This Lip Color from Korea Gets Our Stamp of Approval

By Kaitlyn Dreyling / May 1, 2014

Beauty standards differ depending on where you are in the world, and so do the products that promise to make you prettier. In our Globetrotter series, we highlight our weirdest and most worthwhile finds from overseas.

It's a well-known fact that Korean girls take their beauty routines pretty seriously, but they know how to have fun with it, too. There are plenty of ways to package lip color: a traditional lipstick bullet, a tube of gloss with a doe foot applicator or a squeezable tube of creamy color. But leave it to Korean brand THEFACESHOP to turn the task of applying lipstick into something fun and unexpected. Lovely Me:Ex Love Mark Tint features a pot of lip color in pink, orange or red and a lip-shaped stamp for pressing onto your pout.

Sure, it looks cute, but it's actually the perfect way to give your lips a hint of color with a softer look than the harsh edges lipstick can leave. Open the base with the lip color, then pop off the stamp and dip it in the lip tint. Once the spongy applicator has enough pigment, simply stamp it on your lips. The applicator is a bit smaller than my actual lips, but it's easy enough to maneuver to apply the color all over your lips, or just to concentrate the shade in the center for a gradient look. The nice thing is that the color is buildable, so you can opt for a hint of color or keep layering on more pigment for a bold impact. It reminds me of the way makeup artists use their fingers to tap lip color onto models' lips backstage at Fashion Week, except you can do it yourself without getting a trace of pigment on your fingertips. Plus, whip this out of your makeup bag and it's an instant conversation starter.

I bought mine at THEFACESHOP boutique in New York's Koreatown, but you can head on over to Amazon.com to grab your own for a mere $8!