We are amazed by the innovative skin care that South Koreans have introduced. Be it sheet masks, face peels or skin care routines, South Korean beauty has been on point. Allow us to reveal the top 10 south Korean beauty hacks.
1. Invest In Sheet Masks
South Koreans are big fans of sheet masks that can help in hydration and glowing skin. Use a charcoal sheet mask that helps in exfoliating your skin. Exfoliating ensures that the dead skin is removed and a fresh layer of skin is revealed at the surface. Have a relaxing 15-20 minutes with your sheet mask on. If you have had enough of sheet masks, try a clay mask. Clay helps oily skin by drawing out excess sebum from your face.
2. Steam Massage Your Face
While you are in the shower, use your fingers to gently massage your facial skin. Steam massage improves blood circulation in the face, flushes out toxins, preps your skin for skin care products, minimizes the appearance of fine lines and gives you that radiant glow. Isn’t it great to know that just five min of tapping in circular motions can do you so good? Try it today!
3. Turn To Overnight Sleeping Masks
Your skin cells produce collagen and elastin while you are asleep. These are fibrous proteins that keep your skin firm and elastic. Sleep is also the time when your skin cell turnover happens. Use a sleeping mask to help your skin repair the dullness. When you wake up the next morning, you skin is rejuvenated and glowing.
4. Drink Barley Tea
You’ve heard of green tea, but what is barley tea? We will explain. Barley tea has roasted barley infusion in the tea and is a common drink in Korea. It promotes skin health, weight loss and is full of antioxidants. Antioxidants help your skin from oxidative damage. It is also packed with fibre, vitamins and minerals. Barley tea has a roasted flavour with a slightly bitter taste.
5. Double Cleanse Your Face
Double cleansing is a process that gets rid of makeup, dirt and excess oil using an oil based face wash. The step step involves the use of a mild cleanser to remove the makeup residue and deep cleanse the pores. You are now ready with a squeaky clean face. Cleansing is the first and most important part of any skin care routine. It helps in getting rid of dead skin cells and all the dirt and unwanted impurities from the face.
6. Rice Water Cleanse
South Koreans have been using rice water to wash their face since ancient times. They still follow this ritual as rice water has incredible benefits for the skin. Whether you cook the rice to get the starchy water or buy those rice water sheets, choice is yours. Rice water has anti-aging and moisturizing properties. You can use rice water after you’ve boiled the rice or rice soaked water or fermented rice water.
7. Avoid The Towel
Has it ever occured to you that a towel is a place for thousands of bacteria. South Koreans avoid the towel after washing their face. Plus the harsh chemicals in detergents cause harm to your skin. They simply air dry their face and post a cleanse.
8. Hang Wet Towels
Having extremely dry skin and chapped lips in winter. Skin care experts insist on using a humidifier to supply moisture in your rooms. But why invest in it when you can simply hang your wet towels in the room. Hang the towels post shower in the room to maintain moisture and avoid skin dryness.
9. Use Essences and Ampoules
After you cleanse your face, apply an essence for that extra dose of hydration. Essences are extremely nourishing and help in brightening your skin. You can achieve a dewy fresh look. Try adding serums to address skin concerns like pigmentation, acne, wrinkles or just use ampoules – super rich serums with potent ingredients for your skin concerns. Use a retinol or resveratrol serum if you are looking for anti-aging. Consider hydrators like ceramides if your goal is skin hydration. Antioxidants like grape seed extract and vitamin C can be used to fight sun damage. Licorice can help in skin lightening.
10. 10 Second Rule
Koreans emphasize on using your moisturizer and toner within 10 sec of cleansing your face. Toner and moisturizer work best when applied on damp skin. This is the time skin is able to restore its pH and lock in the moisture. The sebum (oil) in your skin mixes with the sweat to form a thin film called the acid mantle. This layer is slightly acidic and activities like cleansing can strip off your skin’s natural pH. A toner helps in balancing this pH but remember the 10 second rule.
We hope that these South Korean beauty hacks will change your skin from meh to woah.
Author Bio: Soumya is passionate about writing and loves to share her thoughts with the world. She is a regular contributor to skinkraft.com and a few other websites. She has written many articles on yoga, fitness, wellness, remedies, and beauty. She keeps herself updated by going through interesting blogs every day. This fuels her passion and motivates her to write appealing and engaging articles.