BLACKPINK’s Makeup Artist Maeng Explains How The Members Came Up With Their Looks For “How You Like That”

In an interview last year, BLACKPINK revealed they often give their own creative input to the group’s music producers—but they don’t stop there. Alongside helping to craft the music itself, they also give their input on styling. BLACKPINK’s makeup artist, Lee Myeong Seon (better known as “Maeng” to BLINKs), recently sat down with Allure Korea to explain how the members helped come up with their own looks in the “How You Like That” music video.

Maeng said that after working with BLACKPINK for a long time, the members often prepare drafts of makeup ideas they want to try before the music video shoot. For “How You Like That”, both Jisoo and Jennie came to the makeup artist with their own ideas.

The hanbok scene in “How You Like That” attracted tons of attention both in Korea and internationally. While the outfits were the highlight, the makeup needed to complement it just as well—and that’s where Jisoo came in.

Maeng explained that Jisoo came up with the dot makeup idea, bringing her own drafts of looks she wanted to try.

The look was created with black beads in some scenes and eyeliner in others. Although she was worried that the makeup would look plain compared to the other members, Maeng says it came out well in the end.

Jennie also gave Maeng makeup ideas for the “How You Like That” music video. In the hanbok scene, Maeng revealed that she received feedback from the company to make Jennie’s makeup simple and chic to match her outfit, which was somewhat different to the other members’.

In the snowy white scene, however, Jennie told Maeng she wanted a different makeup look. Maeng’s original idea was to use eyeshadow as an accent. However, Jennie’s suggestion to make the eye makeup stand out more under the lights led Maeng to use inner corner eye gems instead.

In another scene, Jennie asked Maeng to create a makeup look that matched her fancy hair jewellery. She wanted an accent on her face that wasn’t too strong, like a simple tear drop. So, Maeng connected multiple gems in a tear shape on the spot.

The makeup artist also talked about how Rosé and Lisa’s looks came to life. For the hanbok scene, she gave Rosé a “mysterious feeling” by adding some silver false lashes to create a soft shining reflection. As for Lisa, Maeng matched her eyeshadow color to the pink wig and added a red lip accent.

She went on to say that she was disappointed that Rosé’s makeup in the snow scene was overlooked in the music video. Maeng combined bold eyeliner, black eyeshadow, and chunky glitter to create an eye-catching eye makeup look, which Rosé complimented.

Last but not least, for Lisa’s solo rap, Maeng had to scrap her original makeup idea because it was too strong for the overall vibe of the scene. Instead, she decided to accentuate Lisa’s cupid’s bow and lower lips with leaf-shaped nail gems. She also added bold winged eyeliner rather than her usual straight eyeliner.