The purpose of this study is to examine makeup culture through the vocabulary related to makeup during the Joseon Dynasty. The term makeup (化粧) is found in a novel of unknown date from the late Joseon Dynasty. Before that, there was ‘Jangsik(粧飾)’, and in the Joseon Dynasty, Jangsik(粧飾) meant not the act of decorating the face, but decoration of the body or ornaments. In addition, ‘Bundae (粉黛)’ was mainly referred to a ‘gungnyeo(court lady)’ or ‘gisaeng(female entertainer)’, that is, a ‘woman with fine makeup’, and only in the late Joseon Dynasty did it take on the meaning of ‘lightly painted makeup’. During the Joseon Dynasty, cosmetics called ‘Jibun (脂粉)’ and ‘Yeonbun (鉛粉)’, and cosmetic tools such as ‘Jangryeom (粧奩)’ and ‘Gyeongdae (鏡臺)’ were used. Makeup, which was limited to royal women, court ladies, and courtesans, expanded its scope to the private sector in the late Joseon Dynasty through the emergence of cosmetics salesmen and the spread of cosmetics manufacturing methods. It can be seen that women during the Joseon Dynasty preferred light makeup, ‘Damjang (淡粧)’ rather than dark and flashy makeup such as ‘Yayong (冶容)’ or ‘Seongjang (盛粧)’.