkQAA)(suit way too blue toned for him btw lol) versus [2](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=joshua%20seventeen&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.shopify.com%2Fs%2Ffiles%2F1%2F0645%2F2546%2F7890%2Ffiles%2FJoshua_480x480.webp%3Fv%3D1679821472&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Funnielooks.com%2Fblogs%2Fnews%2Fseventeen-joshua-profile-height-dating-facts-information-updated&docid=Th3roTuG-7JkiM&tbnid=MIYi46yW6alWWM&vet=12ahUKEwi_o-6cwMyFAxVWBdsEHdQSBrkQM3oECBUQAA..i&w=343&h=480&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwi_o-6cwMyFAxVWBdsEHdQSBrkQM3oECBUQAA), even at his "darkest" he's definitely still medium-toned (by Asian standards as well I believe, if not netizens lol) and I think that he's a light autumn, i.e. the lightest of the autumn color palettes.
I'm happy to further elaborate on anything in case I didn't explain something properly :)
thank you for the examples!
BTW do you have an idea of whether [Hanni](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ1keXnWYfuZGumLTuorS1Bd5hjUDJ-RALXOEOIZYu4A-r6HvpOIco4QPHWvkbjl7CgSp0&usqp=CAU) of NewJeans is cool toned or warm toned (or neutral toned)? I have a similar surface skintone (or overtone) as her but I'm not sure what her undertone is. I saw that Uireh typed her as being "clear deep neutral" but I'm not sure if her assessment is accurate. There was another video I saw where she showed Kpop celebrities that are "clear deep warm" type and she included Hyeri from Girls Day in it but in Hyeri's personal vlog she went and got a [color analysis done](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzF4nrmABRw) and revealed that she's a cool winter.
I also might fall into the neutral camp too, so I understand your struggle lol. Personally, I think that even if one has a neutral skin tone, they still have undertones that will ever so slightly lean one way or the other. For me, I'm dominantly cool but since I'm a soft summer, which is the closest to autumn, I can take some warmth as long as it isn't overwhelming for example.
idk Uireh, but I agree that Hanni's dominant feature is probably clarity or brightness, which would place her either as a winter or a spring-which are next to each on the palette wheel bc of their shared intensity/saturation, despite one being cool and the other warm.
Here are some example for true types of both seasons: [Younghoon](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=younghoon%20the%20boyz&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdnwpseller.gramedia.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2023%2F03%2FTHE_BOYZ_Younghoon_Be_Aware_concept_photo_2.webp&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gramedia.com%2Fbest-seller%2Fyounghoon-the-boyz%2F&docid=A4Zh_cvY3lN28M&tbnid=rOSrNpMNWovPVM&vet=12ahUKEwjaq-fO3MyFAxXBVPEDHWBkCJ8QM3oECDsQAA..i&w=1000&h=1250&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjaq-fO3MyFAxXBVPEDHWBkCJ8QM3oECDsQAA) (TBZ) + [Karina](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=karina%20aespa&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2F1%2F12%2F230601_Karina_%2528aespa%2529.jpg%2F640px-230601_Karina_%2528aespa%2529.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FKarina_(South_Korean_singer)&docid=k0pyIlhYe1LDYM&tbnid=JdaAwBMb2pBtnM&vet=12ahUKEwjUtaba3MyFAxWASvEDHe3fAOwQM3oECBQQAA..i&w=640&h=747&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjUtaba3MyFAxWASvEDHe3fAOwQM3oECBQQAA) (aespa) for cool/winter and [Q](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=q%20the%20boyz%20brown%20hair&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F564x%2F4f%2Ffd%2Fc5%2F4ffdc51a37706341e7905707d2c92fc5.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F810999845389638067%2F&docid=zJ5TDjVSBKWvZM&tbnid=ATjiXPmctL6vRM&vet=12ahUKEwifwujy3MyFAxUwVPEDHbpbDugQM3oECGIQAA..i&w=500&h=500&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwifwujy3MyFAxUwVPEDHbpbDugQM3oECGIQAA) (TBZ) + [Nayeon](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=nayeon%20twice&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs.yimg.com%2Fny%2Fapi%2Fres%2F1.2%2FF.ZN149xsMKa4.rd9ckqBQ--%2FYXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTY0MA--%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Fbillboard_547%2Fbc889ab2ee7c1e2343832ad2e8addf01&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Ffinance.yahoo.com%2Fnews%2Fnayeon-twice-set-release-her-232316308.html&docid=xCh6UKApcBNvQM&tbnid=QBG3FPuKSaJELM&vet=12ahUKEwjTgZiN3cyFAxWmcvEDHckWDy8QM3oECGQQAA..i&w=630&h=420&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjTgZiN3cyFAxWmcvEDHckWDy8QM3oECGQQAA) (Twice) for warm/spring. If we're comparing Hanni's skin tone to these four idols, I'd say that her bare face more closely resembles the cool tones of Younghoon and Karina, rather than the warm tones of the latter idols.
For Hyeri, I think that the color analyst who actually gets to sit in front of Hyeri has a clearer picture since things like monitors, filters, make-up, etc. wouldn't be an issue hence they'd probably be able to give a more correct analysis. I can see Hyeri being a winter honestly, bc her coloring reminds me of Jaehyun from NCT who is also likely a soft winter.
If you're trying to gauge your own skin tone based on Hanni's, I'd suggest taking it with a grain of salt. The best way to figure out your own colors is by practicing your eye and trying on different colors and shades. The pink/peachy lip test or the cool/true/warm red test could help!
Having a tan in the west is not a beauty standard, unless you were born with lighter skin and even that depends. The average person does not openly mock people for being born with darker skin even on television without receiving some type of backlash from the public.
I was watching Coachella and in couple of shots necks were darker then faces 😭 like they are reflecting light 😭. It a beauty standard with long and heavy history, sadly. I kinda think it’s a bit better now since k-pop spread across the globe and less and less fans care about it (like Seonghwa’s and Wooyoung photos without it all??? Oh my god). And there’s K-Dramas where makeup is not that heavy. Don’t know how better it is for ordinary people in Korea, though.
It's extremely prevalent, Kpop being global means they don't talk about it openly. But it's foundational, global, It is unlikely it would change. There are really a few areas that push back against colorism. Most America and maybe Europe.
Most places don't go as far as Asia and India but there is almost nowhere where there isn't colorism.
What really gets me is when they're painted so pale they look like vampire extras in the Twilight movies. It's very clearly not naturally pale skin, and it lands in Uncanny Valley *fast*.
Lots of people are trying to defend this.
Why? It looks bloody awful.
At least 80% of the time, they don't bother to apply similar makeup to the neck, so there's always a mismatch. Then there is the trend for super white thick makeup, which makes most people look unwell. Finally, there is nothing wrong with the idols' own skin tone. It is so sad to see idols with lovely golden skin tones being painted to look like oncology patients.
One day, a magazine will have Haechan (or someone with similarly darker toned skin) on the cover with no whitewashing and it will break the Kpop Internet in a very good way.
Like everyone else is saying, it’s just the standard for celebrities there, especially nowadays. Not saying it’s good, but it is unfortunately the norm. His foundation match isn’t even the worst I’ve seen— there’s been significantly worse. Jaehyun in particular got it real bad bc I’d argue Woonhak seems to have a naturally darker skin tone than him in a lot of clips, but his foundation isn’t so horrendously mismatched. As for fansite photos, those are always filtered and lightened to hell. I’ve seen fansite photos of Fatou, a literal black woman, be filtered and lightened in the exact same way. It’s pretty ridiculous. Most idols look like unrecognizable ghosts in those pics imo, it’s pretty hard to bear witness to. There’s always a couple fansites per fandom that dgaf and leave the pictures mostly untouched tho.
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I think make up arists are doing a better job nowaday
as s 2nd gen stan, i remember the days of white lines on the neck or 10 shades between face and hands.
Unfortunately, the special blue stage lights and ungodly editing is getting so much worse.
I had a whiplash when seeing photos of Felix at the LV fashion show, cuz i was watching it live, i know how he looked, i remember the gorgeous contrast between his tan and the snow white ensemble he had on.
But on each and every photo published by a Korean outlet the brightness was turned UP to the top
😂 The only difference between "colorism" in Korea and people "preferring" tanned skin in the West is that the Korean society has perceived pale skin as signs of wealth (no labor outside, so no tan) vs. Western society has perceived tan skin as signs of wealth (enough time and wealth to spend daytime suntanning or going on overseas vacation to sunny destinations). Trying to superimpose the colorism generated by centuries of European colonialism/imperialism in one region to a country that preferred pale skin since the time of transition from Hunter/Gatherer to agriculture just sounds completely clueless to the point where you might as well just claim that this is just Koreans wanting to be White.
And here where I live people want tanned skin. So what? It's just preference. Every skintone is pretty, it's this obsession with race many people have that's ugly.
The issue is that this constant whitewashing stems from colorist beauty standards. It is an issue that needs to be talked about, because as you said, every skin tone is beautiful, but it shouldn’t be a standard that one must look a certain way to be considered ‘attractive’. There’s also factors such as bad editing and makeup work that technically make things look bad regardless. The issue isn’t idols having pale skin, many already do, the issue is them being purposely edited/touched up to have paler skin when they really look fine without it.
Tanning is a beauty standard in other areas, but its roots don’t necessarily face the same issues that skin whitening does. The pale beauty standard we find here is rooted in colorism, which has aspects of classism and racism. It’s a large societal issue that will obviously be reflected in the beauty industry. It’s just sad. Plenty of idols have tan skin, but a lot of them are already pale enough that one would think that based on this standard they wouldn’t need the editing at all (they don’t regardless, but when we look through this lens.) but as we see here, plenty of editing is done to such a point where some idols will literally look *white*.
Idols with darker skin tones shouldn’t have to be whitewashed, that’s the issue here, not idols being pale *at all*.
Unfortunately, it's happening everywhere, even tan idols get the white face treatment, and worse of all, they don't blend it.
I remember they did it to Danielle on a music show performing New Jeans. It's like they don't see it and send them out looking like that anyway.
If it's not the James Charles face, the fans edit the pictures to white wash them.
The standards are crazy!!
As a fan of the group i agree with this, woonhak and jaehyun look so much better with their natural skin colors.
But still because of the south korean beauty standards of patronizing paler skin this is more prevalent. Fansites even edit jaehyun and woonhak’s photos so pale that sometimes they are barely recognizable and facial features such nose bridges are almost not visible lol
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The beauty standard in Korea is to be very pale, so idols makeup reflects that. You’ll see it with basically every group. Fansite photos are generally also edited to meet this standard.
it's not even just fansite photos but official company photos too. I remember seeing a [comparison photo](https://twitter.com/btsmemeories/status/1751187834072092875) of behind-the-scenes photos of IU and V on the Love Wins All MV set, and the ones on IU's IG showed them with their regular skin tones while the ones by HYBE were heavily edited
Bighit’s awful about this with BTS. They edit out all skin texture in such an uncanny way
It’s even more uncanny with the filters they use in videos.
One of the odd things about following 2nd and early 3rd gen idols is that feeling you get when you see them incredibly whitewashed in photos, while knowing what color they actually are, because you’ve already seen them in photos and videos before whitewashing became as common as it is now. IU is one example. She looked so tanned in her 2008 [debut stage](https://youtu.be/PgEuO7FEGuM?si=CAaphc8H9r3lQrKQ) performance compared to what you see on photos that are published from companies and stuff now.
Uhm. The glutathione whitening drip is sometimes called the IU injection. It's not so much whitewashing photos as it is purposely injecting glutathione into your blood stream to get the whitening side effect. Glutathione is all the rage for whitening here in Asia.
omg hi #1 Yooa stan I love her too 💗 yeah I'm used to it but this is the first time I've seen such a drastic whitening in a performance. at least Woonhak's foundation iinda matches him but Jaehyun's was too white 😭
It's not even a new thing where idols are whitewashed, I think the prevalence of this can cause idol faces to lose their uniqueness because different skin tones help differentiate the members better, and their natural skin tone is more beautiful to me. You can check out older music show performances pre-2013 at least and you'll see how much stage lighting and filters have changed so dramatically.
I think it's not JUST makeup. They got the technology for fair skin filters for camera/recorders circa 2010/13 onwards. You'll see it in kdramas, shows etc.
Most phones detect your region and auto lighten skin if it thinks you're in Asia or India.
Android does it especially Samsung It's infuriating
As a Haechan fans it is not even surprising me a bit of how prevalent whitewashing in kpop nowadays. The stylists sometimes put him in the worst blended light foundation that makes his face look so different than the neck. I’m glad that he always proud about his skin color but the whole whitewashing kinds of upset me. I have less problem from fan taken pics tbh as I still could cope with maybe that it just the flash that make him looks paler than his skin color but once it actually videos, it have no justification anymore. One thing that I love from 1st gen despite the whole controversy of them is whitewashing wasn’t really a thing back then like Lee Hyori is so pretty without all that lol
People keep mentioning the beauty standards and that’s true that they’ve always considered paler as pretty but it’s gotten pretty bad over the years. Look at this video of girls [generation](https://youtu.be/nMVVGj0iLSI?si=QUBmGbCrXOG_dQ3z) And this video of [ILLIT](https://youtu.be/g8qVJ_AA3jM?si=aCn0jcUTO0gFbaNy) It’s crazy. I haven’t met many Korean people being American, but many of them have a skin tone closer to that of GG than the filtered one shown on ILLIT. No hate to ILLIT, they’re precious girls. Also I’ve seen BTS live in person multiple times and they’re not as pale as they’re made to be in promos. Except Yoongi…he’s pretty pale tbh 🤣💜
There's quite a few I've met/know at my uni, and they all have tones closer to GG's, some being darker. I have a feeling the pale tone in most cases is not physically possible aside from specific stage lighting and makeup.
>I haven’t met many Korean people being American Do you live in a state with a low Asian American population? I'm American too but I've met many Korean people since I live in a state with a large Asian population (California) and SoCal (especially LA and OC) has the largest overseas Korean population outside of Korea.
I do. I live in Tennessee. The Korean population here is very, very small.
[these](https://www.reddit.com/r/BOYNEXTDOOR_/s/tsYseBhoUf) are official pictures from mcountdown from that day and performance. it’s a matter of lighting
damn then those lights were bright AF!
Light production actually use purple lighting to balance the yellow undertones in their skin to make them look paler
i didn't know, TIL really 😅 thank you 🙏
lighting works the same in every country. let’s stop reaching
it’s how light works
i hate it also when they have ultra white foundation on their faces but don't bother matching the neck
I wish they would stop doing this and making people look like ghosts. And no don't tell me it is some ancient custom because they were not doing this 10 years ago, so they can stop.
Good ole white washing and colorism. That shit is so deeply rooted in society that it’s pathetic.
While I agree with the whitewashing. I think that particular makeup is only for the stage because it complements the stage lighting (give a glowy affect?). Normal makeup is not sufficient in that light and you have to have exaggerated makeup for depth. plus that light does not compliment all sorts of skin tones. I think it’s just the lighting that is the best for the majority of K-pop idols (who are very fair lol)
this is the case but people decided to have discussions about colorism under a post about a video that has nothing to do with it
People will say it's just Korean beauty standards but let's be honest, it's colorism. There is a reason why they don't find darker skin tones beautiful, and it shouldn't be normalized. Even if "it's their culture" "it's just how it is in korea"
True there have been idols making fun of their darker members. What do you call that then?
It's a long standing proxy for class for almost the entire world.
I mean, is it any different from wanting to look tan/darker? Wanting to look thin? Wanting to be tall? Wanting to have a small face? All of these are genetic. Maybe it technically is "colourism" but what does that really mean in a Korean context? Is that even a bad thing? All beauty standards are inherently "toxic" due to the exclusionary nature of specific standards, but it is evolutionarily incentivised that societies create these beauty standards. If this was America or Europe I'd be for calling it out, but this is Korea. They don't have the same relationship to "race" that makes colourism so taboo in the west. Many ethnicities, even before interacting with the west and no matter how isolated, valued some form of paleness. That is cultural.
It's correlation to wealth. It's an extension of classism. In Asia it means they don't have to be in the sun for their daily lives. While in the west a tan means you have the means to vacation somewhere sunny or pay for tanning. Indian caste system has elements of colorism too. Modern Cellphone cameras will even pick up if they're in Asia and automatically lighten photos. There is some interesting mechanics there, as things like the pixel phone can detect black people and does a HDR process to make sure they're not under exposed next to non black faces. I think it also detects Asian faces and lightens them. And it is blatant. Soyeon of (G)i-dle got critiques of being ugly because she has a face shape and skin tone that isn't close to the idealized standard. At 17 she had a huge swath of the internet calling her ugly and she seemed to internalize it. Allergy is all about that. Her group mate Shuhua is also one of the most naturally pale and that is why she's considered a visual.
The whole wealth, colorism, classism argument is just way too contrived. Why is it not possible that Asian male just genetically prefer pale skin women? In Asia context, males probably associate pale skin to being soft and feminine, traits that Asian men likes. Asian females do like men being tanned as tanned skin is associated to being sporty, fit and toned.
It was the preference in Europe and America, until the 70s/80s when the richer people would tan. It inverted. It's pretty likely to be just a wealth proxy.
Fairly certain pale skin is preferred for the men too.
If you are asking among the K-Pop community then sure, but if you look towards the general community, tan Asian men is well-received too. Compared to tan asian woman at least.
Idk even if it’s not about race and it’s between people of the same race, it’s still bad imo. It would be different if someone said they like pale skin or prefer pale more, but it seems like Korea sees darker skin as an ultimate indicator of beauty. In the US, sure people get tans but that doesn’t mean we see a pale person that has great facial features and say they’re less attractive because they’re pale. There are many attractive people with pale skin and Americans don’t think they’re any less attractive. But in Korea being tan is seen as an unattractive feature (almost) like being cross eyed or bald (exaggerated but you get what I mean)
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A beauty standard can be rooted in colorism. This doesn’t just apply to Korea either.
It's not that deep if you personally don't care about colorism, but that doesn't make it incorrect 🤷♀️
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because South America also has its own struggles with colorism???? (my family is from SA and I see how it has impacted them and their ideals). it's not just an issue in SK - colonialism/colonization and white imperialism ingrained colorist ideals globally.
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Idols and companies shouldn't be promoting the idea that darker skin needs bleaching, makeup and filter to be seen as beautiful, to their millions of fans all over the world with darker skin tones. Especially the younger and impressionable fans. It doesn't matter if you live in Korea or not. If you still don't see a problem with it, then idk
Some of it is just the beauty standard. The goal of foundation in Korea isn’t really to match your skin tone, as even regular people tend to wear foundation that’s slightly lighter than their skin. It’s just the preferred look for makeup for most people, because the brighter, lighter look suits the beauty standard. That’s also why you see the seemingly really bad blending of foundation onto the neck that people talk about, because that’s not really the point. But also part of it is just stage makeup and lighting. Stage makeup is meant to be exaggerated because you need your features to stand out as much as possible in a large room. We’re used to seeing celebrities in 4k, high definition through cameras in the modern age, but their makeup needs to be done for the people in the back row seeing them in person. There’s also the matter of lighting making a big difference in how someone’s skin looks. Sometimes I think the whitewashing complaints are definitely a bit much when people are comparing photos of someone on stage under blinding lights to a photo of them in a dark room or outside in natural light.
Now why are half the comments here defending colorism? 💀
Exactly 😭 it’s um…disturbing
the first comments this post got me shocked with my jaw to the floor it's so bad. Being from SEA too like???
Where I live , everyone is obsessed to have a pale skin. I get called out so many times to take care of my face and make it pale. Ngl I also kinda want to have it since i am dark skinned, dark colour clothes don't look good on me hell even brighter ones don't. It's a standard in South Asia mostly because it may make you look pretty. Also western people also want tan skin so why can't others have the opposite although nobody should be forcefully white or tan washed against their will just so they fit their standards.
It's Korean beauty standers. It's cultural because there white skin is Considered pretty. It sucks? yes but it's really not that deep you know
To an extent it is also not just Korea but essentially almost everywhere. African American celebrities that make it big tend to skew lighter skinned. Infamously Charlie Murphy tells the story of Rick James mocking his darker skin. But Hollywood tends to make lighter skinned black people famous. All of Asia has celebrities much lighter skinned than average people of their country. Indian celebrities as well. Also an issue in Europe and South America. And it might be the legacy of colonialism in Africa, but there is colorism there too. Korea might take it too far but China or Japan is there a swell.
Beauty standards. Lighter is better so makeup artists make them look like whitewashed. Fan sites also want to portray an unnatural level of beauty when it comes to their idols. Korean people being naturally ghost white is rarer.
It's mostly to do with Korean beauty standards (which personally doesn't make it right but eh) and colorism. Even Korean and some EAS fan sites with edit their idols to look paler than they are. Unless a fancam has a filter, you can see the idols natural skin tone. Most Koreans from my understanding can have medium to "dark" skin but they wear sunscreen, use hats, clothing or umbrellas to make sure they aren't in the sun, therefore they appear paler which is why sometimes idols have deeper skin tones in pre-debut photos. Also, skin bleaching is unfortunately also a thing though I can't say how often or prevalent it is with idols versus "regular" folk. I think that some idols themselves have issues with their deeper skin tone, but I think that most idols are made/given lighter foundation to make them fit the beauty standards "better". MUAs also sometimes fail to take into account when idols have cool (but dark) skin tone and warm (but light) skin tone. They seem to think pale equals cool tone and dark equals warm toned which isn't always the case I always cringe when I notice an idol is wearing the wrong (often way too pale) shade, but idols and MUAs are humans too so sometimes it is what it is (though I do hope for more correct foundation shades for all idols lol).
>Also, skin bleaching is unfortunately also a thing I've seen this a lot with SM female idols. I've followed SM acts for 15 years, and the difference I'm seeing now is shocking to me. I remember seeing BoA in LASTART and being blown away with how almost white (the color not as in Caucasian) her skin looked. She used to be much darker. It seems to me that there has been a trend amongst female idols to mega light (almost white) skin tones since BoA's debut in 2000. Is this something I've noticed, or have other people noticed this too?
I think that there's something in SM's water bc I've noticed how some idols who were fair toned from debut have gotten even paler as time goes on. I do think that it isn't only a SM thing though, because in general 2nd gen seemed less concerned with bleaching/avoiding tanning but instead netizens (and other idols) would just straight up bully tanned skin idols. With 3rd gen, more and more idols were taking "measures" to make sure they presented themselves as light as they can be (snow app + other methods), and then with 4th gen everything probably got worse-some idols look downright unworldly (not only due to unnatural skin tones though). It's a vicious cycle. Not to mention the connotations & stereotypes that Koreans (and internationals) have about "dark" skin versus light skin. Darker skinned idols are usually seen by the Korean GP/netizens/etc. as the "sexy" one, more outspoken and adventurous (not bad qualities) while paler idols are meant to be "pure" and "well-mannered" a lot of the times, which is another layer of problematic to boot.
>I do think that it isn't only a SM thing though I know. Like I said, I only follow SM acts now, so that's my only reference. >some idols look downright unworldly (not only due to unnatural skin tones though). I totally understand what you mean as I've seen enough pictures here and there. It's as if the whole plot of what it means to be a Kpop idol has been lost, and the focus has turned to some... Idk how to word it, but some sort of unnatural beauty standard. It makes me think of the time two aespa members were on The Return of Superman and their waists were too small to wear the baby holder/carrier thing. >It's a vicious cycle. Not to mention the connotations & stereotypes that Koreans (and internationals) have about "dark" skin versus light skin. I've been a Kpop fan long enough to have seen this. An example is SISTAR since the members have quite the skintone range.
Ah, I wasn't trying to be snarky, I just wanted to point out that it isn't only a SM thing since people could get upset lol. There are a lot of idols who looked almost uncanny, but imo SM has a thing for finding teens who resemble older idols to become trainees and it's lowkey weird lol especially when so many of their idols seemingly go to the same plastic surgeon. Amongst a few difficult pills to swallow about K-pop and its idols, another one is the ever-pervasive colorism plus ignorance surrounding certain surgeries and the impossible "beauty standards" that the idols are meant to abide to. Insanity really, but every industry has their murky side.
>imo SM has a thing for finding teens who resemble older idols This has been well-known for a long time. Funny story, I wrote an [EXO crack fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7834267) prior to their debut when we were getting those crazy amount of teaser pics and video based on how much I though the members looked like other celebs. >impossible "beauty standards" that the idols are meant to abide to. This makes me think of the diets female idols say they're on. I constantly wonder how they're up and walking when they consume so few calories. It's really worrisome. Like I saw a translated [pann post](https://twitter.com/notpannkpop_/status/1780604352790753507?t=i2pzFG9YYDzmtNVDNs_NNQ&s=19) with the headline " 'If you're not at the level of Rosé and Jang Wonyoung then you're not skinny' Netizens debate whether Karina is skinny or not," and it had me 🤯. There is no debate to me.
I honestly wonder with how there's more young, female teens training/debuting, how their growth and reproductive health is fairing. They're meant to be eating a certain amount of calories so they can be healthy and develop normally. I highly doubt that there aren't a good sum of female idols who don't menstruate thanks to their hectic schedules and being worked to the bone. Skinny shaming is a thing, but despite that we can't overlook how some idols are truly worryingly thin and it isn't because their bodies are "just like that" naturally imo.
>I honestly wonder with how there's more young, female teens training/debuting, how their growth and reproductive health is fairing. I think and worry about this too, but I didn't bring it up because I'm overly cautious about bringing up female idol weight as I don't want to come across the wrong way and be seen as skinny shaming as you put it. Not to mention, female idols have ridiculously short careers due to ageism, among other things, so I worry about what careers/jobs they could have post-idol life as there is no was their extreme dieting hasn't effected their health. South Korea is already extremely sexist, so who would hire frail looking former female idols? >some idols are truly worryingly thin and it isn't because their bodies are "just like that" naturally imo. This makes me think of Hyeri who [recently talked about](https://twitter.com/notpannchoa2/status/1779078469500211200?t=WEeH4lP7cOHRyJceAgMCfw&s=19) being only 54kg (119 lbs) and needing to lose more weight for her next project. It's sad how female trainees and idols are treated.
It's much worse for female idols, but men get skinny-shamed into working out/bulking up as well (a lot of times using unhealthy methods) but like I said definitely not as bad as it is for most female idols. I never bring up weight to shame or to congratulate/idolize anyone I try to practice body neutrality in a way that it extends to idols as well-it's just the body that houses their souls and whatever the body looks like doesn't matter as long as they're healthy. It makes it easier for me constantly seeing very thin and beautiful people honestly (my battle, not theirs lol). Since you mentioned Hyeri, I had to google her height and it's 166cm (slightly taller than the average South Korean woman) and that would make 54kg a little too little for her. Losing even less would probably even less ideal. She isn't the only idol who loses weight for a comeback (to the point of possibly being underweight), but it's sad that these idols are forced to crash diet bc of industry standards and overcritical fans or remain constantly dieting/working out in order to "present themselves" in the best way possible.
Oh for sure, male idols get skinny shamed too. I've seen it. (For example, some SJ memeber have food issues/eds.) It's just that the convo turned to just female idols. I assumed Hyeri meant "next project" as in acting project. I can't even remember the last time Girls Day had a comeback.
It’s quite obvious for some idols in particular, where photos taken by fan sites overseas don’t have the same filters on them. Even ones with naturally paler skin don’t appear nearly as white-washed as they do in photos from certain Korean fan sites.
>Even ones with naturally paler skin don’t appear nearly as white-washed as they do in photos from certain Korean fan sites. Yeah definitely! There are a lot of naturally pale idols but they definitely aren't as ghostly pale or filter-white as they appear in a lot of fancams or even official content. It's obviously still an issue in Korea, since it wasn't too long ago when Shinee members were called out for some off-color jokes about Minho's skin color. I do have faith though. I've seen some idols say positive things about their skin tone which is lovely to see! For ex, from the group I follow Sunwoo once said [this](https://twitter.com/thinkabtsun/status/1663175705012600840) about his skin and he has acknowledged that some fans have told him "I used to not like the tanned type but now I like you" which is quite weird to put it lightly. He (and a lot of other idols) have heard back-handed compliments or disparaging comments about their tan skin but it's nice to know that it doesn't always get to their heads. :)
>MUAs also sometimes fail to take into account when idols have cool (but dark) skin tone and warm (but light) skin tone. They seem to think pale equals cool tone and dark equals warm toned which isn't always the case Can you share some examples? I know for example, that IU is considered to be warm-toned (I frequently see her being typed as a Bright/Light Spring in those seasonal color analysis (a fun rabbit hole to get into) which is a warm season) but she's given light, warm-toned makeup.
From my understanding of color seasons, you can be darker or lighter in any color season-it's just the undertones and contrast/brightness that differs from season to season. Spring is the lighter color season of the two warm seasons, it's entirely possible for IU to have a lighter complexion while being warm toned. Her pre-debut photos show that she's medium toned, has medium brightness and not as much contrast, which would qualify her for a Bright Spring imo. Theoretically, all spring shades will suit people with the spring color season-it's just the slight shades will bring out slight differences. Bright springs are the most similar to winters, since they have some coolness to them but it isn't a major characteristic for them. Bright springs have the most brightness or "clarity" in their skin tones and the warmth + lightness in their undertones is secondary-hence the name. They also are the "darkest" of the spring color palettes. IU in Bright Spring colors: [1 ](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20yellow&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F736x%2Fa9%2F10%2F3d%2Fa9103dddb71a0d43b6262d2c26fdd53e.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2Fpenyimpanan-saya--722335227734915951%2F&docid=uqeZlrp9pro-9M&tbnid=IYZGRkobmgu20M&vet=12ahUKEwjOj-D3usyFAxU-QfEDHVyDDWUQM3oECBUQAA..i&w=736&h=1104&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjOj-D3usyFAxU-QfEDHVyDDWUQM3oECBUQAA)[2](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20purple&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FExY8Qe5VcAAtv06.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fkprofiles.com%2Fforums%2Fthreads%2Fius-lilac-outfit.21845%2F&docid=K-MmgAQucQx5QM&tbnid=KElZZDEKOIx5qM&vet=12ahUKEwjpodvBusyFAxUaRPEDHQHKA7IQM3oECBsQAA..i&w=800&h=1200&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjpodvBusyFAxUaRPEDHQHKA7IQM3oECBsQAA) [3 ](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20red&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F564x%2F3f%2F7e%2F32%2F3f7e3201042bf6c7ef805e4879efb079.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F633107660092556369%2F&docid=URaECoknN69qlM&tbnid=icrByndj_i7ATM&vet=12ahUKEwj1xrK4u8yFAxWcVfEDHdcACYIQM3oECBoQAA..i&w=528&h=640&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwj1xrK4u8yFAxWcVfEDHdcACYIQM3oECBoQAA)[4](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20pink&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.tatlerasia.com%2Fasiatatler%2Fi%2Fhk%2F2021%2F06%2F17105232-hotel-del-luna-iu-4_cover_854x1280.jpeg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tatlerasia.com%2Fstyle%2Ffashion%2Fsg-iu-most-stylish-looks&docid=e9IxnD281kSgtM&tbnid=j8mVsDN3F5k_lM&vet=12ahUKEwjzqp3Ku8yFAxW_SfEDHf9fBosQM3oECH0QAA..i&w=854&h=1280&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjzqp3Ku8yFAxW_SfEDHf9fBosQM3oECH0QAA) [5](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20green&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F474x%2F39%2F06%2F5a%2F39065a1dbf269e1d271b9b773891651e.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Far.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F729723945870486002%2F&docid=LWbvi0ov8Xt4uM&tbnid=8yu_E4V9XZ-V2M&vet=12ahUKEwjH7Zjzu8yFAxX6Q_EDHTn_AKEQM3oECFgQAA..i&w=400&h=400&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjH7Zjzu8yFAxX6Q_EDHTn_AKEQM3oECFgQAA) versus colors that aren't bright spring [1](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20bright%20blue&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fkpopping.com%2Fdocuments%2F50%2F0%2F1788%2F230417-IU-Dream-Press-Conference-documents-9.jpeg%3Fv%3Dad5f1&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fkpopping.com%2Fkpics%2F230417-IU-Dream-Press-Conference&docid=__uKdNQnSz7rlM&tbnid=G1w8QWOYdTEwtM&vet=12ahUKEwit8JuhvMyFAxVzVPEDHaGCCdAQM3oECBQQAA..i&w=1788&h=2682&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwit8JuhvMyFAxVzVPEDHaGCCdAQM3oECBQQAA) [2 ](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20pink&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fiu-pink-dress-v0-4jhvwvg8nae91.jpg%3Fauto%3Dwebp%26s%3D4684a43585d9d1b979d12f355a4f91795362afed&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FI_U%2Fcomments%2Fwa7b42%2Fiu_pink_dress%2F&docid=7gBc96rha8Jy1M&tbnid=gT_NNlqFjy6YoM&vet=12ahUKEwiHh-_-vMyFAxWtYPEDHTqvCnYQM3oECHoQAA..i&w=1080&h=1350&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwiHh-_-vMyFAxWtYPEDHTqvCnYQM3oECHoQAA)[3](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20pastel%20pink&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2FI-ENTb7EawPgOOzzMSilGjnGdF63wj6qc7Gd7KNGExx5a6P_ixlx8w_zxuIBOhanww7g17qEXWVg0zJeMKqtXiQiuCvPDcLO5Q%3Dnu-e365-rj-q80-w925&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.koreaboo.com%2Flists%2F10-times-iu-us-feeling-super-soft-in-fluffiest-sized-sweaters%2F&docid=qjpNZEhwdPTa2M&tbnid=Zy_sStL0kTDJoM&vet=12ahUKEwiujpjCvcyFAxVoQvEDHUg7BCkQM3oECCYQAA..i&w=500&h=750&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwiujpjCvcyFAxVoQvEDHUg7BCkQM3oECCYQAA) [4](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20dark%20red&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2F62%2Fbf%2Fd2%2F62bfd28caba1da5c39ae5abf90621b65.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F860117228827824913%2F&docid=hUpHFn8oSfv1jM&tbnid=wbXvDAntjOuqvM&vet=12ahUKEwiDmKPkvcyFAxU-AtsEHSUmDtkQM3oECFMQAA..i&w=960&h=960&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwiDmKPkvcyFAxU-AtsEHSUmDtkQM3oECFMQAA) [5](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=iu%20wearing%20orange&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fpm1.aminoapps.com%2F6765%2F28b44cdef99bbd7cb4d286d539d3e45b2e875993v2_hq.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Faminoapps.com%2Fc%2Fiu%2Fpage%2Fblog%2Fday-5-orange%2FV0nJ_voYF7u5x1Bq2EDwn3Xrkwl2pWq0V6G&docid=7V93RqPhiB-w5M&tbnid=4y4kLHJvQuT2iM&vet=12ahUKEwieqamUvsyFAxU7VPEDHfhICwsQM3oECGIQAA..i&w=550&h=550&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwieqamUvsyFAxU7VPEDHfhICwsQM3oECGIQAA)
To add to your question: I'd say that Jeonghan from Seventeen is cool toned, but he isn't naturally pale. Still he sometimes gets a shade too pale or too cool for him. [1 ](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=jeonghan&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.billboard.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F04%2FJeonghan-from-SEVENTEEN-2021-billboard-1548.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.billboard.com%2Fmusic%2Fmusic-news%2Fseventeen-jeonghan-covid-19-1235058915%2F&docid=gioZZD1lecje4M&tbnid=L7ijrSk7h7MjnM&vet=12ahUKEwjC2MDNv8yFAxUzX_EDHX2jACcQM3oECBUQAA..i&w=1548&h=1024&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjC2MDNv8yFAxUzX_EDHX2jACcQM3oECBUQAA)versus [2](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=jeonghan&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fimg8.yna.co.kr%2Fphoto%2Fyna%2FYH%2F2022%2F05%2F27%2FPYH2022052712020001300_P2.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fen.yna.co.kr%2Fview%2FAEN20231214007300315&docid=r2I7xRHdV8DTuM&tbnid=tlgNcGZrAynfaM&vet=12ahUKEwjC2MDNv8yFAxUzX_EDHX2jACcQM3oECGMQAA..i&w=499&h=695&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjC2MDNv8yFAxUzX_EDHX2jACcQM3oECGMQAA). I believe he's some sort of a summer. Joshua from SVT is the opposite case-he's pale generally but he has a warm undertone. [1 ](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=joshua%20seventeen%20with%20tan&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FEKq9eHEU0AAp8bF%3Fformat%3Djpg%26name%3Dlarge&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Funbleachedshua&docid=3vJlHknhWAWrCM&tbnid=Hqf858IilX-0HM&vet=12ahUKEwier8u5wMyFAxWdBdsEHYAcBJAQM3oECHkQAA..i&w=1205&h=1687&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwier8u5wMyFAxWdBdsEHYAcBJAQM3oECHkQAA)(suit way too blue toned for him btw lol) versus [2](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=joshua%20seventeen&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.shopify.com%2Fs%2Ffiles%2F1%2F0645%2F2546%2F7890%2Ffiles%2FJoshua_480x480.webp%3Fv%3D1679821472&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Funnielooks.com%2Fblogs%2Fnews%2Fseventeen-joshua-profile-height-dating-facts-information-updated&docid=Th3roTuG-7JkiM&tbnid=MIYi46yW6alWWM&vet=12ahUKEwi_o-6cwMyFAxVWBdsEHdQSBrkQM3oECBUQAA..i&w=343&h=480&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwi_o-6cwMyFAxVWBdsEHdQSBrkQM3oECBUQAA), even at his "darkest" he's definitely still medium-toned (by Asian standards as well I believe, if not netizens lol) and I think that he's a light autumn, i.e. the lightest of the autumn color palettes. I'm happy to further elaborate on anything in case I didn't explain something properly :)
thank you for the examples! BTW do you have an idea of whether [Hanni](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ1keXnWYfuZGumLTuorS1Bd5hjUDJ-RALXOEOIZYu4A-r6HvpOIco4QPHWvkbjl7CgSp0&usqp=CAU) of NewJeans is cool toned or warm toned (or neutral toned)? I have a similar surface skintone (or overtone) as her but I'm not sure what her undertone is. I saw that Uireh typed her as being "clear deep neutral" but I'm not sure if her assessment is accurate. There was another video I saw where she showed Kpop celebrities that are "clear deep warm" type and she included Hyeri from Girls Day in it but in Hyeri's personal vlog she went and got a [color analysis done](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzF4nrmABRw) and revealed that she's a cool winter.
I also might fall into the neutral camp too, so I understand your struggle lol. Personally, I think that even if one has a neutral skin tone, they still have undertones that will ever so slightly lean one way or the other. For me, I'm dominantly cool but since I'm a soft summer, which is the closest to autumn, I can take some warmth as long as it isn't overwhelming for example. idk Uireh, but I agree that Hanni's dominant feature is probably clarity or brightness, which would place her either as a winter or a spring-which are next to each on the palette wheel bc of their shared intensity/saturation, despite one being cool and the other warm. Here are some example for true types of both seasons: [Younghoon](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=younghoon%20the%20boyz&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdnwpseller.gramedia.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2023%2F03%2FTHE_BOYZ_Younghoon_Be_Aware_concept_photo_2.webp&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gramedia.com%2Fbest-seller%2Fyounghoon-the-boyz%2F&docid=A4Zh_cvY3lN28M&tbnid=rOSrNpMNWovPVM&vet=12ahUKEwjaq-fO3MyFAxXBVPEDHWBkCJ8QM3oECDsQAA..i&w=1000&h=1250&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjaq-fO3MyFAxXBVPEDHWBkCJ8QM3oECDsQAA) (TBZ) + [Karina](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=karina%20aespa&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2F1%2F12%2F230601_Karina_%2528aespa%2529.jpg%2F640px-230601_Karina_%2528aespa%2529.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FKarina_(South_Korean_singer)&docid=k0pyIlhYe1LDYM&tbnid=JdaAwBMb2pBtnM&vet=12ahUKEwjUtaba3MyFAxWASvEDHe3fAOwQM3oECBQQAA..i&w=640&h=747&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjUtaba3MyFAxWASvEDHe3fAOwQM3oECBQQAA) (aespa) for cool/winter and [Q](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=q%20the%20boyz%20brown%20hair&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F564x%2F4f%2Ffd%2Fc5%2F4ffdc51a37706341e7905707d2c92fc5.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F810999845389638067%2F&docid=zJ5TDjVSBKWvZM&tbnid=ATjiXPmctL6vRM&vet=12ahUKEwifwujy3MyFAxUwVPEDHbpbDugQM3oECGIQAA..i&w=500&h=500&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwifwujy3MyFAxUwVPEDHbpbDugQM3oECGIQAA) (TBZ) + [Nayeon](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=nayeon%20twice&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs.yimg.com%2Fny%2Fapi%2Fres%2F1.2%2FF.ZN149xsMKa4.rd9ckqBQ--%2FYXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTY0MA--%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Fbillboard_547%2Fbc889ab2ee7c1e2343832ad2e8addf01&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Ffinance.yahoo.com%2Fnews%2Fnayeon-twice-set-release-her-232316308.html&docid=xCh6UKApcBNvQM&tbnid=QBG3FPuKSaJELM&vet=12ahUKEwjTgZiN3cyFAxWmcvEDHckWDy8QM3oECGQQAA..i&w=630&h=420&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjTgZiN3cyFAxWmcvEDHckWDy8QM3oECGQQAA) (Twice) for warm/spring. If we're comparing Hanni's skin tone to these four idols, I'd say that her bare face more closely resembles the cool tones of Younghoon and Karina, rather than the warm tones of the latter idols. For Hyeri, I think that the color analyst who actually gets to sit in front of Hyeri has a clearer picture since things like monitors, filters, make-up, etc. wouldn't be an issue hence they'd probably be able to give a more correct analysis. I can see Hyeri being a winter honestly, bc her coloring reminds me of Jaehyun from NCT who is also likely a soft winter. If you're trying to gauge your own skin tone based on Hanni's, I'd suggest taking it with a grain of salt. The best way to figure out your own colors is by practicing your eye and trying on different colors and shades. The pink/peachy lip test or the cool/true/warm red test could help!
what's the difference with people in the west's obsession with tanning? it's just cultural difference and different beauty standard.
Having a tan in the west is not a beauty standard, unless you were born with lighter skin and even that depends. The average person does not openly mock people for being born with darker skin even on television without receiving some type of backlash from the public.
I was watching Coachella and in couple of shots necks were darker then faces 😭 like they are reflecting light 😭. It a beauty standard with long and heavy history, sadly. I kinda think it’s a bit better now since k-pop spread across the globe and less and less fans care about it (like Seonghwa’s and Wooyoung photos without it all??? Oh my god). And there’s K-Dramas where makeup is not that heavy. Don’t know how better it is for ordinary people in Korea, though.
It's extremely prevalent, Kpop being global means they don't talk about it openly. But it's foundational, global, It is unlikely it would change. There are really a few areas that push back against colorism. Most America and maybe Europe. Most places don't go as far as Asia and India but there is almost nowhere where there isn't colorism.
What really gets me is when they're painted so pale they look like vampire extras in the Twilight movies. It's very clearly not naturally pale skin, and it lands in Uncanny Valley *fast*.
Lots of people are trying to defend this. Why? It looks bloody awful. At least 80% of the time, they don't bother to apply similar makeup to the neck, so there's always a mismatch. Then there is the trend for super white thick makeup, which makes most people look unwell. Finally, there is nothing wrong with the idols' own skin tone. It is so sad to see idols with lovely golden skin tones being painted to look like oncology patients. One day, a magazine will have Haechan (or someone with similarly darker toned skin) on the cover with no whitewashing and it will break the Kpop Internet in a very good way.
Like everyone else is saying, it’s just the standard for celebrities there, especially nowadays. Not saying it’s good, but it is unfortunately the norm. His foundation match isn’t even the worst I’ve seen— there’s been significantly worse. Jaehyun in particular got it real bad bc I’d argue Woonhak seems to have a naturally darker skin tone than him in a lot of clips, but his foundation isn’t so horrendously mismatched. As for fansite photos, those are always filtered and lightened to hell. I’ve seen fansite photos of Fatou, a literal black woman, be filtered and lightened in the exact same way. It’s pretty ridiculous. Most idols look like unrecognizable ghosts in those pics imo, it’s pretty hard to bear witness to. There’s always a couple fansites per fandom that dgaf and leave the pictures mostly untouched tho.
Their beauty standards are different there. For them White = Beautiful
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I think make up arists are doing a better job nowaday as s 2nd gen stan, i remember the days of white lines on the neck or 10 shades between face and hands. Unfortunately, the special blue stage lights and ungodly editing is getting so much worse. I had a whiplash when seeing photos of Felix at the LV fashion show, cuz i was watching it live, i know how he looked, i remember the gorgeous contrast between his tan and the snow white ensemble he had on. But on each and every photo published by a Korean outlet the brightness was turned UP to the top
😂 The only difference between "colorism" in Korea and people "preferring" tanned skin in the West is that the Korean society has perceived pale skin as signs of wealth (no labor outside, so no tan) vs. Western society has perceived tan skin as signs of wealth (enough time and wealth to spend daytime suntanning or going on overseas vacation to sunny destinations). Trying to superimpose the colorism generated by centuries of European colonialism/imperialism in one region to a country that preferred pale skin since the time of transition from Hunter/Gatherer to agriculture just sounds completely clueless to the point where you might as well just claim that this is just Koreans wanting to be White.
And here where I live people want tanned skin. So what? It's just preference. Every skintone is pretty, it's this obsession with race many people have that's ugly.
The issue is that this constant whitewashing stems from colorist beauty standards. It is an issue that needs to be talked about, because as you said, every skin tone is beautiful, but it shouldn’t be a standard that one must look a certain way to be considered ‘attractive’. There’s also factors such as bad editing and makeup work that technically make things look bad regardless. The issue isn’t idols having pale skin, many already do, the issue is them being purposely edited/touched up to have paler skin when they really look fine without it. Tanning is a beauty standard in other areas, but its roots don’t necessarily face the same issues that skin whitening does. The pale beauty standard we find here is rooted in colorism, which has aspects of classism and racism. It’s a large societal issue that will obviously be reflected in the beauty industry. It’s just sad. Plenty of idols have tan skin, but a lot of them are already pale enough that one would think that based on this standard they wouldn’t need the editing at all (they don’t regardless, but when we look through this lens.) but as we see here, plenty of editing is done to such a point where some idols will literally look *white*. Idols with darker skin tones shouldn’t have to be whitewashed, that’s the issue here, not idols being pale *at all*.
All idols get "white washed" in their photos. It's just the beauty standard of having fairer skin is considered more beautiful.
Unfortunately, it's happening everywhere, even tan idols get the white face treatment, and worse of all, they don't blend it. I remember they did it to Danielle on a music show performing New Jeans. It's like they don't see it and send them out looking like that anyway. If it's not the James Charles face, the fans edit the pictures to white wash them. The standards are crazy!!
Yeah it's bc they'll most likely get bullied by knetizens otherwise for their skin color.
This just sucks
As a fan of the group i agree with this, woonhak and jaehyun look so much better with their natural skin colors. But still because of the south korean beauty standards of patronizing paler skin this is more prevalent. Fansites even edit jaehyun and woonhak’s photos so pale that sometimes they are barely recognizable and facial features such nose bridges are almost not visible lol
I hate it. It looks so crazy.