Pink Lipstick

Foreword
What happens when a married woman discovers that her best friend is also her husband's lover? She seeks her revenge when she is being betrayed.

Story/Introduction on characters

1. Park Eun Hye as Liu Jia En
Unlike other willful women, she is kind and gentle. She works in her father's Sun company but she is only keen to become a married housewife. Knowing that Mei Lan runs into financial difficulties, she offers her a home to stay. She is a sweet-natured girl who dated and doesn't mind Ting Yu being poorer than her. She subsequently marries him and becomes a housewife.

Her miscarriage leaves her badly affected and she can't conceive again. She later discovers that her husband had an affair with her best friend, Jin Mei Lan, and that their adopted daughter is actually Ting Yu and Mei Lan's lovechild. Her father's death is also caused by Mei Lan. After leaving the working world for long, she can't find a job.

She gets to work in Su Ji's shop. Su Ji trains her how to become a businesswoman and sends her for designing lessons. To get revenge on them, she joins Tai Yang's company's design competition. She wins and becomes their colleague. She creates distrust among them and also seizes their business through her designs.

Although she loves Zai Fan, she hurts him repeatedly. She deliberately buys Hao Jie's painting to attract him by dressing like the woman he loves most his first wife. She also imitates her mannerisms. She has died young and he still misses her. Later, she gets into the same painting class with him. She gets engaged to Hao Jie and carefully plots their downfall. Zai Fan gets devastated and moves overseas. Thus, she replaces him as the business director with Hao Jie's help.
Zai Fan falls deeply in love with her and promises to support her by her side, no matter what she does. He returns to become the managing director which is a promotion for him. She has given in for a while when he injures his head through a dispute with Yong Jia. But her urge of revenge is too deep and she gives him up. She later realizes that she has become Hao Jie's bait.

Hao Jie threatens to ruin Zai Fan's career if she doesn't marry him. Luckily, they elope on the big day. She goes through all odds to get married to him later. The doctor also cures her so that she can get pregnant again. They leave Tai Yang to set up their own company and she wins a prize. They are happy to take care of Na Li for a year while waiting Ting Yu and Mei Lan to be released.

Good grief I can't stomach so many crying scenes from her. The hairstylist makes a terrible mistake. She looks old and plump in earlier scenes not younger but so much older is this meant to make her unattractive to Ting Yu? No doubt she looks fierce for the comeback revenge scenes, those rely a lot on her makeup to make her look unfriendly. I don't really think that she is that credible to win an acting award.

2. Nam Il Woo as Liu Dong Guo
He is a very loving father. He finances Mei Lan's studies and treats her like a daughter. He also arranges Ting Yu to work as a Managing Director in his company. Ting Yu only wants to seize his company by marrying Jia En. He leaves him alone when he is having a heart attack. He survives for a while but dies later when Mei Lan reveals to him that Na Li is her child.

3. Kim Young Ran as Jiang Hai Shi
She is Jia En's stepmother but treats her like her own. She doesn't like Mei Lan that much to move into their home even after her graduation. She doesn't like Mrs Piao who is very uncouth and greedy. Can you believe that Mrs Piao only provides a copper necklace and also a pearl ring as the engagement gift while Mr Piao gives Ting Yu lots of money in exchange? Mrs Piao does not know that Ying En and Ting Xi have a big fight in a pub. She brings along the abalone that Hai Shi has given her to make it as an apology gift.

Imagine the shock that both families have when they meet at the restaurant. This is too much for Hai Shi to bear and she wants to cancel the wedding. She knows that she will not be happy staying with this family. Marriage also means linking two families together love will not sustain it for long. She tries to talk Jia En out of it but she will not listen.

The family's downfall makes her hard to adapt to the drastic change. Mei Lan cheats her remaining money away through investments. That is why she tries to match Zai Fan with Jia En so that she can escape from poverty. But later, she knows that love is more important and opposes to Jia En remarrying Hao Jie for revenge. She is not selling her daughter away.

4. Moon Ji Yoon as Liu Cheng En
He is Jia En's younger brother who is estranged from their family. When Jia En is having piano lessons, he sneaks out looking for her and gets lost. Jia En goes out to look for him and also gets kidnapped. Their mother's life ends abruptly and Dong Guo remarries. He is constantly jailed for breaking the law. Zai Fan helps them to get reunited.

Their happiness is shortlived when Ting Yu frames him for cheating money through investments. He is sent to jail again. This time, he dies in jail due to a heart attack. Jia En has intended to forgive Mei Lan for Na Li's sake but the fire of revenge rekindles again when this happens.

5. Kim Min Jwa as Liu Ying En
She is Jia En's younger sister. She works in Tai Yang Apparel as an intern and is interested in Zai Fan at first sight. That is why she often talks back at Rui Zhen although she is his direct superior. Seeing that he needs someone to repair Mei Lan's laptop, she offers to help him.

Upon seeing the intimate photos, she has a big shock but keeps from Jia En. She confronts Ting Yu and Mei Lan. Ting Yu argues that he only knows Mei Lan as a tour guide in the U.S. then. Since then, Mei Lan has been extorting him. Ying En believes him.

Afraid that Mei Lan will ruin the wedding, she gives herself so much stress that she collapses during the ceremony. She recovers and learns that Zai Fan often goes for matchmaking sessions. She suggests that they go dating but Zai Fan doesn't want rumours to fly at work.

After her father's death, she is still as unrealistic as her mother. They are parasites indeed. Both go on shopping and depend on Jia En to work. She doesn't believe in working in a small company and has trouble getting hired. Rui Zhen feels bad over what Hao Jie has done to Dong Guo and falls for her. She is initially shocked by his identity when she comes to Tai Yang Apparel. She avoids him for a while. After internal struggles, she accepts him.

6. Lee Joo Hyun as Piao Ting Yu
He is an ambitious man who wants to climb to the top. He dates Jia En but gets involved with Mei Lan when both get acquainted in the U.S. He has a shock of his life upon knowing that Mei Lan knows Jia En so he begs her not to tell her the truth. He doesn't want their intimate photos to come to light. He even bribes her parents but later he uses the soft approach to sleep with her for a night.
Although he likes Mei Lan, he will not give up everything for her. He doesn't expect Mei Lan to get pregnant and pretends to welcome the baby as he is afraid that she will alert Jia En. He intends to give Na Li away but changes his mind upon knowing that Jia En is barren. He lies to Mei Lan that the baby is dead and puts her at an orphanage to get Jia En to adopt her.

Ting Yu manages to seize Dong Guo's company but Ying En ruins the opening. Ting Yu gets attracted to Mei Lan after finding her successful as a designer now. He starts to find Jia En old and divorces her. He marries Mei Lan but finds her a bother soon. Moreover, Mei Lan's designs are getting unpopular and he has to buy in using his own money to fake the figures to please Hao Jie.

Hao Jie has doubts on him and keeps checking on him as his co-partner. Zai Fan becomes his colleague at work as well. This man is so full of himself. After seeing how Jia En is being transformed, he thinks that she is still keen towards him. What a joke! He only realizes later that she is checking on the evidence and hides them away.

Jia En injures her head when Mei Lan accidentally hits her with a fire extinguisher. She lies that she loses her memory so that she can stay at his home. Ting Yu accepts her readily as he needs her to clear his debts. She manages to get them in the company safe. This selfish man doesn't use any birth date of his family members but chooses the company opening date as the password.

Hao Jie is the one to report him to the police. When he realizes that he can't be on the run anymore, he surrenders to the police. Jia En agrees to help him to take care of Na Li. This man is a terrible actor with his stony expressions. Maybe my expectations are too high as I am too impressed by Lo Kar Leung's acting of villains in most dramas.

7. Oh Mi Yeon as Han Fen Nu
With such a mother, there is no exception that she will get a son behaving like her. She rents the house on debt to please Jia En. Her plan is to get her to buy them a bigger house after marriage. Her greed is obvious when she asks for a mink coat during their engagement to pay back the rent. She even wants Hai Shi to get - 2 new cars for the siblings.

She is silly to sign an agreement with Yong Jia, thinking that he will reveal Mei Lan's pregnancy to Dong Guo. That becomes a handle that he keeps extorting them. She knows of Na Li's parentage but also keeps from Jia En. After getting Mei Lan as a new daughter-in-law, she keeps picking on her inability to do housework and make meals for the family.

She is very impossible when seeing that Na Li isn't used to Mei Lan after knowing that she is her real mother, she has the cheek to ask Jia En to return to take care of her!! After knowing Mei Lan's miscarriage, she can't take the shock as she wants another grandson all along. She gets senile dementia and Ting Xi has to take care of her.

7. May Bee as Piao Ting Xi
She has a son and is Ting Yu's younger sister. She disagrees with her mother's doing. She is also baffled that Na Li is Mei Lan's daughter. She feels sorry for Jia En as her ex-husband also cheats on her. Mei Lan looks down on her poor qualifications. She works in Tai Yang as a sales assistant. She is attracted to Rui Zhen and often fights with Ying En over him.

8. Kim Soo Jung as Piao Na Li
She is Ting Yu's child but doesn't know that Mei Lan is her biological mother. She is very attached to Jia En instead and even calls Mei Lan a witch. When Mei Lan threatens her to say that she can never see Jia En again, she starts to urinate non-stop and her mentality becomes stuck as a 3 year old. Jia En manages to help her to get well. She often comes to look for Jia En. After Jia En irons out her differences with Mei Lan, she also starts to treat Mei Lan better.

9. Seo Yoo Jung as Jin Mei Lan
She is Jia En's friend who is poor but she has a strong desire for success. She steals Jia En's money but Jia En doesn't expose her. She doesn't regard Jia En as her friend at all. Jia En's parents sponsor her education and treat her like a daughter but she doesn't appreciate this. She is jealous and hates Jia En for having everything.

She is badly affected upon knowing that Ting Yu is marrying Jia En. She is enraged when he keeps pushing off their meetings. She deliberately feigns ignorance to let Jia En introduce her to Ting Yu to give him a shock. Knowing that the photos are in the laptop, she gets another copy of the SD card to keep so that she can use it as evidence anytime.

She thinks that Ting Yu still loves her and becomes pregnant with their daughter. She goes to inform him during his honeymoon. She doesn't know that he plans to get her to abort it and keeps pressing him to marry her soon.

Mei Lan causes Jia En's miscarriage deliberately. She gets Yong Jia to lie to Jia En about getting Cheng En's news. Chen En doesn't know of his identity then and locks her up in the lift. Jia En falls down the stairs when coming out. Ting Yu lies about Mei Lan's miscarriage and she goes overseas with her mother. She has a hard time and becomes an Arabic chief's 14th concubine.

She divorces him after getting his money to become a successful designer. She returns and wins over Ting Yu successfully. Both own Tai Yang Apparel with Hao Jie. She admires a design through a competition and is shocked upon knowing that Jia En is the owner. She tries to dispute it but Zai Fan supports Jia En with other judges. The two women start to compete against each other.

This is not for long when she copies designs from others and is exposed by Jia En. She is angered as she has thought of them to be Jia En's designs. Jia En has framed her for it. Ting Yu intends to divorce her upon knowing her Arabic marriage but her pregnancy ties him down. She has a miscarriage when trying to find evidence to tie him down. She blames Jia En for it and returns to her drinking problem. Jia En forgives her later and she is grateful. She goes into rehab in order to get it cured.

This actress is only capable of shouting and yelling all the time. Thus, I also grow sick of her easily. I really don't feel like looking at her on screen.
10. Yoo Ji In as Lin Mo Zi
She is Mei Lan's mother who often goes out with different men after her divorce. Mei Lan's father is Jia En's gardener so they are often looked down upon. She finally settles with Yong Jia who is younger than her. Being a terrible cook herself, she doesn't train Mei Lan in this aspect so she is often ridiculed by Fen Nu.

Although both don't see eye to eye on many matters, she provides Mei Lan a place to stay upon knowing her pregnancy. Not wanting her to become an unwed mother, she agrees to pass Na Li to Ting Yu when Mei Lan faints after a tough delivery.
She then lies to Mei Lan that her baby is dead and gets her to go overseas with her. They stay there for 7 years and return. Missing Na Li, she goes to peep at her. Despite Yong Jia's infidelity, she accepts him again. Yong Jia causes her to lose her apartment when Jia En deceives him. They are thick-skinned to move into Mei Lan's home. She helps Mei Lan to cover up her evil deeds to protect her.

11. Park Kwang Hyun as He Zai Fan
His father is the co-owner of Tai Yang Apparel. He is adopted but his foster parents treat him as their own. He becomes the business director when he returns and tries to escape all matchmaking sessions. He doesn't know that his father staying in the U.S. is critically ill and wants him to marry soon. He even pretends that Jia En is his girlfriend to anger Na Na when she comes to receive him at the airport.
He is with Mei Lan on the same plane and sees her photos taken with Ting Yu. Thus, he gets the wrong idea that Jia En is the third party. He gets married impulsively in order to please his dying father. He returns to Korea when his marriage fails. Upon knowing that Mei Lan ruins her marriage, he feels very remorseful as he tries to make up to her. He unintentionally makes Cheng En reunite with his family but feels bad when Hao Jie doesn't want to help Sun Apparel to lead to its downfall.

He gets Jia En to work with him and develops feeling for her. He also treats Mrs Han and Ying En well. They have a good impression of him. He tries getting evidence on Ting Yu's misdeeds. In the process, he gets hit by Yong Jia on the head and rolls down the stairs. He is delighted when Jia En finally accepts him and is dismayed that she changes her mind later.

He isn't afraid of Hao Jie and tries to find out how Hao Jie gets his ill-gained money to channel into legal funds. He faces lots of opposition and knowing that his wealth can't be matched, he sells his father's shares away. Hao Jie has to get his bodyguards to kidnap him in order to stop him from ruining his wedding. He fights for his happiness and wins in the end.

He has not changed much ever since I saw him in �Sunshine upon me'. His childish face and small built proves to be a barrier. The starting scenes with him perming his hair looks terrible. He looks better on the scenes of ZaI Fan after his divorce. In the scenes that he return as the managing director, he wears glasses. Still, this doesn't help much.

Although He is not much taller than Eun Hye and it is amusing to see him in scenes carrying her as it is obvious that he faces lots of difficulty. It is like he is a teenager trying very hard to fit into adult clothes. It makes matters worse when Zai Fan is a person who doesn't seem to be capable of taking care of himself. How to help a damsel in distress then?
12. Dok Go Young Jae as Meng Hao Jie (owner, Tai Yang Apparel)
He is married thrice and has 3 sons. Only his youngest son, Rui Zheng is sensible and works for him. So he pins all hopes on him. He treats Zai Fan no different from his son and gets him to stay with him. his greatest love is his first wife so he can't help falling for Jia En. After knowing her identity, he becomes skeptical of her seeking revenge on him but becomes an observer.

When Jia En decides to stop her plan and confesses to him, he feels a sense of loss when doing things alone. He is delighted when she wants to return to him to seek revenge. Slowly, he decides that it is more interesting to see how she can make use of him to seek revenge on Ting Yu and Mei Lan. He is very impressed by how she forces them into a corner.

He agrees to help her get Sun Apparel back but she must marry him. He initiates an engagement and later marriage. Jia En realizes that nothing is free in this world but is too late or he will harm Zai Fan. She is indeed a foolish woman Mdm Wu and Zai Fan have warned her that Hao Jie isn't a simple person to get offended but she has refused to listen to them.

Zai Fan escapes but both are caught again when Hao Jie lies that Na Li is ill, luring them to return. He uses his golf club, intending to hit Zai Fan but Jia En shields him to get hit instead. She is seriously injured and he is remorseful. Strangely, he doesn't get jailed although her family complains about her injury. He offers to return Sun Apparel to her but she declines to want to be independent now.

He also retires, intending to leave Tai Yang to Zai Fan. Zai Fan also prefers to strike out on his own. Hao Jie then donates part of his money to charity to atone for his sins. Leaving Rui Zheng to manage the company for him. I have never liked him in 'Here comes Aljuma'. What's more in here.

13. Sung Woong as Meng Rui Zheng
Although his father is rich, he doesn't enjoy the privileges and he is only an employee. No one in the company knows his status as the business manager. He doesn't mind learning from scratch. He is close to Zai Fan and also finds Jia En dubious upon knowing her. He himself can't stop falling for Ying En but he has to admit that he is a coward for being scared to defy his father.

He wishes Jia En to stop as he likes Ying En but Jia En will not listen to him. He supports them secretly and helps Zai Fan to escape from Hao Jie's bodyguards on his wedding day. That manages to stop the wedding from taking place but he is slapped hard. Still, he changes for the better.

14. Lee Sang Hoon as Yang Ji Xing
He is single after his divorce and is Mr Meng's butler. He is sissy but loves to look at tall models. He cooks very delicious food that the 3 men can't resist. He likes Jia En and wishes her to be the mistress of the house since she cooks well and looks so elegant. He also advises Zai Fan to give up.

15. Jung Yoo Chan as Li Ying Kui
He is Dong Guo's lawyer but helps Ting Yu to manage the inappropriate funds. He gets his share but is appalled that Dong Guo's family is broken up as a result. Feeling guilty, he helps to testify against him in the end when Jia En persuades him.

16. Baek Bo Ram as Yin Na Na
She admires Zai Fan for a long time and dreams to marry him. Have you ever seen a woman to ask for a parent meeting session before? She is one to go all the way to Hao Jie to tell him how much she loves him. Zai Fan avoids her and only becomes her friend after his divorce. Still, her feelings for him have never changed and she is now a psychiatrist.

She is at loggerheads with Ying En in the past but not anymore when she senses that she likes Rui Zheng. Hao Jie forces Zai Fan to accept Na Na in order to make his own wedding a smooth one. He even asks Na Na's mother to come over to talk about their marriage plans. Zai Fan has to voice his disapproval. Sure indeed, this makes Jia En jealous for a while when she tries to control herself.

She even contemplates suicide to win him back when she fails to seduce him in bed. Zai Fan takes care of her but nothing more comes out of this. She then returns to her mother and elder sister who are staying in the U.S.
17. Lee Jung Yong as Zhao Yong Jia
He is much younger than Mei Lan's mother but they cohabit. Being a lustful man, he likes younger women. He goes to Ting Yu to ask for money, threatening to expose Mei Lan's relationship with him. He then uses the money to gamble away and buy branded goods. Ting Yu is pressurized when Yong Jia becomes Dong Guo's chauffeur.

Yong Jia knows Cheng En in prison and is close to him. Ever since Mei Lan bribes him to cause Jia En's miscarriage, he has been depending on her for survival even though he feels guilty facing Jia En. He is actually more afraid that Cheng En will learn about the truth. However, Jia En learns about him and cheats all his money. He runs away from

18.Song Ji Eun as Jin Min Zhu
She is Jia En's friend who also has a divorce. She helps Jia En to stand again. To help Jia En in her revenge plan, she seduces Yong Jia to get information on Mei Lan. That is sure a high price to pay and she nearly gets caught on some occasions.

19. Wu Su Ji
Dong Guo is her benefactor and she helps Jia En to make her comeback. It is not known why she is rich but she seems to be involved with different men. She has secrets of everyone. Ting Yu also manages to find photos of her with an influential man so she can't help Jia en too openly. However, she also wants Jia En to be happy too and she keeps the evidence aside just in case she wants to change her mind of seeking revenge. She leaves for overseas, leaving Jia En to make her own choice.

20.The ex-Mrs Meng
She is an actress who tries to get intimate with other actors to gain Hao Jie's jealousity. Although she doesn't stay with Rui Zhen, they are close. When knowing that Jia En is involved with Hao Jie, she slaps her and calls her a money-digger. She hates her for ruining her chances of a reconciliation.

Most favourite character
Rui Zheng, although he is timid at first, he has no airs and is well-liked. He doesn't mind being bullied by Na Na or Ying En. Seeing him being sandwiched between Ying En and Ting Xi can be funny too.

Most hated character
Hao Jie, must he be reminded how old he is to be at Dong Guo's age to marry Jia En and knowing that she doesn't love him? He is no different from the close second Ting Yu lustful and must get what he wants.

Song
It is �Black tears' by Sung Hyuk It is quite a sad song.

Interesting facts

Joo Hyun and Eun Hye went to Taiwan to promote the drama. Both were delighted by the high ratings. As Eun Hye went to Taiwan to shoot a drama before, she brought Joo Hyun around to taste the different kinds of food. Eun Hye was in the form of semi-retiring after her marriage.

One day, her husband was watching a drama and she was knitting. He suddenly felt bad keeping his beautiful wife at home upon seeing her beautiful colleagues on television. Thus, he encouraged her to take up assignments. This role proved to be a big challenge for her. She admitted that she watched �Temptation of wife' to observe how Jang Seo Hee and Kim Suh Hyung acted there.

Joo Hyun was a faithful husband in real life. He kept looking around to buy things for her and all envied his wife. She loved food but had not realized that he did not like sashimi. He had a taekwondo black belt but admitted that he was afraid of cockroaches and his wife had to chase them away for him.

Both even tried foot massaging. Eun Hye had gone for the sessions during her stay in Taiwan and highly recommended it to Joo Hyun. Joo Hyun was impressed by the uncle's professionalism. He could detect that his muscles were not as tight as before due to the lack of exercise and offered to fix for him. Although it was painful for him initially, he enjoyed it later as he felt totally refreshed after the session.

In 2010 MBC drama awards, Eun Hye won best excellence actress award. She was overjoyed as the win was unexpected. Really also to me as I find her a soap drama queen.

Conclusion

Why is it called �Pink Lipstick'? It is because Zai Fan gives Jia En a pink lipstick to cheer her up. However, it gives her much agony instead, To carry out her plan to seek revenge, she keeps it in the drawer and only takes it out to look at it when she is alone. If not for Ying En discovering it, Zai Fan will be kept in the dark that she has never loved him.

I see that it is no different from �Temptation of wife'. In fact, it copies so many parts from it that makes me sick. Mei Lan and Jia En are fashion designers to compete with each other. This is no different from En Cai and Ai Li being rivals in the cosmetic field too. The scheming ways that Mei Lan come up to frame Jia En are similar to how En Cai suffers too.

The ways that Zai Fan and Jia En injure their heads make me shake my head instead. The producer has run out of stories to tell. Why resuse this? Especially twice for Jia En! Is she a rag doll? He keeps wanting both to be together but also cooks up with some excuse to break them up repeatedly.

The cast also lacks the acting power of the former. It draws my patience dry. If not for it airing free on local television, I might not even start watching. I record the drama daily as l do not have the time. I am grateful to the person who invents this electrical appliance.

The first 20 episodes make me fast-forward almost all the time. It is a drag. It makes matters worse when the leads look so ugly. I have no idea who I manage to sit through so long to complete the whole drama. Maybe I just want to be fair to it but it really lets me down.

Moreover, our hero here, Zai Fan doesn't look like a hero at all as we see him indulged in drinking most of the time, resigning to his fate till he wants to move out. He only fights back when Hao Jie wants to transfer him to work in China far far away to distract him from his future wife. Rui Zheng is no saint too as he lives under Hao Jie's shadow most of the time.

If the villains are able to outshine the leads, we are spared the suffering. But we are often greeted with shouts, frequent stamping on the tables and artificial crying. I will dissuade all from watching only watch when you have nothing to watch or you wish to look at Jia En's dresses/makeup. The pink lipstick has made her to be beautiful indeed.

Sukting's ratings :

On acting : **1/2 (Scale of 5)

On story : ** (Scale of 5)