Recreating the makeup of 'The Squid Game' (Netflix) goes viral on TikTok

When the protagonist of the series of the moment adds almost ten million followers on Instagram and has a solid career as a top model in South Korea, it is a matter of time before social networks are filled with people imitating her look. HoYeon Jung, the protagonist of 'The Squid Game', the Netflix series that has brought Korean dramas closer to an international audience of various ages and nationalities, is responsible for the multiplication of photographs of people with faces on TikTok and Instagram. emaciated and full of bruises. The game has begun.

Why is everyone talking about 'The Squid Game'

First, nothing like putting neonates in context in South Korean audiovisual culture. The premiere of 'The Squid Game' on September 17 managed to sneak the fiction series into the top 10 of the most watched in the week in several countries and the first place in the United States. The fashionable fiction narrates the tactics of a diverse group of players who put their lives on the line to win a prize of 45.6 billion won. The 456 participants who start the adventure, locked in an unknown place, face each other in traditional Korean games but, in the case of losing, they die.

These conditions mean that, of course, most of the series its protagonists appear bloodied, with visible signs of fatigue, disheveled and sweaty... And so begins the viral challenge on TikTok. HoYeon Jung, the model and actress who plays Kang Sae-byeok, one of the participants in 'The Squid Game', has become the character to imitate on different social networks. She may have something to do with the fact that she is friends with Blackpink singer Jennie.

Precisely, it all started when the actress shared a time lapse on social networks in which she showed her makeup and hairdressing sessions in the dressing rooms of the series. Kang Sae-byeok's tousled hair is the result of curlers, hair dryers and a lot of wrist play, while makeup is a compendium of steps and products that has aroused the curiosity of fans of the series.

@WilliamAPittman @Staya_Stray I want to add, if she wants greater intervention like medication or behavior modifies… https://t.co/Bh8HpyjCyc

— Happy Buddha Sun Oct 25 22:29:19 +0000 2020

Challenge 1: get a haircut

The first step is to recreate the haircut of the protagonist, a layered mane at the height of the chin with which the jaw is framed and a very seventies look is achieved. The curtain type bangs, with very little hair but a little longer, start from the top of her head, getting lost with the rest of the layers, to create a more messy aesthetic. Do they use a wig to become the protagonist of the series? No, ladies and gentlemen, this is TikTok, here you get a real haircut.

Scissors in hand and with a lot of concentration, men and women cut their bangs live, taking the height of the eyes as a reference, so that they are covered with the classic curtain veil. The haircut, which has yet to be christened, may be reminiscent of the super-short bob that was all the rage in South Korea and Japan a few years ago, but this one calls for a longer length and a messy hairstyle.

Squid effect makeup

But the most addictive moment of watching the videos of 'The Squid Game', whether on Twitter, Instagram or TikTok, is without a doubt the final result, when the makeup has already done its magic. Unlike other viral challenges, there is no step-by-step tutorial here, just a very quick transition in which to see the before and after, so each one uses their knowledge to recreate the features of the actress, the wounds of his face and even details such as the opening of his gaze.

Those who share the step by step, as the protagonist of 'The Squid Game' did on her Instagram account, come to glue their upper eyelids to open their eyes more and emulate the rounded shape of HoYeon Jung's eyes, create the freckles or even make lips look dehydrated. The work on dark circles is perhaps the most striking, since very realistic results can be observed in which the concealer becomes precisely an enhancer of redness or puffiness.

Another maxim of Korean makeup, the Aeygo Sal, a fine elongated bag that is marked under the lower eyelid and that is nothing more than an accumulation of fat that in South Korea is highlighted with highlighter, is also not lacking in the different videos that appear on social platforms.

Once again Netflix dictates the makeup and hairdressing trends of the season as it did with 'Lady's Gambit' or 'Emily in Paris', the only thing is that now the viral thing is to recreate tiredness... Are we facing the costume Halloween 2021?