Skincare that’s effective, yet gentle on the skin? Read on to find out all you need to know about what Korean Beauty skincare is from our beauty editor, Martinique Stevens.
Beauty brands such as Tony Moly, Skin Food, Etude House and Laniege have, over time, become household names in the US, Europe and the UK.
In recent years, beauty fanatics across South Africa were happy to find that many local online stores had begun to stock these, among other Korean Beauty brands too.
If at this point, you are beginning to ask yourself, “Okay, so what is Korean Beauty?”- keep reading!
Korean Beauty explained
A core principle behind Korean Beauty, aka K-beauty, is preventative, instead of reactive skincare, that is driven by innovation. Korea is skincare obsessed, and woman as young as 18 years old are known to dab on an anti-wrinkle eye cream in their evening routine.
There is a large focus on natural active ingredients and was one of, if not the first, mass beauty market offering, to use ingredients like snail gel and bee venom in its skincare products, as well as the first to come out with the now much loved, sheet mask.
Tony Moly Pureness 100 Hyaluronic Acid Mask Sheet Hydrating, R80
Double Dare Spa OMG! Platinum Silver Facial Mask Kit, R160
Take a look at our sheet masks round-up
Function, affordable and fun
A trademark of K-Beauty products is their cute and playful packaging, at price points that don’t break the bank.
The aim with this is to amplify the joyous feeling beauty lovers experience when tucking into our makeup stashes to paint our faces, therefore making beauty products more approachable and also, successfully awakening your inner child.
You can even play around with grown-up face paint – Tony Moly has created a selection of colourful, natural clay-based, Painting Therapy Masks (R185) to use on your face.
Not only are they fun, but you can create your own tailor-made mask to address the skin concerns you have in different areas of your face.
Korean Beauty says, skincare can be fun, ans celebs agree. Tony Moly posted this pic of Jessica Alba on Instagram. Apparently the star, who is known for her pretty pout, uses their Kiss Kiss Lovely Lip Patch to keep her lips looking beautiful.
Here are a few more K Beauty products we love:
Tony Moly Mini Peach Lip Balm, R115
Etude House Bubble Tea Sleeping Pack, R350
Tony Moly Latte Art Strawberry Cream Scrub, R365
A lot of the time, Asian beauty brands are thrown together as a miscellaneous group, but it is important to note that each beauty routine is different. For example, Japanese regimes consist of a more less is more attitude, whereas Korean beauty takes pride in a multi-step routine (10 steps to be exact).
The K-Beauty 10 Step Skincare Routine
1. Use an oil-based cleanser to remove your makeup
2. Double cleanse by using a water-based cleanser next (SO important!)
3. Exfoliate (twice a week that is)
4. Use a toner
5. Apply an essence; a toner, serum hybrid that is a quintessential K-Beauty product
6. Treatments (use a concentrated ampoule or booster to treat skin concerns)
7. Use a sheet mask twice a week
8. Apply an eye cream nightly
9. Moisturiser (morning and night)
10. Sun Protection (an absolute must to use daily)
