Laneige Goes Their Most High Fashion Yet With This Makeup Collection

Fashion runways have long relied on makeup to realise their visions, whether it’s kohl-rimmed eyes for rockstar affairs, or flushed blush for an ethereal collection, but what if we challenged this a little more — what if fashion and beauty truly worked hand in hand, for the greater good and all that? Well, you might end up with this: the LANEIGE Meets Fashion collection that marries those twin realms for, possibly, the sole purpose of making our hearts flutter. Just look at this:

Tell us you aren’t swooning yet. Korean beauty brand LANEIGE makes it a point to team up with a rising Korean fashion label every year, to present to us a limited edition makeup range that you’ll want to collect due to the sheer beauty of its new packaging. And yes, this usually brings across the two brands’ visual identities in an exciting way, so let’s go ahead and take a look at this year’s, shall we?
LANEIGE x YCH
The 2017 collection is a far cry from their past collaborations, but we love it; those were very cute collections that featured owls or playful illustrated hearts, but now, we’re seeing the Korean beauty brand working together with a fashion line that’s far more edgy, a nod to the growing worldwide recognition of Seoul Fashion Week: YCH.
The trendy Korean fashion brand, led by designer Yoon Choon Ho, combines elements of femininity with punk, which explains why celebrities, including the ultimate trendsetter RiRi, have been loving his designs. As part of his Fall/Winter 2017 collection, he imbues plenty of 80s glam styles into his looks — in particular, three specially-designed pieces that show off a textured herringbone pattern on wool, which forms a backdrop for fun pastel pink or blue polka dots.
The label’s modern glam appeal and youthful electricity is something that appeals to LANEIGE too. While better known for soft k-beauty looks seen on girly faces Song Hye Kyo and Lee Sung Kyung, a collaboration like that gives the brand a more spunky edge, which make the long-standing favourites of BB Cushions and Two Tone Lip Bars far more enticing too. Just so you know, the latter comes in mysterious, darker shades — score!
The Makeup Collection
The LANEIGE x YCH collection includes: two colour-correcting bases, the Skin Veil Base Dot Cushion in Light Purple and Light Green; the Eyebrow Cushion-cara; as well as four new shades of the Two Tone Matte Lip Bar, and yes you heard that right, this is a trendy matte formula we’re talking about.

It’s also immediately obvious that the product packaging takes its cues from the YCH runway. Holding these cushions feel particularly luxurious; the case is swathed in the actual fabric you see on the models though, with a clear film on top that ensures its longevity, while the Skin Veil Base Dot Cushion in purple comes with beautiful deep maroon around the sides, and pink-metallic details. You’ll also want to open them up because:

LANEIGE Skin Veil Base Dot Cushion SPF 14 PA+, $48
Yep, there are polka dots on the cushion itself! These pearly white dots serve an added function to brighten the look of your skin too, and actually contain Water Bank Essence ingredients for a more hydrating formula overall. As for the ever-popular Two Tone Matte Lip Bars, these also come with the polka dots on the outside, and we’re already loving the darker, bolder lip gradients. Our favourite has to be No.1 Burgundy Mood, a romantic blood red, with the moody rose shade of the No.2 Red Cashmere not trailing far behind.

LANEIGE Two Tone Matte Lip Bar, $36

LANEIGE Eyebrow Cushion-cara, $36
With all this excitement in the air, we figured that the only thing left to do is… to play with them! For that, we invited four girls to our office for a quick photoshoot — each with their distinct styles and fashion-related backgrounds, to create four inspiring looks that show off the LANEIGE x YCH collection at its best. Feel free to cop the looks if you want, we won’t judge!

Grace Lim, Fashion Stylist
One look at her Instagram page, and you can see why Grace’s sense of style works so well with this season’s LANEIGE collaboration — the young fashion lover looks very much like a Korean street style star herself, with her bangs and cropped bob, and a wardrobe of laidback yet quirky wear. Despite her petite frame and saccharine gaze, she carries off these oversized looks effortlessly, and well, probably even better thanks to that contrast. We were also delighted to find out that she frequently shops at our two favourite haunts in Seoul too, Stylenanda and Åland! As for her day job, Grace tells us that she’s been a freelance stylist for three years, and probably due to her graphic design background, often favours styles with “bold colours and prints, structured looks, or colour blocking”. She’s also always on the lookout to add a pop of colour to otherwise minimal looks too, and you can see that the orangey tones in her makeup here do just that to lift the entire look.

Here, the Skin Veil Base Dot Cushion in Light Green was particularly useful too, but you’ll never be able to tell — which is the whole point, really! No, it doesn’t turn you into Frankenstein’s Monster; instead, what the green tinge does is to seamlessly blend into the skin, for an even base that cancels out any redness. Makeup artist Dollei Seah patted this around the nose area to create the illusion of flawless skin. It’s good to know that the new white polka dots on the product also contain Water Bank Essence ingredients that hydrate the skin too.
Makeup for Grace
1. BB Cushion _Pore Control in No.23
2. Edge Drawing Eyeliner Pen in Deep Black
3. Ideal Blush Duo in No.2 Peach Mint
4. Skin Veil Base Dot Cushion SPF 14 PA+ in Light Purple (on eyelids + undereye area)
5. Eyebrow Cushion-cara in No.2 Two-Tone Brown
6. Ideal Shadow Quad in No.1 Tangled Tangerine
7. Two Tone Matte Lip Bar in No.4 Fitting Rose
8. Skin Veil Base Dot Cushion SPF 14 PA+ in Light Green
On Grace: Shirt by YCH; necklace by Bimba Y Lola.

Cheyenne Chesney, Model
Forgive us for ruining the illusion, but the most surprising thing we found out about Cheyenne was this: she’s only 16 years old! It was a pretty funny sight to see her stroll into our studio while still wearing her school uniform, but no matter — with the right makeup and a matter of seconds in front of the camera, she transformed into the stunning, sophisticated beauty you’ll see here. She is, after all, a model. Other than fronting campaigns and doing commercials (she recently did one for Maggi’s 5-Minute Cup Pasta), the Basic Models girl, of Brit-Chinese descent, also manages to juggle school work and both her netball and tennis CCAs, although she’s totally unfazed when asked. “It’s quite okay actually, they don’t clash,” she says confidently, while also sharing that she tends to do her studying during the downtime in between sets. How sensible!

Makeup-wise, we like that Dollei went a bit darker on her lips, for a cool after-school vibe, which takes advantage of LANEIGE’s new matte formula — the highly-pigmented shade glides on a smooth velvety texture, achieved due to a gel formula that coats and fills the uneven parts of the lips, so you won’t walk away with the typical dryness of other matte lipsticks. No.1 Burgundy Mood is also a daring shade that stands out, with the romantic pink and dark red blending together nicely for those alluring lips.
Makeup for Cheyenne
1. BB Cushion _Pore Control in No.21 ; BB Cushion _Pore Control in No.13 (on eyes)
2. Ideal Blush Duo in No.1 Lily Lavender
3. Ideal Shadow Quad in No.8 All Shook Up
4. Two Tone Matte Lip Bar in No.1 Burgundy Mood
5. Lash-fessional Mascara in No.2 Wine Brown

On Cheyenne: Coat by YCH; earrings by Bimba Y Lola.

Valerie Wang, Fashion Blogger and Founder of store UNDA
You may already know Valerie as a fashion blogger, and certainly, her Instagram feed‘s a picture-perfect curation of #OOTDs. Recently, she seems to have a bias for ruffles, flared pants and pastel hues, though she usually throws on a choker or leather jacket to balance out the sweetness — that’s really the essence of Valerie’s personal style, and why she’s easily LANEIGE’s pick for this edgy collection. Here, you’ll see her in cute pink polka dots, but don’t be fooled because she still manages to carry off those oversized shoulders with ease, along with a set of deliberately-tarnished metal jewellery that she happened to be wearing that day. She’s also been making waves with her fashion label, store UNDA, which aptly means ‘waves’ in Latin; it’s a business she set up herself, which explains this set of #girlboss challenges — designing, manufacturing and liaising with a local seamstress, marketing, photoshoot styling, and even building the website, for a start. Still, she doesn’t quite mind since starting a label has long been a dream of hers. “I enjoy being creative, even for my Instagram pictures, I try to input some of those artistic vibes,” says the LASALLE graduate.

As for someone with that fierce, enterprising spirit, it seems like bold eyebrows are a must too, especially when these face-framers are such an essential part of the k-beauty style. You can rock this with the Eyebrow Cushion-cara, an unusual liquid-to-powder formula that makes it incredibly easy to get your brows right, because you don’t wanna spend five precious minutes in the morning fixing them, do you? The two-tone cushion is great if you want to customise your own colours too, and since LANEIGE is an Asian brand, the lasting colours are specially formulated to fit our hair and eye colours!
Makeup for Valerie
1. BB Cushion _Whitening in No.13
2. Creamy Crystal Eyeliner Waterproof in No.3 Cinnamon Brown
3. Two Tone Matte Lip Bar in No.3 Powershoulder Pink
4. Ideal Shadow Quad in No.7 Rosebay Garden
5. Lash-fessional Mascara in No.2 Wine Brown
6. Ideal Blush Duo in No.4 California Coral
7. Eyebrow Cushion-cara in No.2 Two-Tone Brown

On Valerie: Dress by YCH.

Cheryl Faith Ho, Photographer
Here’s someone that’s a bit of a mystery. Yes, we’ve seen Cheryl’s photography work on the profiles of a few familiar faces, including Narelle Kheng or Christabel Chua, but a thorough scroll through her own Instagram feed reveals startlingly little about the girl behind the lens, only a half-covered face. Trust us, we tried. That said, Cheryl has an eye for the ethereal in her pictures, often challenging herself by shooting outdoors, which she says helps to create the dreamy, experimental effect of her photography — in fact, she loves shooting portraits, and takes particular pride in being able to creating a certain mood based on the expressions of her model. Since picking up the skill about three years ago, simply because she “wanted to take pictures of her friends and make them look good”, she has since worked with plenty of personalities, as well as a stint at Seoul Fashion Week with local label ATLASTA, which explains the edgy Korean good-lookers on her feed. Still, you’ll agree that she cleans up pretty good for the camera here.

There’s a graceful mystery to Cheryl’s look here, and the monochromatic makeup’s achieved by first, blending the warm browns of the eye palette with a light touch of red, as well as combining the matte lipsticks, primarily with a rosy shade on the outer edge of the lips, followed by a touch of the lighter shade of the burgundy lipstick. You’ll realise that the eyeshadow still stands out despite her flowy hair. Say hello to this neat makeup tip then! Basically, Dollei tapped the Skin Veil Base Dot Cushion in Light Purple on the eyelids, for a sheer base that allows the colours to pop more; and we all know that purple has the function of brightening dull skin. Now you know — the next time you fear looking too pale if it’s all over your face, just do the same!
Makeup for Cheryl
1. BB Cushion _Anti-Aging in No.31
2. Ultra Long-lasting Eyeliner in No.2 Dark Brown
3. Ideal Blush Duo in No.3 Juicy Rose
4. Skin Veil Base Dot Cushion SPF 14 PA+ in Light Purple (on eyelids)
5. Eyebrow Cushion-cara in No.2 Two-Tone Brown
6. Ideal Shadow Quad in No.10 Red Fox Fur
7. Two Tone Matte Lip Bar in No.4 Fitting Rose
8. Two Tone Matte Lip Bar in No.1 Burgundy Mood
9. Lash-fessional Mascara in No.2 Wine Brown

On Cheryl: Shirt by YCH.

Photography by Adele Chan, taken with a Nikon Df
Hair & Makeup by Dollei Seah.
Styling by Josiah Chua.
There you go! Like us, you should be tempted to get your hands on the new collection already — and we’ll let you in on a way you can snag the pieces before anyone else.

LANEIGE x YCH Collection, $36 for the Two Tone Matte Lip Bar and Eyebrow Cushion-cara and $48 for the Skin Veil Base Dot Cushion SPF 14 PA+. Available from 4 September at LANEIGE boutiques and counters, as well as Lazada and Zalora. laneige.com.sg