It was a K-beauty skincare night. A friend who buys a lot of Asian skincare gave me some samples to try. And I thoroughly enjoyed giving myself an all K-beauty routine! (K-beauty is short for Korean beauty.)
What I can’t get over is how affordable they are. K-beauty products are very good at reasonable prices. Well, reasonable is relative, but for basic skin care, Korean skincare brands cost much less than American brands of the equivalent quality.
I plan to explore more of the basics, such as cleansers, toners, exfoliants, and sheet masks. Because basics are exactly that. Basics. And they shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg. I’m also eager to try the whitening products (serums, moisturizers, sunscreens, and BB creams).
The only challenge is getting access to these brands (mostly online or in Korean supermarkets), and then interpreting the labels (usually all in Korean with minimal English translations 🙂 But if you can get over those hurdles, K-beauty skincare is worth exploring.
PM Routine
1. Banila Co. Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm – Great balm, super easy to scoop out and spread on skin, light oil, rinses well. $21 for 3.4 oz (100 ml). A great buy. After using this, you will find it hard shelling out $75+ for a luxury cleansing balm from a US or UK brand. E.g. This cleans better than Eve Lom for a fraction of the price. (I’m not a fan of the Eve Lom balm, but picked this as a point of reference because it is popular and happens to be one of the most expensive ones on the market, at $135 for 6.8 oz.)
2. Impress Brightening Wash (Japanese brand) – Gentle foaming cleanser, but it made my skin squeak. I don’t like to hear my skin squeak when cleansing, but if you have oily skin, you might welcome a foaming cleanser like this. I generally prefer non-foaming cleansers (either creamy or milky).
3. PureDerm Strawberry Yogurt Mask – Pleasant, mild smelling hydrating mask. Massage for a minute, leave on 10 min, rinse.
4. DHC Eye Strips Mask (Japanese brand) – Not K-beauty, but I put on these hydrogel strips below my eyes while I had the strawberry mask on. My eyes were tired, so I left them on for 2 hours (you can leave on overnight). It felt like a band-aid – a bit too cling-y for the delicate skin in the eye area. But not too bad.
5. Innisfree Green Tea Balancing Skin – This is a toner. The word “skin” in the name is confusing. After seeing it across several brands, I finally figured out it’s the word used for “toner.”
6. Innisfree Green Tea Seed Serum (green packet) – Peptide serum.
7. A.H.C. Whitening Cream – Love the lightweight texture, easy to layer with something else.
8. DermaLift Intensiderm Aqua Rich Cream – Lightweight moisturizing cream that has a aqua green color. It moisturized well. (This product is apparently very popular right now.)
9. AmorePacific Time Response Eye Renewal Creme – This is the only brand shown here that is not affordable. To the contrary, it is the most expensive line within AmorePacific’s portfolio of brands. This is a good eye cream but way over-priced ($260 for 0.5 oz).
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