Well, we all know that there’s a lot of talk around subjects such as, “Why do Koreans have such glowing skin?”, or “What’s the secret behind the flawless glass skin of the people living in South Korea?” After doing my part of research on this topic, I have a few insights and “Korean glowing skin secrets” as you must say, to share them with you all.
Multi-step skincare routine
The one thing that I learned about Koreans is that they are very possessive towards their skincare. They follow a multi-step skincare routine both at the beginning of the day and also before bed.
- Their routine begins with double-step cleansing- including the first step as an oil-based cleaning and then the second as soap or water-based cleaning. They have their own range of double cleansers manufactured by various brands. The purpose of oil-based cleaning is that it takes out all the dirt and removes the makeup properly from your face, and it also removes the excess oil from the pores. And then further the foam-based cleaning removes all the residue and any excess dirt on the skin and cleans your pores.
- The next important step in their daily skincare routine is to exfoliate, this helps with removing any dead skin cells and also helps in opening the pores, and hence it helps the skincare products to penetrate better into the skin.
- Next, they gently massage a toner onto their face, they massage their face in an upward motion to increase the blood circulation under the skin.
- Then they apply an essence, this is applied to restore and increase the hydration of the skin cells.
- After the essence there goes a sheet mask, you can use any sheet mask that you think will be suited to your skin type or for any other purpose that you might need.
- Eye cream is a must in a Korean skincare routine since often caring for the skin we forget that the under-eye area is often neglected when it comes to a skincare routine.
- Finally after restoring the skin balance then comes the moisturizing of the skin.
- And last but not least applying sunscreen is another important step in the Korean skincare routine. Koreans never miss applying sunscreen, be it, men or women, even if they are going out or staying inside; they still believe in applying the SPF. They inculcate this habit since childhood or most of adulthood in every person.
A special substance is present in almost every Korean beauty and skincare product.
Koreans are possessive towards their beauty and skin, therefore not only do they follow a multi-step skincare routine but also, Korea has a wide range of skincare products, and there are a lot of beauty and skincare brands. And there is a high demand for these products, not only by women but even men. The use of makeup and excessive skincare products is very common in South Korea.
And one very common substance or ingredient, whatever you wish to call it, present in almost every skincare or beauty product is “Snail Slime”. YES! You heard it right; no matter how skeptical it may sound, But apparently, it’s very true. Doing my research for this very blog, I found out that snail slime is a common ingredient that’s found in a wide variety of skincare or beauty products that are produced in South Korea.
Their scientist verified that snail secretion is good for the skin and helps in the filtration and hydration of the skin. It also increases suppleness and improves hyperpigmentation. It has some kind of antimicrobial properties that can help keep acne and some types of rosacea from appearing.
A simple ingredient from the kitchen, that Koreans use for their glowing skin.
Since you all know I’m all into organic; I wanted to know some of the traditional ways of their skincare regime. But since there’s a high level of production of beauty and skincare products, which are easily available at almost every general store at a very cost-effective price. There wasn’t much to learn about the traditional ways of their glass-like skin.
But somehow after digging in, I happened to find one simple ingredient- apart from the snail slime, which the Koreans happen to believe very effective for the skin is “MILK”. Shockingly, simple right? In a country of highly maintained skincare, it’s utterly surprising that milk can be another reason for their milk-skin glow.
I happen to find a few simple homemade, straight-from-your-kitchen DIY recipes that the Koreans use to get smooth glowing skin; all of them including milk. I will post those recipes on my Pinterest and Instagram pages for you all to check out.
One very simple hack is that you can also put just raw milk on your face after cleaning it thoroughly, and leave it to dry out and wash off. This is a very simple hydrating milk mask that Koreans use frequently, as it just needs one simple ingredient and does not occupy a lot of your time as well.
K-Beauty diet for glowing skin.
Well, my mother always says, “Diet plays a very important role in our inner as well as outer beauty, if our gut is healthy we can see it on our face.” So Korean diet can also be a major reason for their perfect young healthy skin. Every region has its own people and its own living habitat around them; I believe somehow these things also play a role in how we look and how our skin looks as well.
So to know what kind of diet the Koreans follow to slow down their aging signs, I did my research and you know no research can be a thorough one there are thousands of people with their own views. So I decided to put some of the common things out for you that everyone mentioned. There are a couple of things that Koreans eat and things that some famous “K-Drama” beauties in their Korean diet routine for amazing skin.
- The first common ingredient that Koreans use in their diet is Ginseng. The wide use of Ginseng in Korean dishes, as well as the use of ginseng tea, is one of the reasons for healthy skin. They say that ginseng helps in treating fine lines and wrinkles, rejuvenates the skin, reduces dullness, and provides a healthy glow.
- Not only do Koreans consume ginseng tea, but they also use it to apply the tea as a face mask, since it also helps in increasing collagen for the skin.
- One famous local side dish that’s found in almost every local house in Korea is “Kimchi”. Kimchi is very rich in vitamin C and also very effective in indigestion. The skin benefits kimchi gives are that it also reduces the aging process, and produces a radiant glow to the skin. It is served with almost every meal and is a daily dose of vitamin C.
- Regarding K-Drama beauties and Korean actresses, also follow their own diet plans for maintaining their younger-looking skin. They all have different diet plans and different elements that work differently for each one of them.
- The major things that they include in their diet are lots of greens, fruits mainly berries, blueberries, tomatoes, and even pumpkins. They even include yogurt, seeds, nuts, probiotics fiber to maintain gut health. For antioxidants, they rely on eggs and dark chocolate. Steamed veggies mainly green veggies and consume raw salad with fruits etc.
- They avoid the intake of a lot of caffeine, junk food, soda, and even black tea. As you know there is a lot of rice consumed in Korea so they usually replace white rice with brown ones.
- And lastly, LOTS OF WATER!
I tried to list everything in a nutshell here in my blog, out of everything I researched. I tried to put every aspect that leads to a good healthy Korean skincare routine. But I would also like to add a few things, apart from the strict 6–10 steps of skincare routine, the diet, and intake of healthy vitamins, Koreans also go for artificial treatments like plastic surgery, botox treatments, filler injections, etc. These artificial treatments are very common in South Korea they are very possessive of looking perfect and flawless, so do not get carried away if even after trying all the things mentioned to get glass-like skin you are not getting the results you seek; you might not be lacking anywhere maybe most of it is artificial.
I remember reading somewhere that a girl was gifted plastic or Botox surgery by her father on her 16th birthday. So yeah you can get the idea from that. There are streets like local markets filled with surgical clinics. So if you want to get a nose job, or any plastic surgeries or botox fillers done South Korea is the answer for you.
Hope you all got what you looking for. If you have anything else you want an answer to, do mention it to us. :)
