* I am in no way a Skin Care Expert.
I’m simply sharing what I know from a variety of reliable sources. It helps to have friends who have stayed or visited Korea and have shared with me their personal observations of their way of life. Also internet sources for this topic are pretty limited, thus I had to rely more on word of mouth, Korean dramas , general reading etc.
Choi Ji Woo & Lee Hyori have great skin. They are renown for their beauty and have made Korean beauties skin care highly sought after :-)
KOREAN SKIN CARE:
I sincerely hope this entry is going to benefit people with different skin condition in one way or another.
WHITENING
Whitening may seem very superficial to many people esp. to Sun Worshippers but the long term benefits are undeniable.
As we age our skin metabolism aka turnover rate slows down. We shed dead cells less frequently and as such the skin starts looking dull due to cell build up. A dull complexion or problem skin is most likely due to the build up or accumulation of skin cells, dirt, or the use of ineffective skin care products.
As such procedures such as chemical peels, lasers and dermabrasion have become very popular to assist in resurfacing skin to reveal “new” skin which yields positive results such as reducing acne breakouts and lightening pigmentation spots .
A good whitening range helps to increase CELL TURNOVER . Exfoliation also gives the same type of results. Only difference is that over the counter exfoliation products are more gentle than all the derm procedures.
Whitening helps to even out skin tone by removing dead skin cells and working on pigmented areas. However, Brown spots and pigmentation require continual use ( 3 months and above) of good whitening products. Being diligent should yield visible results in 3 months and if you don’t see any evening out of skin tone or lightening of spots, ur skin care might not be as effective OR you need to apply sunblock more frequently and avoid the sun even more.
Recommended Whitening Product Range:
Clarins. Elizabeth Arden.DHC.Shiseido. CD. P&J has been getting rave reviews on their whitening serum..
SUNBLOCK
I am not going to go into scientific detail for the detrimental effects of sunlight on the skin. There are tons of websites that supply high quality info on that.
Basically, just watching National Geographic is enough for me to see the undesirable effect of the Sun on skin quality. Just look at a farmer’s face who is exposed to constant sun light versus an office worker who is shielded away from the sun’s rays in his cubicle.
lHave you seen atheletes who’ve spent hour after hour in the the sun, at age 40? They may have great physiques but their faces are pretty crinkly and show visible signs of sun damage. Their once sun kissed youthful skin is youthful no more….
Whatever regime you may be on, you should know that SUNBLOCK is your friend. It is a fact that our skin needs some sun for VIT D but in our tropical climate, sunlight is in total abundance and thus a greater need to protect our precious skin.
With all that whitening action going on at night, protection against harmful rays is critical. Do not undo all the effects of a whitening skin care range by missing out on sunblock in the day. Be it rain or shine, sunblock is going to be our weapon against harmful rays which causes premature aging, brown spots, freckles,wrinkles and other skin aliments.
A FEW I RECOMMEND:
Dr Secrets.Yamano.Shiseido. Clinique. Biotherm
FACIAL MASSAGE
Korean women swear by it. Facial massage is a must to maintaining porcelain looking skin. Watch the video if you have no idea how its done. I was told that they do facials massage with their hands as well and its pretty “vigorous”….
In general, the scrapping action helps to stimulate blood circulation in the lower layers of the skin. When your blood circulation is at its optimum, it shows on the face.
Lately,Japanese facial massaging devices have been exploding all over the market. You Tuber Beauty QQ shows us the benefits of this method using a jade facial massager( she’s a blast to watch, even though I dun understand100%) :
Personally though, I would only allow such vigorous massage to be done on my skin if it was starting to show signs of sagging. I would refrain from frequent facial massage, especially for problem skin types and young skin.
BB CREAMS & MAKEUP
You and I can’t run away from the simple fact that BB Creams give pretty good coverage. It’s almost like a liquid foundation in my opinion, just that it supposedly has “ skin healing” properties.I know some people attribute their clear skin to BB creams and its fantastic that they have found what works for them but there will be those few, like myself, who get cystic acne with BB Creams.
BB creams and foundations probably enhance the skin by making it appear more radiant and healthy .
Not every Korean woman has flawless skin and that goes for just about any country. Makeup is always used for that poreless, porcelain look. Makeup works wonders and they have pretty darn good makeup artists too. Their Korean Drama Actors always have a thick slab of foundation/BB cream on their face, so its best not to be fooled and to know that even the beautiful use makeup to attain that flawless glowing skin.
Since I don’t even use BB Creams ( give me cystic acne), I can’t make any recommendations. Although I’ve read about popular ones such as skin food and missha…
FACIAL MASKS
Watched any Korean drama lately? In the past I probably watched every Korean serial there was and it was pretty evident that they love their facial mask. The drier climate in Korea allows them to use all sorts of moisturizing creams and masks.
I would exercise a little more caution on this point because excessively moisturising mask can cause outbreaks, bumps or do nothing but leave a temporary shine on the face. Once more, a tropical climate like Singapore would most likely provide more than enough moisture than we would like… Places like Korea with the different seasons and drier climate would require frequent moisturisation or moisture replenishment for non flaky,dewy, radiant skin .
For the hot tropics, I would say Fruit , Yogurt and clay mask would be safer bets for our naturally “oiler” skin. They contain AHAs that assist with exfoliation and assist in revealing younger looking skin.
Recommended Facial Masks:
OLAY. SKII. BIOTHERM. NATURAL HONEY MASK.
DIET
Koreans eat hell of alot of vegetables. Just follow this link to check out Koreans Favourite Food:
http://korean-chic.blogspot.com/search/label/Korean%20Food
Kimchi and all that veg and protein and healthy looking stuff! My mom and hubby visited Korea some time ago and told me the food is freaking fresh! The Koreans love their preserved veg & high quality meats & it shows!!
Our diet is probably a big factor in what our skin is looking like. I would like to say that eating chocolate and sweets won’t affect your skin quality but it does. I’ve given up to this point already and I’m a bit more lucky cause I love my veggies..
Finer Points:
*Use outward & upwards strokes when washing your face
Source:http://www.vivawoman.net/2009/01/16/korean-beauty-secrets-revealed/
* Be gentle when applying makeup. Do not tug at the skin or you risk wrinkles
* I don’t believe in Sauna for beautiful skin. IMHO, saunas do more long term damage to the skin. The intense heat may open up the pores and to some extent “ CLEAN” the pores but I can’t imagine what frequent opening of the pores will do to the size of it. Excessive heat ages the skin faster and as such get into the habit of using normal water temperature to wash the face and using cold water to rinse.
Facial places usually steam open your pores before they extract all the nasty stuff. If you have a reliable facial lady who knows what she is doing, than steaming ur face in that sorta situation is fine by me…
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If you were wondering, I don’t use Korean Skin Care products cause it doesn’t suit my skin type. But I am quite a fan of Korean Makeup. Its pretty GOOD!
Okie, if u happen to know any other secrets of Korean women,do share !
Gd luck in the eternal quest for clear radiant Korean Looking Skin!
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Here Blair, Some Vampire-ish EOTD with my Maxi Eyes Blue Contacts! hahaha Kinda freaky, but I’m having so much fun with them!
