Be the K-pop idol you (desperately) want to be

There are levels to being a K-pop fan. Level one is when you’re a casual listener. You enjoy bopping your head to hit songs like “Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du” by Blackpink (did we spell that right, Blinks?), “Love Scenario” by Ikon (a cultural reset, IMO), or “Fantastic Baby” by Bigbang (an all-time classic)—but you never really bothered to know their names or birthdays. You’re still in your denial phase and insist, “I like some songs, but I don’t like K-pop.” Sure, Jan.

Level two is exclusively stanning one group. “If *insert group name here* disbands, I’ll leave the K-pop stan world” is what you’d probably say. You don’t care about other groups. And you only unmute music show live streams when it’s their time to perform.

Level three is being a multi-stan. It’s when you’re dedicated to a lot of groups, know both their stage and government names, memorize the lyrics to all of their songs, and buy their merch.

The last level is wanting to be a K-pop idol. You join global auditions organized by big Korean agencies. You know everything about K-pop—from the pioneers to how it became a worldwide phenomenon. You know the lyrics and choreographies to many songs. You can even slightly speak, write, and understand Korean.

Now level four peeps, we’ll help you achieve your dream. Just follow these steps.

Step 1: Purge your closet

K-pop idols are known for their unique, borderline eccentric fashion sense. Gender doesn’t exist when it comes to their clothes. Even boy group members like G-Dragon of Bigbang, Taemin of Shinee, and Hongjoong of Ateez wear skirts. So if you really want to exude that Korean idol vibe, you better experiment with what you wear.

Step 2: Accessories elevate your ’fit

When we say experiment, we don’t just mean clothes—we also mean accessories. You can get some bold ear piercings (we suggest an upper lobe or helix piercing for first-timers) or wear some cool specs like most idols do these days.

Fans love to give their idols some cute accessories during fansign events like cat-ear headbands, flower crowns, bunny hats, and oversized novelty glasses. You might as well learn how to strike cute poses for the cameras while wearing these.

Step 3: Fix your hairstyle

Drastically changing your hairstyle might be one of the easiest ways to grab attention. From tame colors like chestnut brown and ash blonde to wild hues like neon green and electric blue, we suggest you get a hair color transformation.

Or remember when Jennie of Blackpink set Twitter on fire when her teaser photo for their hit song “Kill This Love” was uploaded? Blinks were so happy Jennie (finally) dyed her hair a non-brown color, only to find out later that it was an effin’ wig. The point? Pull off a Jennie and snatch attention!

Step 4: Get that K-beauty glow

A fan once asked, “Hey, how did you become so hot?” and Jackson of Got7 said, “Rice.” Well, he lied. It takes more than just rice to achieve the glow K-pop idols have. For starters, try products that contain super collagen water or Baobab water that provides moisture all day long and make the skin look firm, bouncy, and dewy.

Step 5: Do the finger heart

No, I’m kidding. I just really wanted to add that. But we hope you achieve your dream soon. Fighting!

Originally published in Shopmag Online

Header photo from smentertainment.com