If you’re into your K-dramas, you’ll know advertising and product placement play quite a role in them. It can be laughable at times with how obvious it is with certain products. K-drama stars also look simply perfect when it comes to skincare and make-up. Rest assured, if a star is wearing a certain product on their face in a popular drama, it will sell like hot cakes and be all the rage among its fans. It’s pretty good advertising, to be honest. Who wouldn’t want a face like Park Shin Hye, or Song Hye Kyo? These stars of Doctors and Descendants of the Sun are hot news here in Korea. They’re used in adverts and whacked on posters inside make-up shops everywhere. Their advertising hasn’t really worked on me much. Until now.

Follow Laneige/Aritaum (who sell Laneige products) on Instagram and you’ll be met with shots of K-drama stars looking fabulous, like this:

So beautiful! I’m currently watching Doctors, too, so I get to see quite a lot of products in action. The one being promoted all over Instagram, Facebook and in adverts over here, is the Laneige Two Tone Lip Bar. It’s basically a lipstick with two colours, some distinct, and some less so. I was most intrigued by it, particularly one which popped out at me from their pictures – it seems to be the colour they’re pushing most, and I can see why. A beautiful reddish pink mixed with…yellow? For lipstick? Are you sure?

This particular shade, or shades, I suppose, is called ‘Juicy Pop’, and looks like this:

It just looks good enough to eat, doesn’t it? The full range contains ten different styles, with interesting combinations such as white and orange as well as the yellow/red one pictured above. It is advertised as an ‘ombre’ lip colour. You apply the lighter colour to the outside of your lip, and the darker one on the inside.

Above are some of the colours you can find, plus pictures of the two tone eye colour they have also released. The above picture shows the yellow/red combination, Juicy Pop (no. 11). The picture below shows the full range:

As you can see, it even lists the actresses’ names under the colours they’re promoting. The K-drama advertising in this one is strong.

The two tone lip bar is:

“a combination of high glossy and semi-matte lipstick”

It claims to have high pigmentation, in order to give a more vibrant colour. It is advertised as moisturising and creamy, giving a glossy look whilst not being a lip gloss itself. I was pretty interested in trying it, and when it was announced Aritaum were having a 30% off event on these lip colours, I went for it. Rest assured, this product is flying off the shelves. I went to three shops before I found the Juicy Pop shade. Finally, after a long, hot walk to find it, and after almost giving up, I was able to buy it, and take it home to give it a try.

Laneige Two Tone Lip Bar

First things first – the packaging. The design is simple, with minimal colours. The box is silver, and the lipstick itself is a shiny silver/white combo, with the colour peeping out the bottom. The product is pushed from the side rather than twisted, like many lipsticks. You push down in order to release more of it. Overall, I like the packaging and look of the product, although the silver is a little too bling bling in my opinion.

The RRP is 23,000 won (€18.30/$20.20/15.35GBP), but I got it at 30% off.

Next, I tried on the product. Earlier in this post, I showed you a picture of Sung Kyung wearing the lipstick – she seems to have very yellow outer lips. The colour pops in the picture, and it looks like the two shades are very distinct. In real life, it doesn’t look quite like this…but that’s a good thing. At first, when I applied the lipstick, I was disappointed with how the colours looked, but after a few minutes’ wear, they appeared slightly clearer and you could certainly see an ombre effect. The outer lips are an orange tone, whilst the inner part is a summery pink. I feel like my lips took a trip to Hawaii. Below is a before/after, with my lips make-up free, and then with the lipstick applied.

The colour is much brighter in real life. You can just about see the lighter shade of orange at the sides. This is again, much more distinct when not in a picture. You can see my poor dry lips, and the change from the shine this lipstick gives when applied initially.

The application is light, and definitely moisturising. I have quite dry lips at the moment and this, unlike a lot of my lip tints and lipsticks, doesn’t dry them out at all. I often get the urge to drink a lot of water when wearing certain tints! This lipstick is hydrating, and the end effect is one of a slightly shiny gloss. It doesn’t stain the lips as much as others I’ve tried, but it doesn’t rub off easily (I drank coffee, gabbed away to a friend, dabbed it with tissue, and after several hours it wasn’t shiny any longer, but it was still there, looking pretty good). My lips feel really good, and they don’t look over the top. It gives a nice, fresh look, which is perfect for a hot summer day.

before/after

Would I recommend this product? You bet I would. It’s one of the best lipsticks I’ve used in Korea so far (my others are Peri Peri, Code, Club Clio, and the Face Shop). Granted, this is a higher quality lipstick than the others I have, with a higher price…but it’s completely worth it.

After an hour or so – excuse the stupid hair, I was cleaning and I hate having it in my face.

I love this lipstick, and can’t wait to try some of the other shades, such as the white/red combo. I think it’s something different, and it works really well. It earns big points from how moisturising and fresh it makes my lips feel, too. I’d certainly repurchase. This earns a big 5/5 for me. Easily my favourite new lipstick!