Last year, when Descendants of the Sun (태양의후예) got huge, Laneige experienced a similar upsurge with sales of its Two Tone Lip Bars (TTLB) as Song Hye Kyo is a goddess walking amongst us mortals and anything she touches turns into gold. I believe it's the yellow-pink combo of #11 Juicy Pop that received the most attention for being created especially for the drama. This rumor comes from K Fandom and I don't pay much attention to that scene, nor have I been paying much attention to the beauty scene these days so sorry if that's false info!

Anyway, Laneige apparently offers custom TTLBs? I haven't heard of this until one of my friends visiting from the Philippines, Katsy, shared that she had just done it a few days before we met. I heard from her that it cost KRW 30 000 and I was so jealous! It sounded SO COOL and was about the same value as a store bought TTLBS (KRW 25 000).

A few weeks later, my family came over for the holidays and stayed in Myeongdong. I booked an appointment for me and my sister!

MECHANICS

1. Make a reservation through the Laneige website. It's in Korean but there's translations available so you don't need to bother the salesladies nor hotel/hostel staff to help with translation.
   • The session is for 40 minutes.
   • You can't reserve on the day itself.
   • There are 2 places where you can do it: the flagship or road shop both in Myeongdong. I chose the flagship because... It's the flagship.
   • You don't need advance payment.
2. If you arrive too early, you may swatch in the Boutique, which me and my sister did for some boring minutes
3. Get skintone consultation via the app. Me and my sister are both "Warm Lively," but there were three other skincare types that could appear.
4. Each skintone has 4 recommended exclusive bars, totalling 16 lip bars not found in the stores.
   • The only truly depressing part here is that you are heavily discouraged from creating completely random combinations. I came in expecting to mix the colors from scratch but to find that I only have so many colors to choose from and that I couldn't make my own color combinations kind of lowered my spirits.
   • In retrospect I understand Laneige is trying to protect its identity and the brand image of TTLBs by ensuring people only walk out with fantastic color combinations, but it still takes away some fun I imagined.
   • The consultant speaks minimal English, but I understood that she knew the color theory well and when we did swatch my random ideas, they looked ashy or sickly on me.
5. When you choose your shade, the consultant grabs fresh pots of premeasured wax and has you fill out a souvenir card including any engraving requests you have. It takes less than 10 minutes to receive the finished bar.
6. Pay and receive!

I haven't used my bar yet as I wanted to take photos in its pristine state so I'll probably go to school tomorrow with it on. In the meantime, here is a swatch showing 3 layers as applied straight from the stick and 3 layers blended.

I had trouble with TTLBs when I first saw them and I will say that it is a completely different product when used properly. My advice is don't be afraid to go over the colors multiple times. This allows not only for a stronger color payoff but also lets the horizontal striping between the two colors help you blend more naturally. Even so, I was advised by the Laneige consultant to still go over the blendline with my fingers because the harsh stripe makes it look really awkard. I thought at first I had to keep the stripe as part of this two tone trend, but noooo!