Nina Park: enhancing what already exists

In Hollywood, they joke that the list of people wanting makeup by Nina Park is longer than the list of Oscar nominees. The Korean-American artist has become one of the most talked-about makeup artists in the world — simply by stopping trying to change faces and instead enhancing what nature already gave.

Her first “clients” were models in clothing catalogs, where she would draw in eyes and lips. As a teenager, when she began experimenting with makeup on herself, her parents were against it. She had to learn how to do her makeup in a way that would go unnoticed by them, while still looking fresh and radiant. After school, she spent a year studying at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, following her mother’s wishes. Her work received awards and was exhibited, but when she decided to leave and become a makeup artist, her mother was upset, as she knew nothing about the profession.

Nina first enrolled in a makeup academy in Illinois, but her father suggested she move to Paris to study at a more reputable institution. She then became a student at Fleurimon École de Maquillage.

After completing her studies and returning to Chicago in 2007, Nina started working as a consultant at M.A.C Cosmetics — not because she had no other options, but because she always wanted to work there. In 2010, she moved to New York and worked at Space NK, while assisting in the evenings on shoots for W Magazine, Elle, and Vogue, working with artists like Peter Philips (Dior) and Diane Kendal (Rabanne), often using product samples from the store.

At first, she wasn’t particularly interested in working with celebrities. “My colleagues almost looked down on celebrity work,” she recalls. But over time, she adapted. Since 2014, she has worked independently, and in 2017 she gained recognition after doing makeup for Zoë Kravitz, who said she “looked like herself for the first time.”

She later impressed Greta Lee by not altering her natural skin tone, unlike other artists. “Nina works with a person’s natural features, not against them,” Lee says. Another regular client, Emma Stone, has even been called the most beautiful woman in the world by the press.

Today, Nina Park is considered one of the key makeup artists of awards season. During premieres and major events, celebrities line up to work with her — including Mia Goth, Jessie Buckley, Hailey Bieber, Margaret Qualley, Charli XCX, Lily-Rose Depp, and Addison Rae.

Behind the natural look of her work are hours of preparation. Nina first sketches the makeup on paper, studies how textures interact, and only then applies it to the face. She also reviews photos from events afterward to see how the makeup performed in real conditions — a level of perfectionism that defines her success.

For skincare, she uses brands like iS Clinical, Biologique Recherche, and Augustinus Bader, and refreshes makeup with thermal waters from La Roche-Posay and Avène. Her kit is filled with lip pencils, including favorites from Victoria Beckham, M.A.C Cosmetics, Make Up For Ever, Lisa Eldridge, and Dior. She also works with Chanel Beauty and often uses Rouge Allure L’Extrait lipsticks paired with liners.

For complexion, she prefers Chanel’s N°1 foundation for its lightweight coverage and Sublimage for added hydration and glow. “My mother used blue mascara and a bright pomegranate lipstick, which I thought was the most glamorous thing in the world,” she recalls. “But I always wanted something different — something real and effortless. Even as a teenager, I was drawn to quiet beauty.” Today, the world is drawn to her.

It doesn’t stop there. On TikTok, thousands of videos under #ninapark attempt to decode her technique. In short, it can be described as multiple thin layers and blending, creating the illusion of no makeup.

Everything starts with careful skin preparation, following the principles of Korean multi-step skincare. She applies creams and serums to achieve the chok-chok effect — a luminous, hydrated glow. She then enhances it with sheer layers of highlighter and blush that blend seamlessly into the skin, using minimal foundation, often applied only where necessary.

In eye and lip makeup, a soft, diffused finish adds volume and softness. For the eyes, she lines with a pencil, blends it with dark brown powder, and then applies liquid liner along the lash line to create depth. Lips follow a similar approach, finished with a beige-brown tone that she gently blurs with her fingers in areas where color would naturally fade during the day.

“For me, the most important thing is that a person looks their absolute best before I focus on anything else,” she says. And she does exactly that.