“What’s going on with the stage lighting?!”

How much makeup do K-Pop idols have to wear? Aespa Karina‘s recent Instagram update—compared to the photos and videos of her taken on stage—captured the dramatic change that happens to an idol’s face on and off the camera.

The update showed Karina’s makeup in natural lighting.

While gorgeous nonetheless, Karina did seem to be wearing a lot of makeup. From the heavy blush work to the very obvious “aegyosal” (or under-eye) drawn on, and even the lip color smudging over her actual lips, the whole look seemed to be applied on extra thick, dark, and exaggerated.

Then, photos and videos taken from aespa’s Show! Music Core performance showed Karina’s makeup under stage lighting. The spotlight softened all of the colors, giving the idol a more natural look.

Koreans marveled over how the makeup artist must have envisioned the completed look under the stage lighting even before going in with their brush.

• “Wow. That’s like cinema makeup.”
• “I had no idea that’s how her aegyosal makeup looked.”
• “What happened to all the color under her eye?! With lighting that harsh, idols should take better care of their vision, too…”
• “How did the MUA even figure out how much makeup will be faded by the lighting? LOL. She looks great.”
• “I guess doing makeup for idols is more complicated because the MUAs have to think about how the stage lighting will change the final look.”
• “No wonder professional MUAs pound on the makeup. The final look has to take the stage lighting into consideration, too. Her on-stage makeup looks great.”

• “It’s like cinema makeup.”
• “Wow, look at how much makeup went over and around her actual lips, too. That’s how much she has to wear.”
• “On camera, her aegyosal and her lips didn’t look weird or exaggerated. I guess the stage lighting really flashes everything away.”
• “I guess the makeup has to be Peking opera level to even be visible on camera.”
• “Whoa… Look how much makeup she was wearing under the eyes and around the lips. But they all fade under the spotlight.”
• “The lighting got rid of all the aegyosal and lip makeup… What’s going on with the stage lighting?!”

Read more about how lighting can sometimes spark misunderstandings, too.

Source: theqoo