Hey! So I've heard a lot about K-Beauty and how it's really taken off in the US lately.
I don't know anything about K-Beauty or skincare in general, but I am really curious. Does anyone know anything about it or have recommendations on brands/products? Looking it up myself is super confusing and I'm lost already.
I don't know anything about K-Beauty or skincare in general, but I am really curious. Does anyone know anything about it or have recommendations on brands/products? Looking it up myself is super confusing and I'm lost already.
Edit: Forget it
Hey! Thanks so much for the information and tips. I admit my diet is absolute shit. I was diagnosed PCOS and anemia which probably isn't helping at all with my skin. Then number one thing I'm working on right now is getting more water. I bought a new water bottle to make me want to use it and I'm trying to start with drinking at least one bottle full (24oz) a day. Doing the dietary changes in steps is much less overwhelming than all at once, especially since I'm dealing with the new diagnosis.
As for the products, I'm really only looking for a good cleanser. I have oily, acne prone skin that I want to help clear up but I don't want to get too complex with an intense multi-product routine I can't keep up with.
I usually do use homemade sugar scrubs with just water, sugar, and almond oil so it's good to know I'm not alone there!
Thanks for your response!
As for the products, I'm really only looking for a good cleanser. I have oily, acne prone skin that I want to help clear up but I don't want to get too complex with an intense multi-product routine I can't keep up with.
I usually do use homemade sugar scrubs with just water, sugar, and almond oil so it's good to know I'm not alone there!
Thanks for your response!
Micellar water w oil is such a good cleanser oml.
I can't speak for K-Beauty, and I'm no skincare expert, but I struggled for years to find a decent skincare routine before I finally tried the Clinque brand. I've been using their products for over 5 years now (makeup and skincare). They're a bit on the pricey end, but I'm the type of person who's willing to spend more for quality products, especially when it comes to my skin.
My advice, if you should ever consider Clinique, is to go see one of their specialists, which are usually found in higher end anchor stores in shopping malls (Von Maur, Macy's, Lord and Taylor, etc.). They'll sit down with you free of charge and help set you up with products catered to your skin type. I use their 3-Step skincare for Type 2 skin, their Turnaround Revializing Instant Facial (twice a week), and their 7 Day rinse-off scrub cream (1-2 times a week) -- and I swear by all of it
In addition to that, I also use Smoothie Star Oat, Sugar & Shea Breakfast Scrub a few times a week (you can get it at Target). It has stellar ratings, as you'll see if you Google search Smoothie Star Breakfast Scrub reviews. I love the stuff! But if you make your own similar variation of this, then I wouldn't worry about it
As Pomkeki said though, diet and exercise are also important in keeping your skin healthy and vibrant. You can't substitute those and rely 100% on products (my diet isn't the greatest either, but I'm trying! ;p). Also, keep in mind that everyone's skin is different, so what works for me may not work for you or someone else. So it essentially comes down to experimentation and patience until you find what works best for you
My advice, if you should ever consider Clinique, is to go see one of their specialists, which are usually found in higher end anchor stores in shopping malls (Von Maur, Macy's, Lord and Taylor, etc.). They'll sit down with you free of charge and help set you up with products catered to your skin type. I use their 3-Step skincare for Type 2 skin, their Turnaround Revializing Instant Facial (twice a week), and their 7 Day rinse-off scrub cream (1-2 times a week) -- and I swear by all of it
In addition to that, I also use Smoothie Star Oat, Sugar & Shea Breakfast Scrub a few times a week (you can get it at Target). It has stellar ratings, as you'll see if you Google search Smoothie Star Breakfast Scrub reviews. I love the stuff! But if you make your own similar variation of this, then I wouldn't worry about it
As Pomkeki said though, diet and exercise are also important in keeping your skin healthy and vibrant. You can't substitute those and rely 100% on products (my diet isn't the greatest either, but I'm trying! ;p). Also, keep in mind that everyone's skin is different, so what works for me may not work for you or someone else. So it essentially comes down to experimentation and patience until you find what works best for you
The co-founder of Soko Glam made a video on the 10-step skin care routine that got popular in the US. In terms of research etc. I would consult my dermatologist or aesthetician if I were you! They would know the products and routines that work best for your skin type. 
Ghostiel wrote:
The co-founder of Soko Glam made a video on the 10-step skin care routine that got popularized in the US. In terms of research etc. I would consult my dermatologist or aesthetician if I were you! They would know the products and routines that work best for your skin type.
I love.
I love.
Your best bet is to talk to your skin care doctor.
No matter what the shelves or personal companies offer it doesn't change that only your doctor and yourself knows your skin type and possibly care.
Personally I have mild oily skin but my mothers side is Japanese.
So the beauty concept in my family is oddly heavily.
It's not as much as wearing make up as it is to using light clean low acid scrubs, green tea and fruit(based) masks, and a nice moisturizer.
I personally every day and night use a scrub and a moisturizer and twice a week I use a mask. But a lot of what you use as bad as it sounds will be a trail and error. Even family, yourself or doctors can tell you to use something but you or your body still may not like it.
If you are wanting to do anything that involves working on your face test small areas when trying washes or moisturizers.
Make sure that what you use is lower in Ph and adding things that help with blemish or acne scars like vitamin C (which Korea is crazy about) is not a bad idea my aunts and even grandmother are on a rave about it. Just take note that it is NOT for everyone. Your skin may react to things others or your families do not.
Soko Glam is actually not that bad I know several cousins and aunts and even an uncle that raves about it. I have others on my mother side that follow a more simple J-pop beauty routine.
Personally if you like to go even more natural you can do something as simple as coconut oil to rub into your face, or a mild low ph scrub and something like fruit of the earth to hydrate your skin.
Regardless find what you like and what works best for not only your skin but your pocket to.
No matter what the shelves or personal companies offer it doesn't change that only your doctor and yourself knows your skin type and possibly care.
Personally I have mild oily skin but my mothers side is Japanese.
So the beauty concept in my family is oddly heavily.
It's not as much as wearing make up as it is to using light clean low acid scrubs, green tea and fruit(based) masks, and a nice moisturizer.
I personally every day and night use a scrub and a moisturizer and twice a week I use a mask. But a lot of what you use as bad as it sounds will be a trail and error. Even family, yourself or doctors can tell you to use something but you or your body still may not like it.
If you are wanting to do anything that involves working on your face test small areas when trying washes or moisturizers.
Make sure that what you use is lower in Ph and adding things that help with blemish or acne scars like vitamin C (which Korea is crazy about) is not a bad idea my aunts and even grandmother are on a rave about it. Just take note that it is NOT for everyone. Your skin may react to things others or your families do not.
Soko Glam is actually not that bad I know several cousins and aunts and even an uncle that raves about it. I have others on my mother side that follow a more simple J-pop beauty routine.
Personally if you like to go even more natural you can do something as simple as coconut oil to rub into your face, or a mild low ph scrub and something like fruit of the earth to hydrate your skin.
Regardless find what you like and what works best for not only your skin but your pocket to.
For the longest time I had issues with spotty acne and either oily or dry skin. I drink only water which did help but eventually I was forced to look into a steady routine of skincare products. Neutrogena is good but Ive been using ProActiv for the past two years now. It works amazing. My face is clear and I even have lightened my dark marks and acne scars over time. I dont wear make up either and I feel relatively confident in never having to use it.
I know ProActiv may be expensive but their 3-step payments are a godsend for when you're on a budget. Plus you can continuously extend your delivery to put off payments if you dont have the funds for awhile
I know ProActiv may be expensive but their 3-step payments are a godsend for when you're on a budget. Plus you can continuously extend your delivery to put off payments if you dont have the funds for awhile
Well, recommended products : I recommend you to buy fresh aloe and apply it to your skin, it's a real nie moisturizer and treat for your skin, and it's cheaper than anything I know, plus you got not perfume anything in it ( I like non-scented skin care)
Use some oil or natural vegetal butter on top of your moisturization (almond oil for example, avocado oil can smell a bit, or olive oil, which is good.) it's cheap, scent free and cutomizable (you can add perfume to it if you like)
You an trim your hair every month if needs to be, it will look better and can be healthier too.
Cheers
Use some oil or natural vegetal butter on top of your moisturization (almond oil for example, avocado oil can smell a bit, or olive oil, which is good.) it's cheap, scent free and cutomizable (you can add perfume to it if you like)
You an trim your hair every month if needs to be, it will look better and can be healthier too.
Cheers
I have autoimmune induced psoriasis in the face that is severely influenced by stress, which wreaks havoc on my system. I'm also an autoimmune diabetic - diabetes can be hard to manage even when you're doing everything right, so I often end up with very dry skin problems that are elevated by both stress from life, and physical stress from high or low blood sugar that is influenced by lots of factors other than just diet.
Short version: diet is not the cure-all for skin care, lots of things can be attributed to medical problems and in many cases, no adjustment of your diet can fix that if that's the case. It's important to recognize that. I have to exfoliate daily, use masks often and use heavy duty moisturizers to get the closest resemblance to normal skin possible - it goes against a lot of advice but more importantly, it works really well for me. Most of the tips in this thread don't work for people like myself, so please be careful with taking everything to heart. If simple changes don't work for you, it doesn't have to be because you 'failed' or are doing something wrong. Your skin problems may be bigger than diet related, and that's fine, but that's also the time to find a dermatologist to see what works for you. It also takes at least a month of using the same products daily before you see a real change in your skin care routine results, so you need to give it some time.
As for Korean beauty products, I've recently found a foundation that works really well for me. It's not K-Beauty, it's from a brand called Peripera and it's their Ink Lasting Cushion foundation (I've been using the Pink one and will be getting the Mint and Lavender versions sometime over the next 4 weeks). It's only for pretty light skin tones though, something you'll find is very typical for Korean beauty products. If you're dark toned then you probably will be out of luck for stuff like that. I'm personally pretty excited for that because I'm ridiculously pale, and even drugstore foundations marked as 'ivory' turn me into an oompa loompa because they're way too dark for my skin. Korean beauty products suit me well due to my skin tone for this reason!
One thing to look out for if you're buying these products online: be aware of the country it's being shipped from. There are lots of fakes being sold by eBay and Amazon from places like China, which are not held to the same safety protocols. Korean beauty products are safe to the best of my knowledge, as long as they are shipped from Korea or sold by reputable stores. (For example DO NOT PURCHASE MAKEUP FROM 'WISH'. There have been people who used their makeup and got burns on their faces from bad chemical reactions, precisely because it's cheap fake makeup. The EU and US/CA have FDA regulations in place for good reasons.)
Short version: diet is not the cure-all for skin care, lots of things can be attributed to medical problems and in many cases, no adjustment of your diet can fix that if that's the case. It's important to recognize that. I have to exfoliate daily, use masks often and use heavy duty moisturizers to get the closest resemblance to normal skin possible - it goes against a lot of advice but more importantly, it works really well for me. Most of the tips in this thread don't work for people like myself, so please be careful with taking everything to heart. If simple changes don't work for you, it doesn't have to be because you 'failed' or are doing something wrong. Your skin problems may be bigger than diet related, and that's fine, but that's also the time to find a dermatologist to see what works for you. It also takes at least a month of using the same products daily before you see a real change in your skin care routine results, so you need to give it some time.
As for Korean beauty products, I've recently found a foundation that works really well for me. It's not K-Beauty, it's from a brand called Peripera and it's their Ink Lasting Cushion foundation (I've been using the Pink one and will be getting the Mint and Lavender versions sometime over the next 4 weeks). It's only for pretty light skin tones though, something you'll find is very typical for Korean beauty products. If you're dark toned then you probably will be out of luck for stuff like that. I'm personally pretty excited for that because I'm ridiculously pale, and even drugstore foundations marked as 'ivory' turn me into an oompa loompa because they're way too dark for my skin. Korean beauty products suit me well due to my skin tone for this reason!
One thing to look out for if you're buying these products online: be aware of the country it's being shipped from. There are lots of fakes being sold by eBay and Amazon from places like China, which are not held to the same safety protocols. Korean beauty products are safe to the best of my knowledge, as long as they are shipped from Korea or sold by reputable stores. (For example DO NOT PURCHASE MAKEUP FROM 'WISH'. There have been people who used their makeup and got burns on their faces from bad chemical reactions, precisely because it's cheap fake makeup. The EU and US/CA have FDA regulations in place for good reasons.)
Well, Sane have some goods advices, and as make up I can recommend you CLINIC.
It's one of the best dermatologically tested out there as I know, and have white foundations to black foundations.
Tell us what you got and how it worked for you!
It's one of the best dermatologically tested out there as I know, and have white foundations to black foundations.
Tell us what you got and how it worked for you!
Hey guys! Thank you for all the responses. I'm so happy that everyone's being so helpful and I've learned a lot.
Just to clarify a bit about myself, I'm incredibly pale and I also have PCOS which is a hormone disorder that affects the female hormone levels in my body. Long story short, I have more testosterone than I should and it makes my skin very acne-prone. My skin is naturally very oily, so the added testosterone isn't helping much. To top it all off, I have a severe coconut allergy, so a lot of US/CA beauty products are off the market for me as they contain coconut or some sort of coconut derived product. That's what drew me to K-Beauty as they seem to have options for fair skinned people and tend to not use coconut oil so much.
I've been trying to coordinate with doctors, but in the meantime I bought some things from Ulta. The two things I was looking for were a moisturizer and/or mask and a daily cleanser, and I decided on the Skinfood Egg White cleanser and the rice milk mask. I haven't tried them yet, but I'll let you guys know how it goes! They're both relatively cheap as far as imported products go (It was $20 for both, but I ended up getting them for $15 thanks to a sale).
Thanks so much again for the tips. The beauty industry overall is so overwhelming as I've no prior experience and while I do my own research its also nice to hear people's experiences and opinions on it too.
You're all great! C:
Just to clarify a bit about myself, I'm incredibly pale and I also have PCOS which is a hormone disorder that affects the female hormone levels in my body. Long story short, I have more testosterone than I should and it makes my skin very acne-prone. My skin is naturally very oily, so the added testosterone isn't helping much. To top it all off, I have a severe coconut allergy, so a lot of US/CA beauty products are off the market for me as they contain coconut or some sort of coconut derived product. That's what drew me to K-Beauty as they seem to have options for fair skinned people and tend to not use coconut oil so much.
I've been trying to coordinate with doctors, but in the meantime I bought some things from Ulta. The two things I was looking for were a moisturizer and/or mask and a daily cleanser, and I decided on the Skinfood Egg White cleanser and the rice milk mask. I haven't tried them yet, but I'll let you guys know how it goes! They're both relatively cheap as far as imported products go (It was $20 for both, but I ended up getting them for $15 thanks to a sale).
Thanks so much again for the tips. The beauty industry overall is so overwhelming as I've no prior experience and while I do my own research its also nice to hear people's experiences and opinions on it too.
You're all great! C:
Well, would be even nicer to hear from you how it's working !
Never heard of kbeauty but does sounds great!
Cheers
Never heard of kbeauty but does sounds great!
Cheers
Tip: PCOS causes insulin resistance (which is also a symptom of type 2 diabetes - you're not diabetic for having insulin resistance though, it's more complex than that) which can cause some higher bloodsugar levels. That causes dry skin. You might want to ask about being put on metformin (it increases insulin sensitivity) and consider going low carb in your diet. Less carbs = lower bloodsugar = less symptoms, including dry skin.
(If you want info on the low carb high fat lifestyle, hit me up! I don't follow it myself but I'm very closely involved with the diabetes community where this is being followed religiously to help with diabetes symptoms.)
(If you want info on the low carb high fat lifestyle, hit me up! I don't follow it myself but I'm very closely involved with the diabetes community where this is being followed religiously to help with diabetes symptoms.)
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