As someone who has been reporting on Korean beauty since it first made its way stateside back in 2011, I consider myself well-versed in the category. I know my skin flooding from my spicules and can apply a wrapping mask like a pro. But, on a recent trip to Seoul, I discovered one area of K-Beauty I had been sleeping on: lip tints.

I’d always heard that Korean lip products were next-level, but I had been laser-focused on skin care and figured, how much better could they be than our long-wear stains? Then, before my flight, I swiped on the Glasting Melting Balm from cult brand rom&nd “for research” — and instantly understood. Plush, gorgeous color met the kind of hydration I thought only Aquaphor could deliver. That one tube sent me straight to Seoul’s lip aisles, where I quickly learned I

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