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by Nedysia11/8/2024
An extremely fascinating world, a type of beauty routine that has become very fashionable in recent years, but which in reality was already performed since immemorial time by the Asian populations.
Skin care, in fact, has very distant origins in time, it was a very different practice from how we know it today and provided methods unthinkable for us. In general, the most used vegetable oils were those of almonds or olives, while honey was considered an excellent excipient for preparations, but among the various ingredients there were also animal fats.
Greek women, for example, created masks made with clay, diluted with oil or vinegar, depending on whether they wanted to soften the skin or tighten the pores, or prepared creams composed of animal fats and honey.
Today, however, everything is different: we have available creams, detergents, tonics, and products that are increasingly specific and ready to use, even if DIY face masks are still used and are also a valid effective and healthy alternative, but certainly less disturbing than those of the past as regards the ingredients.
So, those attentions that before you dedicated only and exclusively to makeup, now you have to dedicate it also to your skincare. Having a cleansed skin is able to better counteract the signs of aging: a clean face makes moisturizers much more performing and thus also makes it less necessary to resort to makeup, because starting from a good base means being already halfway through the work!
In the world of K-Beauty, the universe of Korean beauty (in Korea skincare is a must), this practice represents a real ritual, a special moment to live and enjoy twice a day to take care of your skin in complete calm and is carried out in 10 different steps with the “layering” technique, or the stratification of several products.
From cleansing to exfoliation through hydration and much more, stratifying the textures with the rule of always starting from the lightest ones to end with the more full-bodied ones, also satisfying the needs of your skin. You do not need to spend hours on skincare, even a few minutes during the morning and the evening are enough, the important thing is to use the right products for your skin type and in the correct order.
However, to understand what the steps of the Korean skincare routine are and what they are for, you need to make sure you have three clear concepts:
1. Every skin is different, so you need to know your skin type before choosing the products to use and that are delicate and do not attack the hydro lipid barrier.
2. The routine will produce the desired effects always and only if you run it with constancy and dedication.
3. For a sensitive, damaged skin or with particular problems, the opinion of a dermatologist is ALWAYS recommended.
Facial cleansing is an operation to be repeated during the morning and the evening, every day. But are you sure you really know everything about facial cleansing, its steps and how to clean your face?
Daily cleansing is very important, not only to eliminate makeup! Precisely for this reason, your makeup removal routine must be different from simply cleaning the face in the morning to especially eliminate sebum and dead cells.
When it comes to remove makeup, in fact, the ideal is to rely on a biphasic or oily makeup remover to get rid of even waterproof makeup, while to eliminate eye makeup, it is good to prefer a specific but delicate makeup remover suitable for this sensitive part of the face.
Makeup removal alone is not enough to get a spotless face and, in fact, it must be considered only as a first phase of facial cleansing, which must be followed by the use of a specific cleanser and tonic.
Cleansing oil
Cleanser or makeup remover is the basis of every routine, not just Korean, regardless of whether you are wearing makeup or not! The oil helps to remove impurities from the pores and, consequently, to clean your skin more effectively and by affinity.
Foam cleansing
The second step of double cleansing is the detergent that, in this case, will be water-based: it helps to remove makeup and other liquid-based agents from the skin, such as sweat or pollution.
Depending on the skin type, this product can be purifying, mattifying or nourishing. The double cleansing of Korean cosmetics is the fundamental basis for preparing the skin to receive the active ingredients of the following steps.
Scrub
Exfoliation, chemical or mechanical, is also very important, and is to be included in your beauty routine at least twice a week. You can opt for glycolic, salicylic or mandelic acid or a light face scrub.
The scrub is the ally for the removal of dead skin cells and plays a fundamental role in improving its texture. It is a step that you must include in your routine and can be of two types:
Constantly removing impurities, which cause pore occlusion, is essential to limit the onset of pimples and blackheads and keep even the oiliest skin clean, which tends to produce more sebum.
Tonic
The tonic serves to balance the skin Ph, preparing it for subsequent products; it is quickly absorbed, and you can apply with the help of a cotton pad, although in South Korea it is done using the fingertips.
It would be better to always choose alcohol-free formulas, more delicate to remove any residual impurities or previously applied detergent products, restoring the natural balance of the epidermis.
Mask
The flagship product of Korean cosmetics is the sheet mask that can be inserted into the routine two or three times a week, although Korean women use one a day.
Tip: Wear the mask for as long as indicated in each package, and take the opportunity to relax during the minutes of laying.
For the night phase there is also the sleeping mask, a mask of a creamy or gelatinous consistency (for which it is preferable to use it at night) that is applied before sleeping and is removed the next day with warm water.
Essence
It is a very important step in every Korean routine: it is an intermediate step between the tonic and the serum, its consistency is watery but hides in its formulation a powerful cocktail of ingredients.
It has a very high concentration of active ingredients and is indispensable in the routine. The essence is a particular liquid lotion that assists the hydration of the skin and prepares it to receive subsequent treatments, such as serum and moisturizer, and provides additional hydration to the skin of the face.
Serum
The serum is the perfect ally of our cream. Unlike other products, it deals with very specific skin problems and should therefore be used only as needed.
It is applied before the moisturizer to give a beauty booster to your skin.
Eye cream
A fundamental part of our face is the eye contour, where there are very few sebaceous glands and is one of the thinnest areas of the whole body, so this area is absolutely particular compared to all the others. In this area of the face, in addition, the skin can be up to five times more delicate and for this it requires special care.
There are several solutions: specific serums for the contour, super moisturizing creams or the famous patches for bags and dark circles. The prevention of signs of aging always starts from the eye contour that should be applied preferably with light tapping of the fingertips throughout the area surrounding the eyes and not only allows the texture to be absorbed correctly, but is also useful to decongest and tone the area.
Moisturizer
The moisturizer, as the name implies, gives nourishment to our skin and serves, among other things, to protect all the products we have previously applied.
It acts as a barrier that repairs the skin from pollution and helps previously used products to be absorbed quickly and easily.
Last, but not least, the final step of the routine (the secret of all Korean routines): the sunscreen application.
This step is often skipped, but it should never be missing, not only when you are exposed to the sun.
Sunscreen tends to be the most consistent cream of the whole routine, so it is the last product that must be applied to the face.
The sunscreen is essential to prevent premature aging of the skin and the appearance of wrinkles and sun spots, and it should be also used during winter.
Now that you've learned all the secrets for a perfect beauty routine, visit our beauty routines section and discover the right one for your needs.
