Blurred lips, or lips featuring feathered edges for a more “lived-in” feel, have fallen in and out of favor for years. Now, with artist Nina Park’s makeup style trending on TikTok, that blurred lip look is becoming popular again. That’s the thing about the cyclical world of makeup trends: There will always be a back and forth.

Just like the shift from the ultra-shaped block brows of the 2010s to the fluffy brows of the 2020s, after the rise and fall of liquid lipstick, trends once again veered toward the converse. We swapped out neatly-lined, matte lips for glossy ones. Now, with bags full of glosses, shiny lip stains, and the like, we’ve reached yet another spike in the trend cycle thanks to a viral technique.

What Are Blurred Lips?

Blurred lips, most notably a mainstay in East Asian makeup styles, are a lip technique that ditches crisp lines for softer edges and a highlighted center, resulting in a subtle voluminous effect on the lips.

To do so, users softly blend lip liner and lipstick over the edges of their lip line to achieve a fuller, poutier mouth. It is also a mainstay in my makeup routine, because it packs a lot of punch for something that requires very little precision to pull off.

Why Are Nina Park’s Blurred Lips Viral Now?

Makeup artist Nina Park, who has worked with celebs like Addison Rae, Sadie Sink, and Kaia Gerber, established a signature blurred lip technique that has people talking. Over the past few weeks, makeup artists and beauty influencers have been creating their own versions of Park’s blurred lips all over TikTok and Instagram.

Park has a unique ability to make her clients’ lips look soft, pillowy, and most importantly, effortless. The secret is careful blending, of course, but also lip liners in shades just a hair more cool-toned and deeper than the base lip color.

“When I look at the Nina Park face, I see the client first…You see the person because they look like the best version of themselves and then realize, ‘Oh yeah, Nina probably did that makeup,’” makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes said in a video recreating Park’s technique. “That’s a ginormous compliment because to have someone look like themselves, but all the while your work is still recognizable on their face, is kind of goals.”