Ask a K-pop fan who is responsible for TWICE’s on-stage look and one name comes back: Won Jungyo. She is the makeup director behind some of the most recognisable faces in the industry, and since launching her own label she has moved from working on idols to selling the products that shape them.
The artist behind the looks
Won Jungyo works as the makeup director for TWICE at JYP Entertainment, and in an interview with fashion tech news she is described as the exclusive makeup artist for four members of the group as well as BLACKPINK’s ROSÉ. Her client list stretches well beyond those two acts: Rolling Stone India lists work with Bae Suzy, Girls’ Generation’s Seohyun, Kwon Eunbi and LE SSERAFIM.
Her route into the profession was not direct. She studied art in college before enrolling at a makeup academy in Seoul, then worked at a Seoul beauty salon early in her career. She also runs a YouTube channel where she talks through K-pop skincare and makeup, which is where a lot of international fans first encounter her.
Aegyo sal, and a case for doing less
If one technique is attached to her name, it is aegyo sal — the softly highlighted band under the eye, sometimes translated as “tear bag” makeup. fashion tech news calls her “a pioneer in the art of tear bag makeup”, and it has become the detail fans try to copy most often.
What sits behind it is a broader preference. Rolling Stone India describes her as a champion of “au-naturel, minimal makeup looks” — an approach that reads as restraint rather than coverage, and that explains why her work translates so readily to everyday routines.
She is also clear about where makeup sits in the hierarchy of a performance. “Music is the most important element to every musician,” she told Rolling Stone India, “but hair and makeup makes them shine when it’s their moment on stage.”
From the chair to the shelf
The brand came out of the job. Asked why she launched a cosmetics line, Won Jungyo explained that the ideas grew out of the work itself: “Through my experience as a makeup artist, the ideas of ‘if these two could come together’ and ‘having such an item would be great’ naturally emerged.”
She has described building a brand as “my long-held dream”, and positions herself as what she calls a recognised cosmetics enthusiast — someone who was going to end up formulating products sooner or later.
The positioning is deliberate. According to fashion tech news, the line pairs “items crafted with professional techniques and a keen sense of style” with “attractive pricing”, which is the balance most idol-adjacent beauty brands aim for and few land. The same piece notes that products tend to sell out quickly after release and that the brand has won a number of cosmetics awards.
Why it resonates with fans
Idol beauty is usually admired at a distance: the look belongs to the stage, the styling team and a budget none of it is shared with the audience. A makeup director selling her own products collapses that distance. The techniques fans watch on stage and the items behind them come from the same person, which is a materially different proposition from a celebrity licensing their name to a formula they had no part in.
That is also why her YouTube channel matters more than a standard brand account would. The method is explained by the person who invented the version of it fans are trying to copy.
What we still do not know
Won Jungyo has said she intends to keep working as a makeup artist while continuing to “create new products under my name, for my label”. Neither source consulted here sets out the brand’s full product range or its retail footprint market by market, so shoppers should check the brand’s own channels for what is currently available where they are.