Korean skin care differs from Western skin care in many ways. According to Koreans, beauty is defined by good, healthy skin; they use skin care to heal any skin problems, while Western beauty often uses make up to cover up flaws. Korean skin care focuses a lot on outstanding ingredients.Koreans think of different ways to improve the skin, different formulas, different ingredients, and even different textures. For example a pudding or a jelly cream, or a hydrating face mist. While in Western beauty, things are still more traditional like liquid toners, creams, etc. No wonder so many people prefer Korean skin care above Western care!
Here are some interesting facts about Asian skin type:
Asian skin have thicker and more compact dermis than white skin. This is why Asians have fewer facial wrinkles than whites and the signs of aging appear later.
Asian skin, again due to the thickness, needs richer, deeper penetrating cosmetic products. Also Asian skin loses moisture more easily. That is why the variety of cosmetics with, for instance, hyaluronic acid is enormous.
Sun damage is also a major hazard for Asian skin – not only making it darker, but also causing blemishes and scarring.
Asian skin is genetically predisposed to scar more easily than others. Hence, greater care must be given when one has acne breakout and when one is trying to heal from some skin scarring.
First I would like to go through some important insights:
* There is a rule in Asian Skincare – you put the thinner/watery/more easily absorbed moisturizers on first to ensure they sink easily into the skin and build hydration, then you put thicker/richer/cream-type moisturizers on top, and only in the areas you need them.
* You should not use serum when you are pregnant.
* The names are similar but there is a huge difference: Essence – is mainly used to provide hydration with little anti-oxidant, anti-aging, brightening properties (with some exceptions). Emulsion – is lightweight milky lotion designed to be used alone as moisturizer for combination-oily skins, or as an extra layer of hydration underneath a cream for those with drier skins. They are often water based with very little to no oil content. Emulsions are better suited to warm/hot climate with high humidity.
* For dry skin type use toners and creams that stimulate elastin production, contain ceramides and glycerin to keep the moisture inside the skin, creams with aloe vera.
* Skincare for aging skin includes cosmetics with retinol, ginseng, gold, different forms of collagen. The most popular are Korean fillers which are based on anti-aging compounds such as Syn-ake, snail mucin, stem cells, epidermal growth factor (EGF).
* Do not underestimate emulsions. Imagine your skin as a sponge. If the sponge is dried out, shrunken, and hard, how are you going to turn it back into a plump, soft, bouncy state? You want to soak it in water (the stage of toner), although if you do rehydrate it and then leave it alone, it will just dry out again, right? You would need to wrap up the sponge in an airtight seal to keep the water from evaporating back into the air (the stage of occlusives – emulsion and/or cream).
* In order to get the most benefit from all these products, Asian women use a layering technique to apply different moisturizers, using massaging or tapping/patting/pressing movements instead of ‘rubbing’ it on like we do. Tap, tap, tap. Sometimes, even slap product gently onto your face! But never rub. Rubbing stretches the skin and in the Korean point of view, doesn’t actually help your skin absorb all of these brown sugars and snails you’ve just bought. And your hands are an excellent tool for tapping.
Now let’s move to the skincare itself:
AM routine
1. Cleansing – If you applied a night mask before, it will be sufficient to use only water cleanse in the morning. For oily and combination skin only water cleanse is not enough. And do not forget about your ears. Make a little massage as described on an official Sulwhasoo site: “Lightly hold your earlobes between thumb and forefinger and gently pull downwards, to the sides and upwards. This will stimulate the blood flow which will improve and even out the tone of the face skin. Finish with stroking and rubbing each inch of the outer ears with your fingers”.
2. Hydrating – An Asian toner (usually watery- or gel-like) is designed to add moisture to the skin that might be stripped during the cleansing process, to soften the skin, and to increase the penetration of additional skincare products.
3. Additional steps – ampoules, serums, essences.
4. Occlusives – creams and emulsions. For those with oily skin, or who live in a humid climate, emulsion is the only moisturizing step in the routine. People with drier skin will also apply a cream later. And do not forget about eye cream.
5. Spot Treatment – A spot treatment can be a number of things – acne treatment, whitening serum, wrinkle filler, etc.
6. Sunscreen
7. Make up The routine seems to be long and scary. Make some notes with the numbers on the bottles to properly follow multi-step Korean skincare.
PM routine
1. Double cleanse – Step 1 is performed with oil cleanser or cleansing balm. This is a cleanser designed to remove makeup. Step 2 includes foaming, milky, or gel cleanser. The purpose of this step is to thoroughly clean skin once all makeup has been removed. At this stage you can use some tools (such as foaming net or bubble maker) to foam up the product so the lather is fully formed before it goes on the face, reducing irritation to the skin.
2. Exfoliating – Korean beauty emphasizes exfoliating as a method to fight dry skin and to bring out radiant and supple skin. There is a big variety of exfoliators including scrubs, enzyme-based exfoliators, exfoliating masks and peels, peel pads, etc. Aim to exfoliate once or twice weekly depending on your skin type.
3. The rest of routine: hydrating, using serums and occlusives from AM routine. Burt for lazy people there is another option: use a night mask right after applying the toner (this method can be used not more that twice a week). Just to mention, these are not the only steps of Korean skincare. There are still lots of things to spend money on (e.g. sheet masks). But this is a topic for another story.
Stay beautiful!