This and makeup, insane editing and many other beauty procedures. They have the money to do everything. Not to mention most of their photos and videos are heavily whitewashed. It's the Korean beauty standard killing our self esteem.

Genetics, facials and regular dermatology visits, mostly healthy diet, regular exercise, makeup, lighting and editing.

Idols get very few hours of sleep daily, so many actually have pretty terrible skin. They have youth on their side, but many deal with acne and texture issues too. Glutathione injections help reverse a tan, but doesn’t bleach skin.

Many idols also look lighter due to harsh stage lighting. Once they come off it, they appear darker.

I worked in entertainment and dealt with celebrities constantly.

This is the answer. Basically frequent visits to their dermatologists for lasers, injections, and IV drips.

Indoors all the day erday until debut. Avoiding the sun is the best way to do it. Also, they get facial treatments. Using products alone won't achieve the super smooth skin many have.

Glutathione injections only help with reversing sun tans, not with texture, acne and other skin issues.

Access to the best: Filters/photoshop, surgery, cosmetic procedures, dieticians/chefs, skin bleaching, a whole glam team…..

Loads of makeup and filters. Half their job is literally their face lol. You can see sometimes in vlives if they’re not using filters or wearing makeup but yeah that’s why makeup artists and editors exist

Regular dermatology appointments or just pure genes.

Tips.. Hydrate all the time (because under your eyes, your skin is thin so it shows more) and use a colour corrector / concealor / vitamin c serum.. If you have disposable income.. going to a good dermatologist is worth it.

Edit: A good sunscreen!!

Heavy editing and filters. For example, here is Taemin's photo from Dream concert where his under-eyes look perfect, and here is same event, slightly less edited photo, where you can see dark circles. (he still looked hot as fck though)

Heavy makeup and flattering lighting.

Hmm I think it depends on the idol. Most k-pop idols have dermatologists to help them manage skin concerns so that would definitely help. Or it could be that they're just not prone to dark undereye circles.

The stage lights make a huuuuge difference and lots of pics are filtered or edited, even some fan taken photos. A lot of times when idols promote in the US and have unfiltered pictures or interviews they look a lot less pale

A lot of fancams and pictures are edited to be whitewashed. See this example: this is Haechan of NCT, he is known to have a honey skin but you will find so many whitewashed pictures (that i forgot at time how beautiful his actual skin color is). And this is not an isolated incident. A load of idols pictures etc are retouched to look more fair skinned.

https://preview.redd.it/wn4lk69ufx5c1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=92bc9563f29067f4e809bd7900bf3610a55ccd3a

lights are a huge deal nowadays. led lights allowed brighter and more focused light with color options. eg. music shows have used purple/cold blue tinted lights to wash out yellow pigments and sm has done the same in some aespa pics and videos.

Glutathione injections, very light makeup, lighting and filters.

Makeup, avoiding the sun, and glutathione injections.

That’s not their actual skin tone, they wear full body makeup which you can look up. There’s been pictures where you see their natural skin in a spot that’s hard for makeup to stay.

There’s “flawless skin” is tons of photoshop, filters, lighting, etc. their whole job is to be an “idol”. It’s literal, so the companies behind them make them into one. There’s a lot of documentaries on the horrors of K-pop idols.

Yeah, OP was asking about the pale and clear skin so I didn’t go on a full rant on the horrible treatment of Kpop stars. They starve themselves yet also workout constantly. It’s just terrible how they’re treated

They have an entire village of a glam team looking after them and doing god knows what procedures. No surprise that their appearance isn’t achievable for us ordinary earthlings.

They avoid the sun, use great sunscreen every day, use bb and cc creams, and have great digital artists.

Yea mostly they have an elastic glass skin which i dont think we can achieve because its the genes and the diet. I still try to maintain my diet as much as possible and use products like spf50, moisturiser from la roche posay and tret from skinorac_.

They have people to style them- dress them, do their hair and makeup, their diet and workouts, access to the best dermatologists, dentists, etc. That plus growing up since predebut many of them are still children. Generally people do have a glow up from age 12-13 to age 20.

Plastic surgery, trained makeup artists, nutritionists and physical trainers. Basically the glow up is because of money.

While idols will generally have a fairly high level of inherent natural beauty, the idol levels of beauty that you see on camera are due to several factors, all of which can be attained with money.

1. Plastic surgery. Korea has some of the best plastic surgeons in the world. Typically idols will have subtle things done like nose or double eyelid surger. This is something anyone can do with money.

2. Professional makeup artists. It takes hours for idols to have their make up done. Remember they have the best tools and cosmetics money can buy along with years of training and experience to make people look amazing. This is a bit harder to do unless you can afford to hire a full time make up artist.

3. Nutrionists/dieticians/physical trainers. The diets of idols are closely monitored and they will typically work with physical trainers to set up a physical regiment to keep them in good condition. This is also something that anyone can really do if they have the money to do so.

4. Beauty treatments. Idols will typically go to dermatologists or health clinics to get beauty treatments. Dermatologists can prescribe prescription grade medicine that you can't get over the counter as well as detail what beauty regiment they need to follow to maintain their skin. Laser treatments are very common for removing acne scars to essentially polish smooth the skin.

5. Skincare/Cosmetics. This isn't as important as you may think. Cosmetics help maintain an idol's appearance, but it can't drastically improve it; that's what beauty treatments and laser scalping is for.

tl:dr Idols have a natural level of beauty, but no one (not even supermodels) looks that good naturally. A lot of people can look good if they are willing to diet, exercise, and sink tens of thousands of dollars into maintaining it.

It's literally their job to look as good as possible, so they have way more time/money to invest into that than the average person does. Obv. some of that is plastic surgery/cosmetic procedures, but also having their hair/makeup done, working out regularly, and almost every photo/video of them is meant to be as flattering as possible (bc even fansites generally edit/choose the best photos of idols, for obvious reasons).

but seriously, lots of plastic surgery. I'm not talking about like, severe under-the-knife procedures like jaw reduction or w/e, but stuff like fillers/eyelid surgery/etc are really really common.

I only know of BTS' products. Jin, who has incredible skin, was filmed using Belif Classic Cream Ultimate. The guy endorses Laneige's Cream Toner but no idea if it's part of his daily routine.

J-Hope is particular with his skincare, the guy makes sure to use lots of sunscreen whenever he needs to be outdoors. While he was in the military, he asked his older sister for some toner pads because he just ran out of them. His sister, Jiwoo, has her own skin care line called Neaf Neaf, and yup, the line has something called Soothing Calm Toner Pad so it's likely that J-Hope's using that one.

All the guys regularly use sheet masks, so in addition to treatments perhaps that's helping them to keep their skin looking its best. Among the 7, the ones who are often praised for their great skin even sans makeup are Jin, Suga, and RM-- Jungkook calls this trio the Skin Gangsters lol

They eat well and exercise a lot, which results in good skin. Add to that treatments, consistent skin care routines and make up, you’ll end up getting a fresh look.

Huh Yunjin uses Make:Prem’s Safe Me cleansing foam. Her skincare routine is available on Vogue.

My Korean friend has flawless glass skin and when I asked her about the products that she used, she showed me all Western brands lol.

Think it’s mostly skincare treatments as when I was in SK they’re so cheap and easy to access (just send a WhatsApp or KKT message).

I had an aqua peel and it made my skin so amazing and smooth and cleared my nose of blackheads temporarily. It was about ₩90k and Juvelook and Rejuran were just a bit more so it would be affordable for them as they take an hour and you don’t need much except cleansing and moisturising afterwards. I think a lot of idols get glass skin Botox. Also filters and photoshop.

A lot of the SK public have nice but normal skin like anywhere else. I think because it’s easier to access dermatologists and treatments but they didn’t have perfect flawless poreless skin as they’re human. Keihls was very popular in SK and I think a lot of idols use it as well as La Roche Posay which was at Olive Young and popular and Zeroid too to prevent acne.

I think we can sum up the sunscreen market that we usually have access to into four types: US, European/Australian, Korean, Japanese

1. The US haven’t updated their allowed sunscreen filter list since the 70s or something, so the filters are older combinations and are less cosmetically elegant (white cast or greasy feeling). Typically sunscreen use by people are isolated to outdoor activities and not a daily habit. As a result formulations are also made to last through water and sweating so they are meant to be greasier and stickier.

2. Europe and Australia allows for newer sun filters so their sunscreens are a step up in protection as well as cosmetic elegance. You’ll likely get less white cast with European sunscreens than US sunscreens in general, though lots of brands are trying hard to improve in the US too. Still, application habits are the same as the US, so frequently their sunscreens are still greasier to account for sporting activities. Some european suncreen can be for everyday use too, they’re typically marketed as “day facial creams with SPF,” and are fairly lightweight and non-greasy. Eg. L’Oreal Bright Reveal Dark Spot cream

3. Korean sunscreens use newer filters and are frequently formulated for everyday use. There are some that are meant for sports so check if they are water resistant, many of the most popular ones on here are not. However, that’s exactly why they’re so lightweight and feel almost like a regular facial moisturizing cream. They tend to have a more dewy finish because Korea tends to have a drier climate so that’s what their local market prefers.

4. Japanese sunscreens are like Korean sunscreens in all aspects except they generally err more satin and matte in finish. Their sports sunscreen tend to be lighter than European counterparts as well, mostly because Japan gets more humid than Europe typically gets.

That’s the first thing I noticed when I switched to Korean sunscreen.

The main things I've noticed is they don't have that strong sunscreen smell, there is no white cast and they absorb really well, and they are very moisturizing so I don't have to use an additional moisturizer. I hated putting US sunscreen on my face because they are so thick and greasy and hard to rub in. Korean sunscreen feels like putting on a nice, gentle lotion.

Literally the same for me, my eyes burning ruined my whole day. I don't want to have panda eyes, so not putting sunscreen on around my eyes is not possible. So I gave up on US sunscreen, and just ordered the Skin1004 Centelle sunscreen this week. Hopefully it works for me.

Love Beauty of Josen. It has protected my head, face, ears, arms and hands in the hot, and I mean hot 🥵 SW Oklahoma heat without any problems. Love it under makeup, also. I always make sure I have plenty on hand. ❤️🌞

Better sunscreen filters, higher levels of SPF protection, more moisturizing so you may not need to use a separate moisturizer with it, none of classic sunscreen smell, and, in my case, they don’t typically trigger acne or hives like American ones do

Skin1004 Centelle sunscreen and Isehan Sunkiller

they do get several procedures and treatments done on their skin and hair—not necessarily always plastic surgery, though it is common. you can sometimes see these things shown or mentioned in second or early third gen content. idols also have a whole team of professional makeup artists and stylists behind them, and are taught tips on personal grooming and hygiene. plus, they're also given training on improving their personality and social skills, on how to present themselves confidently etc., and these things make a huge difference in how attractive and likeable idols seem to us. good lighting and professionally-taken (and often edited) pictures are another reason why idols look quite different from the average person.

Dermatologists, makeup and skincare, but very much filters - like, 99% of idol photos you’ve seen are heavily filtered, and they definitely don’t look flawless without them.

Like, here are photos of stray kids you can see were untouched - you can actually see their face lines, and they don’t look smoothed out like they do in most videos. Or this photo of V - you can see his skin texture in a way you don’t in 99% of photos from that day, because skin is obviously not flawless

(Obviously the photos aren’t the most flattering bc of the heavy foundation but like. Clearly these incredibly stunning idols do have human skin and pores bc they are human - no surgery/procedure/dermatology can change that)

Diet, fillers, plastic surgery, and significantly less make up before debut. A good example of a group of girls who clearly had fillers before debut was bugaboo. You can tell just about all the members had got filler and Eunchae has gotten skin whitening and a nose job. She was on produce 48 and I remember her because she had such a beautiful tan skin tone and now she’s pale is ghost. It also did not help the group that their teaser pictures were heavily edited and they gave them this uncanny valley look. Almost every idol you can go and look at their pre-debut pictures and point out something that has clearly changed in their face and it’s not age. I’m all for plastic surgery but it’s just so sad to see all these young teens talked into procedures . Also plastic surgery deniers crack me up because how come everybody in K-pop got the same 2-3 noses. Also a lot of times you may not recognize it because they’ll do it suddenly over a period of time and boom you’ll look up one day and you’ll realize that they’ve changed quite a bit since they debuted.

access to estheticians and aestheticians. professional skin care and grooming can dramatically change someone's appearance.

Dang, it's not letting me view V's pic :/

>pale, glass skin

Glutathione IV drips have become incredibly prevalent in the recent years. If you look at idols 10-15 years ago, you won't find the same look.

>Flawless without filters

Fillers and Botox are the primary players here.

>Do they get many procedures

Absolutely. I swear some companies won't even let idols debut without the usual fillers/Botox/rhinoplasty/some type of eyelid surgery combo.

Ok first off 25 isn’t old 😭 it’s wild people think anything past 20 is prehistoric but Anyways a lot of kpop fans are impressionable and look up to their idols and so because of this, a lot of them try to replicate their idols lifestyle. This includes using products that idols use, there’s also a certain level of trust a lot of kpop fans have for their idols so their mindset is that If (Insert idol) is using this then it must be good

I don't get it either. Is it the idea that you're like the Idol if you buy stuff they like? Cause the Idol isn't getting a commission on your purchase, lol.

The only thing I've ever wanted to try bc of an idol is maybe a candy that they don't have where I am. But that's just bc I love trying snacks from other countries.

We are old, I don't care either

That comes off very obsessive to buy everything your idol promotes or uses.

The few things I have tried (mainly from a YouTuber who lives in Korea) is Korean skincare. It has helped my skin and I love the cosrex pimple patches.