Curious about this 5-Step Korean Skin Care Routine? Perfect! We just have the article for you. Korean Skincare has made its way to the mainstream beauty market. This has piqued our interest. Why is it popular? What makes this Skincare different from the rest of the Skincare routines out there?
Korean Skin Care is centered on addressing your skin problems to make it healthy and beautiful and ensuring that you maintain this.
Admit it, you often get jealous with the smooth and flawless skin other people have. Have you ever found yourself simply minding your own business, then suddenly you see that person with really good skin? You instantly wish you had their skin.
We see other people with good skin, and we somehow wish we had their skin too. But that’s the end of it. We just give up without trying to make our skin as great as theirs.
We wish to have them, but not actually do a thing about it.
Everyone can have healthy and beautiful skin and take time to give your skin some loving.
You certainly cannot have it if you’re merely applying skin products on your skin & actually take time and strategically apply these beauty products on your skin.
You may have your own skincare routine as of the moment一, but after going through this blog, you may want to reconsider your own skincare routine and switch it with the Korean one.
What is The Korean Skin Care Routine?
As the name suggests, this Skin Care Routine originated from South Korea. As opposed to the most Skin Care Routines we know, which focuses on getting smooth and brighter skin, the Korean one leans more on the healthier side.
This skincare routine is similar to Alchemy. You mix various skincare products to give you flawless skin that glows. Aside from lightening your skin, it also makes it glow, which makes your skin look 10x better than it is right now.
One thing you should know about this skincare routine is that its very long. If that’s not enough, there’s a different Korean skincare routine for day and night. Lastly, most of the skincare activities are to be done daily.
It sounds intimidating, but once you try it, you’ll see a significant difference in your skin.
If you’re interested in doing this routine, you should create a huge space for this skincare routine. Don’t worry, this routine will certainly give you the skin you have always wanted.
Why Is It So Popular?
Korean beauty products have been on constant rise, especially with the US market. These Korean skincare products are now being sold on Sephora, Target, Ulta, Nordstrom, Peach, and Lily, and it even made its way to the eCommerce giant, Amazon.
One of the reasons why this skincare routine is very trendy among the mass is its formulation. If you’re someone who is used to the standard skincare routine, then this routine will surprise you.
Why?
As someone who is used to the standard routine, you should know that some of the product is not very effective. Especially if you have a combination or sensitive skin. Well, not this skincare routine.
Most of these skincare products are formulated for every skin type, yes, including those that have a combination and sensitive skin type. These products are very gentle and surprisingly effective.
Its Difference Between the Western and the Korean Skin Care Routine
Definition of Beauty
There’s a huge gap the separates the Korean skincare routine with the Western. First, one is how it’s introduced to us. Koreans take this routine seriously since their parents teach them their own routine to their kids.
Why? Because Koreans have a very high standard when it comes to skin.
For Koreans, beauty is lies within having healthy skin. They use this Skincare to treat every skin problem they have.
Westerns, on the other hand, think of beauty as something that can be treated by makeup, through covering flaws.
The Routine Itself
Koreans have a longer skincare routine, which varies from 10 – 18 steps using different skincare products. We, on the other hand, only have 4 products that we use daily.
The percentage of the nutrients that we get on the Western Skincare is much lower than what we totally get with the Korean one. We layer products after products according to their functionalities when we use the Korean Skincare Routine.
Sheet Masks
Most of our clay masks and sheet mask is only focused on giving us clear skin; not with the Korean beauty products. Their masks range from giving you moisturizing skin, lightening your skin, clarifying it, and giving your skin a good glow.
Target Skin Problem
With the western skincare routine, the most that we can get is giving us clear skin and lightening it. Maybe a little bit of toner, but that’s it. Korean beauty products are different.
They target each of the skin problems. Your dry patches? They have moisturizers. You have acne breakouts? They have very gentle products, which can help you with you treat it.
The Basic Formula: 5-Step Korean Skin Care
Korean Skincare Routine differs from person to person as well as the problem that they want to address. Before we dive into the detailed version, which is the 10-Step Korean Skin Care Routine. Let us first learn the broader spectrum of these routines, which is the 5-Step.
Step No. 1: Cleanse Twice
It may sound ridiculous because who cleans their skin twice? Apparently, Koreans do. And so will you if you use this skincare routine.
Our skin accumulates dirt and gunk day and night. Plus, we have our makeup and other pollutants. That’s a whole lot of dirt.
Cleaning it twice is the best way to remove all of these. It’s never enough to clean your skin once. Specks of dirt and residues will undoubtedly be left on your skin if you only clean it once.
You don’t want to apply the product with your skin still dirty. No.
That’s just a pure waste of time. Your skin won’t get better if the very reason why your skin looks unhealthy is still there.
Step No. 2: Proceed with the Toner
The next step is to add tone to your skin. Toner, if you’re not familiar with it, restores your pH level to its average level. When you clean your face (twice at that), the pH level on your skin tips off.
When your pH level is not in its normal state, it could create inflammation, acne, wrinkles, and even eczema. The very reason why we do our skincare一 because we want to avoid it.
Applying toner brings the level back to its usual level. Korean beauty products come with moisturizers, which add hydration to your skin.
Another great thing about these toners is that they’re really light. They’re packed with the nutrients you need for your skin & they’re super useful. But the most significant thing about them? Their lightness. It’s as if you didn’t have any toner on.
Step No. 3: Serums
If you think that the cleansing and moisturizing is enough一, you’re mistaken. Koreans don’t have their flawless skin with two simple steps. No. They need to add more nutrients to their skin to make them healthier.
This is where serums come in. Serums target a specific skin problem. If you have severe acne, some serums can help you treat that. You have oily skin, there are also serums to treat this.
There are a lot of serums in the Korean skincare market to choose from. Most of these serums cater to your skincare problems.
Step No. 4: Locking it In with Moisturizer
After applying the nutrients and the treatments, you have to make sure that all of the products you applied gets absorbed. This is where your moisturizers come in.
You can use a cream or lotion for this step. Aside from locking all the nutrients in, you will also be adding the hydration your skin needs.
It would also be a massive addition of your lotion or cream contain an antioxidant. These antioxidants prevent your skin from aging fast by fighting off free radicals.
These free radicals are electrons that don’t have any pair. Since they have no pair, they steal one from your skin, resulting in early skin aging. Thankfully, Antioxidants are here to fight these free radicals off.
Step No. 5: Protect with a Sun Protection
The moisturizing cream or lotion is not the end. It would be utterly useless for you to go through the first four steps when you miss out on the most crucial step.
Think about it, if your skin has no sun protection, the free radicals air, air pollution, and the UV rays will still be happily diving on your skin to ruin it.
You can use a Sun Protection or SPF to bar all of these elements away from your skin. After all, your goal is to have healthy skin. You cannot have healthy skin if the thing that’s going to ruin it can easily access your skin.
Now, if you think that the 5-Step Korean Skincare Routine isn’t enough for your skin, you can use the more detailed version of this routine: The 10-Step Korean Skincare Routine.
What is the 10-Step Korean Skincare Routine?
It’s basically the 5-Step Korean Skincare but is more apparent in giving your skin more nutrients to make them glow and healthier.
Is It the best Korean Skincare Routine?
Can be. Every skin is different, but rest assured, your skin will get better when using the Korean Skincare Routine. As of the moment, there are a total of 2 separate skincare routine. The morning skincare routine and the night skincare routine.
10-Step Korean Morning Skin Care Routine
Step No. 1: Cleanse with Water
Assuming that you did your night Korean skincare routine, then there shouldn’t be that much dirt and impurities on your skin. Wash your face with water to cleanse and hydrate it.
Step No. 2: Exfoliate
After getting rid of the dirt, you’d have to get rid of the dead skin cells to make way for the new skin cells. To do this, you need to use an Exfoliant. But do this step either once or twice a week.
Step No. 3: Use Toner
After cleaning up, set the pH levels back to its usual level and hydrate in on the process too. You can also use the toner to help absorb other products you’ll be applying later.
Step No. 4: Apply Essence
A combination of toner and serum, the essence can help you moisturize your skin and add some healthy glow into it on the process.
Step No. 5: Treat Skin with Ampoule
Just like your serums, ampoules also provide treatment to your specific skin problem. Pick an ampoule that your skin needs and use it as a treatment.
Step No. 6: Add Some Serum
Reinforce your ampoule with serums. There are a lot of serums from Korea that you can easily find on the market. Use it to treat your dark spots, wrinkles, and some moisturizer too.
Step No. 7: Use Sheet Masks
Give your skin the nutrients and vitamins it needs through Sheet Masks. Do this for around 15 – 20 minutes to give your skin enough time for it to absorb the nutrients.
Step No. 8: Put Some Eye Cream
The step that the 5-Step Korean Skincare skips are the eye creams. Your skin around the eye area is very thin, which is why it would be ideal if you keep it hydrated by placing some eye cream on your eye area.
Step No. 9: Seal With Lotion
After applying eye cream, seal everything you have applied using a lotion. Of course, you don’t want to waste the other products you just applied.
Step No. 10: Double Seal it with an SPF
After sealing with the lotion, double lock in the nutrients by placing a protective barrier over it using an SPF. This way, you can ensure that your skin will be protected from the harmful UV rays.
10-Step Korean Night Skin Care Routine
Step No. 1: Remove Makeup
Let your skin breathe by removing your makeup using an oil-based or gel-based cleanser. Makeup can be stubborn to remove, and you don’t want to rub your skin very hard. Using these types of cleansers makes it easier to remove your make up.
Step No. 2: Double Clean
Ensure that there will be no dirt and gunk residues by cleaning it with a water-based cleanser.
Step No. 3: Use Toner
Tone your skin, restore the pH to its normal level, and tighten it up using a toner.
Step No. 4: Add Essence
Start to add some nutrients to your skin using essence. Not only will it add nutrients to your skin, but it will also hydrate it.
Step No. 5: Treat with Ampoules
Address your skin problems such as dull skin, uneven skin tone, or lack of collagen. This way, your skin will look good and healthy.
Step No. 6: Serums
Reinforce your ampoules with serums. It works just like your ampoules plus, it provides the vitamins that your skin needs.
Step No. 7: Put on an Eye Cream
After addressing your skin problems, give the area around your eye, some love by putting on some eye cream. This is to ensure that your eye area won’t look dull and dry.
Step No. 8: Add Emulsions
Lightly massage the emulsion on your product to give your skin the right amount of moisture it needs.
Step No. 9: Moisturizer
Lock all of these nutrients by applying lotion on your skin.
Step No. 10: Sleeping Pack
Double lock it by using a sleeping pack. This product can keep the hydration that you need overnight. This way, your skin will glow, look healthy, and will have a smooth and supple texture.
Takeaways
If you want to have beautiful and healthy skin, you’ve got to give yourself a ‘Me’ time where you get to treat your skin, the way it should be addressed. There’s a lot of Korean Skin Care to choose from. If you’re a little bit short on budget, you can use the 5-Step Korean skincare. If you have a specific skin problem that you want to target, you may want to use the 10-Step Korean Morning and Night Skincare Routine.
Remember, you can’t have beautiful skin if it lacks the daily nutrients and hydration it needs.