KATSEYE on their beauty hacks and being the new faces of Glossier

KATSEYE didn’t form in someone’s garage or by viral accident. They were built, piece by piece, through a global talent search that stretched across continents. Six members, six countries, six distinct different energies: Daniela from Atlanta, Lara from New York, Manon from Zurich, Megan from Honolulu, Sophia from Manila, and Yoonchae from Seoul. Since appearing on reality talent show Dream Academy in 2023, KATSEYE has made their mark on both K-pop and international music scene, blending hyperpop with global pop music. Together, they’ve become one of the fastest-rising presences in global pop.

Naturally, as their careers have progressed, they have caught the eyes of brands worldwide including Fendi and Coach. But in the world of beauty, the girls have just hit the jackpot with their first global deal as the faces of Glossier, for its newest product drop, Lip Glaze.

Just as Glossier’s Balm Dotcom was glued to the lips of millennials, Lip Glaze is Glossier’s answer to a new generation’s obsession with lip oils. There are six shades, each matched to a KATSEYE member’s vibe: Daniela wears Icy (a clear blue), Lara glides on Melty (rich red-brown), Manon swipes Creamy (warm rose), Megan pops on Tangy (coral pink), Sophia softens with Chilly (cool baby pink), and Yoonchae smooths on Frosty (clear lilac). Behind the slick shine is a thoughtful formula featuring a melting oil base that is mixed with apricot and raspberry seed oils for deep moisture, liquid shea butter for softness, and a chilled glaze that leaves a subtle minty finish.

“At Glossier, we celebrate beauty in real life, the freedom of expression, having fun, and being you,” says chief executive officer, Kyle Leahy. “Our partnership with KATSEYE brings that ethos to life, a multinational group of super-talented women, each with unique personalities who embody the individuality that Glossier is all about.”

Below, the girls talk about their beauty rituals, what they’ve taught each other about make-up, their guilty pleasures, and working with Glossier.

What was it like to work with Glossier? What about the brand felt aligned for you?

Manon: Such an honour and low-key [a] pinch-me moment. It is such an iconic brand and our first big brand deal ever.

All: YES!

Manon: We are such big make-up girlies, so we have been fans of Glossier for a while. We love their team. Their team made us feel so comfortable. Felt like family right away.

Lara: To add on, Glossier is such a representation of girlhood, and we have grown up with the brand. We all have such vivid memories in middle school of wanting Glossier. Being obsessed with the brand meant so much to us.

What’s a beauty ritual you’ve inherited from family, culture, or even tour life?

Manon: Yeong-Chae actually put us onto the Aloe Mask. She is incredible when it comes to skincare, she gives us hacks. We all love Korean skincare a lot.

Lara: For me, I use kajal, which is an eyeliner, around my waterline. It is super pigmented and has been used in Bollywood movies, it’s a super important part of Indian make-up. For me, I grew up dancing a lot, and I would do dance recitals. Specifically for that, you had to wear a lot of make-up as the stage lights drowned you out. So growing up, my mom would do my make-up, and she would do a lot of eyeshadow and waterline. I loved it even back then, and still do it to this day. She taught me how to do a little cut crease; my mom was a bit of a guru.

How has being in KATSEYE and touring shaped your beauty routine?

Sophia: We get to work with so many incredible make-up artists and pick up their hacks. Personally, when we worked with Sam for the Fendi shoot, we picked up so many hacks and tips and tricks on set.

Daniela: I feel like being on camera a lot, I’m constantly looking at myself and seeing what works for me. Having worked with so many different make-up artists, we’ve had many different types of make-up or different looks. So I would look at myself and be like ‘I like this on my face,’ and then I would put it together. [It’s] through that I really found my own make-up style.

Megan: Skin prep is really important for me. If we physically don’t feel so great, you can feel the difference when you have make-up on and that’s why we’re always asking for eye patches, skincare and sleeping with face masks, because it really makes a difference how make-up sits on your face.

Which part of your routine feels more like care than cosmetics?

Sophia: I feel like make-up is such a therapeutic thing, like sitting on your floor and doing your make-up.

Lara: For me, I have always been really really obsessed with make-up. I have always been into fierce make-up. I grew up feeling not very secure in my looks and my culture and everything. I think that I’ve really found my confidence through make-up, and I would experiment, especially during COVID as we had so much time to ourselves. I was doing everything and anything, like doing some crazy eye make-up and really finding my style, and I feel like once I started doing that, I started to truly fall in love with myself. I learned to use make-up to enhance my face, not mask it!

What’s one underrated beauty feeling, like cold lip gloss or leftover eyeliner the morning after?

Sophia: I know you’re not supposed to sleep in your make-up, but when you nap and you sleep in your make-up and it marinates! But I know it’s so bad though. Me and my best friend have this thing, we call it Smashbox Sundays, where you use the Smashbox Setting Spray and somehow, I don’t know what voodoo is in that setting spray but somehow where you sleep in your make-up, and it looks so incredible. I’m a lazy girl, I would rather get some extra sleep.

How do you navigate public image versus private rituals when it comes to beauty?

Lara: I think that for me, my make-up for the last couple of years has always stayed the same in my personal routine. I love to do a lash, a huge eyeliner, lots of bronzer and an overlined dark brown lip, that’s my thing. Then, when KATSEYE debuted and we had the SIS era, I got to experiment with a more soft glam, which was foreign to me, so I had to learn to embrace that. So my public eye routine was completely different to my private look but it was fun to embrace a softer side of my beauty. Now we are going into a more bold look and experimental, and leaving room in the future to grow and try a bunch of other things.

What are you the most excited about for the future of the group?

Manon: There is so much, we are constantly trying to figure out what KATSEYE is exactly about and our sounds and look.

Yeong-Chae: The whole experimenting part is really fun, and doing it together, it feels like a group of friends who somehow got famous, it’s really fun and doesn’t feel like a job!