My Korean Skincare Routine

Korean beauty, as I’ve understood it, leans towards the “pure” side and that is to say, a more natural look. There will be no heavy eye makeup or starkly contrasted contour. Due to the fact that they appreciate a cleaner, purer look, I’ve also come to notice the amount of time they spend on their skin. And no, not the makeup part but more of the pre-makeup part.

Koreans put a lot of focus on their skin and it’s something I found bizarre at first until I understood why and saw the difference it makes. Most koreans have great skin and while it does have to do with the kind of food they eat, their time and money invested in skincare is also to thank. I’ve never had any problems with my skin so I would say I’m a part of the lucky few – I hope I don’t jinx that. I don’t have any skin related issues but after undergoing a period of stress, I came to notice the lack of live in my skin so after a few hours of binge-watching korean skincare routines on Youtube, I decided to try it myself and may I just say that I am so impressed that I don’t see myself ever going back to the girl who’d ski cleansing to go straight to sleep – Jk, I still do that sometimes. I should stop.

Today, I’m going to briefly work you through my korean skincare routine and as this is a beginner’s guide, we’ll go with the basic 7 step night time routine:

1. Cleansing

2. Exfoliating

3. Toner

4. Mask

5. Essence

6. Serum

7. Moisturizer

Step One: Cleansing

Alright. It’s the end of the day and you just got home from school or work and your first urge is to fall face first on your couch and fall asleep? Wrong! Like girl, I get it. After a long day at work, I want to take my ass to sleep too but are you really willing to let your skin suffer just so you can get the sweet relief of sleep? Even if you answered yes to that, no. You can’t do that or your face will be a manifesting ground for bacterias and I’m very sure you don’t want a bump skin or worse, a red bumpy skin.

Now that we have that out of the way and have established that you need to wash your face, I’ll tell you what to do.

Spending time outside, you’re going to have all sort of substances such as sweat, spit from that one person who can’t shut the f*ck up and germs landing on your face and we want to get all that off. Now, a basic person would tell you to just wash that shit off with the first face wash you find but no. Well, I mean yeah but no. You see, you can’t just use any kind of products. You need to use one best suited for your skin type and you do want to avoid some ingredients that’ll dry your skin out and cause irritation – I’m looking at you alcohol.

Let’s say you’ve got the perfect face wash for you but what are you going to do with it? I mean, it’s common sense at this point BUTT wait. You don’t just pour it up on your palm and start massaging away like you’re trying to strangle your face. No. Your face is what your momma gave you and quite frankly, it’s what you’re stuck with for the rest of your life so you need to treat it with care and respect. To do that, you need to pour the product onto your palm then rub it together to get it warm and therefore, activating the ingredients then carefully spread it across your face. With the product all over, use your ring finger – as it is the most delicate finger on your hands – to massage it into your skin in circular motions. Do that for at least 30 seconds before rinsing off with lukewarm water.

Most of the time, doing this once will be enough but if you like makeup or if you apply sunscreen, it’ll take more than one wash to get all that off and this is where double cleansing comes in. You basically just repeat the same thing but first you use an oil cleanser to melt all that makeup off then you follow up with a foam cleanser. You’ll only need to use the oil cleanser once but with sunscreen, foam cleanse at least two times for optimum results. You’re welcome.

Step Two: Exfoliating

Because we’re reptiles – no, we’re not – our skin breaks down and sheds. The dead skin is not something we want hanging around on our face because it’ll build up and cause acne and other skin issues but not only that. It’ll even keep your skin from breathing and this will in its turn, leave your skin looking and feeling dull so we need to get this depressing shit off our face and that is where exfoliating comes into play.

When we think of exfoliating, we think tiny harsh crystals grinding against your skin to help grate off the dead skin cells but my girl, don’t do that shit. Your body can handle the sugar scrub because it’s thicker but your face, son, it’s so fragile and delicate so don’t go for the exfoliators with harsh pieces in them. I’d even say to skip those and go for chemical or liquid peeling. They don’t have any pieces in them that’ll cause tears in your skin – #treatyourskinright – and because they are more gentle, you can use them more often – 2 to 3 times a week.

Recommendations: Normal – Combination skin.

The Body Shop Days of Youth Liquid Peel

The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Liquid Peeling Solution

Step Three: Toner/Skin Prepping

Toning is a very simple yet important step when it comes to skincare. After stripping your skin of all its natural oils and moisture, you need something to aid in getting it all back again and that’s where your toner comes in handy. I don’t have much to say about this other than you pour a good amount of it on a cotton-pad and gently pat it into your skin. it’s also completely okay to use your clean hands and hey, by doing this, you save some of the product the cotton-pad will normally soak up for itself.

Note: There are different textures in toners. You’ll have the basic water one and then you’ll have a gel kind and a light creamy kind. Toners will even be called beauty waters.

Recommendations: Normal – Combination skin.

Yves Rocher Sebo Vegetal Toner

Step Four: Mask

What other way is there to quickly renourish your skin while also being able to lie back like the lazy bastards we all are? Bitch you guessed it. Face masks. There are so many nourishing and active ingredients packed into these ham like things that will do so much good for your face. You can basically find masks that’ll do all kind of things such as brightening, energizing, etc. so all you have to do is pick the ones you prefer.

Note: Just like there are different masks for different purposes, there are also different type of masks such as: Sheet masks, Clay masks, Cream masks, Gel masks, Wash-Off masks and if you want to kill two birds with one stone, Exfoliating masks.

It is recommended to use masks everyday but you don’t have to so for those days when you want to skip it, you can layer on your toner. if you want to make a mini mask for your nose too, just pour some toner onto your cotton-pad and let it sit on your nose or whichever surface you’d like to use the make-do mask.

Step Five: Essence 

With your mask over and done with, it’s time to make the finishing touches to your face. Essence is basically a toner but much better. It contains a lot of active ingredients which penetrates your skin at a deeper level to help hydrate it. So just like you’ve do with a toner, cotton-pad that shit and pat it into your skin and voila.

Step Six: Serum

Serum. The step in beauty routines that’ll make your wallet burn. But for a reason. Serums are richly packed with nourishing ingredients that’ll keep your skin full and happy. Like masks, there are different type of serums for different kind of issues so you find your right one to use. And just like with toners, there are different textures for serums too. You have the standard oil kind and then you have the gel and the watery kind. If you have oily/combination skin, I recommend you go for the gel kind.

Recommendations: Normal – Combination skin.

The Ordinary Salicylic Acid 2%

The Body Shop Days of Youth Serum.

Step Seven: Moisturizer

Finally, the end is near. Moisturizing is the last but not least important step in a skincare routine. You should know why you need to moisturize your skin so I’m not going to type out why. I’m tired.

Recommendations: Normal – Combination skin.

Yves Rocher Sebo Vegetal Matifying Gel Cream

This is the end of the steps but of course, if you are willing to go a few steps further, there are a few things you could do like for example, if you don’t use a mask, at the end of your routine, you could use a sleeping pack that you can wash off in the morning. As you can see, the korean skincare routine goes in all the way and no, they don’t actually have to be korean products – I don’t think so. I think it’s the steps that makes it a korean skincare routine.

As mentioned, there’s so many more steps to take but let’s start easy and I’ll share with y’all the rest when you get older.

There’s been a lot to read but I’m going to add in some key points on korean skincare routine:

1. Cleansing. You do not slack on this step because it’s, in my opinion, the most important step.

2. Layering. Lots and lots of layering. The more the better I guess?

3. Gentle and delicate touch. Treat your skin as if it was your baby and gently pat pat pat.

4. Make Time. You need to take your time, don’t rush. It’s sort of a therapeutic end to a long day so relax.

Daytime Tip:

Use Sunscreen. This is a crucial part in a korean beauty routine. What’s the point of taking those 7 steps if you’re just going to step out into the sun in its skin damaging glory without any protection? Use sunscreens like a ritual. Like legit think of it as your life and carry it everywhere you go. Apply it in the morning 15 – 30 minutes before leaving the house and it comes on after your moisturizer and before any makeup. Make sure to reapply it during the day as you go because sweating will cause the layer to melt off.

You can find, cream, gel, stick and even compact sunscreens so pick whatever floats your boat.

Korean Skincare is all about treating and protecting your skin because it’s the first thing a person notices when they see you and it’s a part of your identity so before you go to bed with your makeup on tonight, think again.

Disclaimer!

I am not a beauty or skincare so please don’t come for me. All the steps, tips and recommendations above are of my own personal experience and preference.

XOXO//