The ‘Korean skincare’ routine – my experience

The ‘Korean skincare’ routine – my experience

By: Wafi Habib

Korea is the number one country when it comes to skincare products for females and males which is definitely apparent when you look at the people that populate the country; it really is quite intimidating. But how do they achieve their flawless skin? With a 10-step routine that is a do or die in Korea and it consists of the following:

1 Remove Makeup – for a pre cleanse

2 Cleanse – to remove oil residue and deeply cleanse the face

3 Exfoliate – to remove dead skin cells

4 Toner – to balance the pH of the face

5 Essence – nutritious for the face

6 Serum – different serums to attack different problems

7 Masks - also nutritious for the face

8 Eye Cream – to lighten areas around the eyes

9 Moisturize – to prevent dry skin

10 Night Mask – to cleanse the face overnight

It completely diminishes the saying ‘less is more’ and it proves that more is in fact…more. I remember the first time I read about this and I thought it was just a way for Korean companies to make more money and to be honest, I could be right! But for fun I decided that over the summer of 2014 I was going to try this routine for just 2 weeks. I got all the products I needed (well I took them from my mom’s cabinet) and I didn’t look back.

The first thing I noticed about this routine is how laborious it is. I dreaded every time it reached that point of the day where I had to do it. Another thing I noticed is how long it takes. When I first started, it took me about an hour to do all the steps. But once I got used to it, I managed to do it within half an hour. Despite all this, I will say that within the first three days of doing this routine, my skin became much clearer than it was before. I was a little scared that it would break me out or make me oily as I have quite sensitive skin but it didn’t do that at all which was a pleasant surprise.

So my overall experience with this routine is quite positive and it seemed to be effective on me. However, just keep in mind that this was my own experience and it may have not been as effective on other individuals who have also tried it. So just to give you a clearer judgement, here are the pros and cons:

Pros –                                                                         

• Highly effective
• Soothing to the skin         
• Little to no pain experienced              

Cons –

• Expensive to maintain
• Can be laborious
• Takes time to do the whole routine
• Your mother may scold you for going through her cabinet