what are your favorite korean skincare products?

[cupidnat]

i’ve been starting to spiral into my skincare hole again and i’m looking for a new korean skincare routine and was wondering what your favorite go to products are? my skin is combination and i’m hoping to clear my skin a bit more and have it overall be healthier! i’m hoping to find reliable holy grails i can use for a while 🥺 i don’t mind spending the extra money as long as it’s worth it but it would be even better if the product was affordable and reliable/effective. i’m currently using garnier micellar water, the clean it zero balm, the fresh soy cleanser, krave kale lalu yaha chemical exfoliator, various toners essences and serums (i cant seem to find a good one even though i’m testing them over periods of time), and the belief the true cream moisturizing bomb. thank you for all your recommendations 🥰💘

[InnerProjection]

Cosrx Birch sap moisturizer

[Rabiaaaaa]

1. Laneige cream skin toner (Superrrrr softening and hydrating, you don't even need a moisturizer after because thats how hydrating this is)
2. Laneige hydro essence (Very lightweight but hydrating)
3. Laneige lip mask (Best lip mask out there)
4. Missha all around SPF (its super lightweight, doesn't pill, has no white cast) 
5. Missha super aqua foaming cleanser (smells amazing, hydrating, affordable, really cleans your skin and takes off makeup)
6. Holika Holika 99% aloe vera gel (the best aloe vera gel i have EVER used, you can use it in your hair as well)
7. The face shop rice water bright cleansing oil (a really nice brightening cleansing oil, it deeply cleanses your skin and gets out all the black heads) 

ITEMS ARE NOT IN ANY PARTICULAR ORDER, I JUST NUMBERED IT THAT WAY TO MAKE IT ORGANIZED 🙂

Although, I think the best item on this list is the laneige cream skin toner, if you want to try out laneige products i reccommend getting one of their sets such as this one: LANEIGE Ready, Set, HYDRATE! 

[lnum]

@cupidnat I jumped on the k beauty bandwagon years ago and find my skin responds to it really well, I’m south Asian with combo-oily, acne prone skin. My favorite products thus far have been:

Missha Time Revolution Essence 

Missha Time Revolution Night Repair Ampoule

belif Problem Solution Cleansing Foam 3.38 oz 

belif The True Cream Aqua Bomb 

LANEIGE Lavender Water Sleeping Mask 2.3 oz/ 70 mL 

Glow Recipe Watermelon + AHA Glow Sleeping Mask 2.7 oz/ 80 mL 

LANEIGE Lip Sleeping Mask Intense Hydration with Vitamin C Berry  

belif Moisturizing Eye Bomb 

Nature Republic Real Nature Green Tea Mask Sheet 

Nature Republic Marine Aqua Collagen Solution Hydrogel Mask

Nature Republic Ginseng Gold Silk Hydrogel Mask 

[amxl24]

I would totally recommend Saturday Skin. It has worked wonders on my skin. I started off with the peel gel that they sell at Sephora. I have NEVER seen so much dead skin come off from my face. It is a good exfoliator for your face and it’s not abrasive if you have sensitive skin. I have sensitive skin and it just reddens a little bit when I rub too hard. Another product I would recommend from them is the water cream. It’s really hydrating!

[skincare531]

I lived in Korea and have tested a lot of great products. Let's go by step for the stars I've stuck with.

Cleansing: Dr. Jart's Micellar Water is my favorite. Son & Park Beauty Water is amazing but not sold on Sephora.

I use Sulwhasoo Gentle Cleansing Oil and follow it with Clinique Liquid Facial Soap. 

Toner: For moisture, I like the belif Aqua Bomb Toner; it's very moisturizing. Most Korean toners are moisturizing, so if you want a more acidic one, I don't recommend any Korean brand. 

Essences, Serums & Ampoules: The Sulwhasoo line is great; I especially recommend the First Care Serum. I apply that before anything else. Danahan makes great ginseng essences and emulsions. Neogen H2 Dermdeca Serum Spray is a really refreshing mist serum. Mizon's entire ampoule line is fabulous.

Sheet Masks: Here's the wild thing about sheet masks in the US versus South Korea: in Seoul you can get 10 masks for 5-10,000 won aka $4-9. Innisfree has a nice mask club where it's 30masks/$40. I mask almost every day for moisture, as did every Korean girl I knew. We'd have soju and snacks while applying masks and doing our hair before going out. So mask up! Peel masks aren't good for my skin, but Dr. Jart+ rubber masks were favorites of my oily-skinned friends.

Lotion: The Mizon Black Snail All In One Cream is great, but not enough for dry skin, best for normal/combo. The belif Aqua Bomb is also one of the best I've tried for staying fresh. Dr. Jart Tiger Grass Color-Correcting Cream is nice to treat redness and has SPF.

Eye Cream: The belif Moisturizing Eye Bomb goes really well over my retinol eye products. Missha Cho Bo Yang Ginseng Eye Cream is my favorite nighttime eye cream... a little goes a long way.

Treatments & Sleeping Masks: Neogen makes THE BEST exfoliating pads, the BioPeel Gauze Pads. I use them 2x/week; the chemical toning and the two-textured pads make skin feel baby-smooth after a soft scrub. For sleeping, I do like the Laneige Water Cream (normal skin) or Cica Cream (dry skin) and from Sulwhasoo, the Overnight Sleeping Mask. I also love Mizon Intensive Gold Eye Mask gels as a daily morning staple. Cheaper than the Peter Thomas Roth Gold gel masks. The Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask is the best. Second winter I've used it every other night and the second during which I've never ever had chapped lips.

NOTE: Most Koreans I knew all bought a specific toner... the Origins Mega Mushroom Treatment Lotion (which is a non-alc toner). Just like K-Beauty is trendy here, Clinique and Origins (the Estee Lauder giant) are super desirable there. And even though Glow Recipe is branded as Korean Skincare, it isn't. It's similar to Peach & Lily's line... Korean-Americans building great companies by capitalizing on a trend. Not bad products, but dissimilar testing and priorities. AmorePacific is THE beauty giant (kind of like Estee Lauder owns loads of brands in the USA), so look under them for the most-tested products (Sulwhasoo, Laneige, Innisfree, Primera, Iope, Aritaum)...

Origins Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins™ Mega-Mushroom Skin Relief Micellar Cleanser 6.7 oz/ 198 mL SULWHASOO - First Care Activating Serum SULWHASOO - Gentle Cleansing Oil  CLINIQUE All About Clean™ Liquid Facial Soap Gentle Cleanser 6.7 oz/ 200 mL Mild BELIF - The True Cream Aqua Bomb belif Aqua Bomb Hydrating Toner with Hyaluronic Acid 6.75 oz/ 200 mL  BELIF - Moisturizing Eye BombDR. JART+ - Lover Rubber Masks Dr. Jart+ Cicapair™ Tiger Grass Color Correcting Treatment SPF 30 1.7 fl. oz/ 50 mL LANEIGE Lip Sleeping Mask Intense Hydration with Vitamin C Berry

[CookieGirl1]

@skincare531 Did you happen to find an SPF that you loved?

[Rabiaaaaa]

The missha all around sunscreens are really nice! They are lightweight, have no white cast, and don't pill!

[skincare531]

If not using Dr Jarts Cica Cream or Clinique Coty Blick (both with SPF) then I usually mix in Coola Oil into my moisturizer or use a spray from Supergoop! or Neutrogena. I haven’t really tested Korean SPF, sorry!

[pocketvenus]

@skincare531 this post was epic! Thank you!

Personally I love Missha's Time Revolution Essence. I actually like it more than SK-II's even though it's cheaper.

@cupidnat 

[JessRachael]

My favorite Korean skincare brand is probably CosRX! Would definitely recommend checking it out at Soko Glam or another reputable site! I’ve used an assortment of CosRX products over the years, and my three favorites are the Low pH BHA Overnight Mask — which I’d definitely recommend trying if you’re dealing with acne — the Triple C Lightning Liquid, and the Ultimate Moisturizing Honey Overnight Mask. (I also LOVED the Galactomyces 95 Tone Balancing Essence and the BHA skin returning emulsion for the brief period of time that I used them, but I quit them both because my dermatologist thought ingredients in them might be aggravating the eczema flare I was dealing with at the time and I just haven’t gone back to them.)

[BeccahGrace]

Honestly I really don’t like K beauty skin care. I like the idea of the makeup looks though. But they use alcohol in almost every brand they have. Toners, serums, essences, ampoules. Belif, sulwashoo, Innisfree...they all have bad alcohol in their products.

[JaneanBT]

Hi @cupidnat ,

I love Belif! There products are so nice! I also really have been enjoying Primera, especially the PRIMERA - Alpine Berry Water Cream.

Best Wishes,

Janean

[remxx]

Glow Recipe all the way! The new Banana Souffle moisturizer is the BEST for combination skin, and their Watermelon Pink Juice moisturizer is a great lighter textured option. Every product is super potent.

[Anonymous]

Pretty much all of their sheet masks.

[KaiAtano]

My skin is oily-combo, acne-prone, and sensitive, and I try to avoid fragrance and essential oils. This is not easy in K-Beauty/Asian Beauty, but I found some faves! I'm loving PRIMERA - Miracle Seed Essence,  LANEIGE Fresh Calming Mousse Moisturizer , and LANEIGE - Cream Skin Toner & Moisturizer. I use Cream Skin twice a day and it never fails to amaze me how soft it makes my skin feel. I'm also looking to try out INNISFREE - Fermented Soybean Firming Energy Essence. As for things outside of Sephora, I like Hada Labo Gokujyun Hyaluronic Acid Face Foam Cleanser, Benton Snail Bee High Content Skin, Benton Aloe BHA Skin Toner, Klairs Unscented Supple Preparation Toner, Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV, and Purito Centella Green Level Unscented Sun. All depends on how my skin is feeling and what I think it needs that day. Cheers!

[Pelinn]

Hii!! I’m so interested in Korean skin care this past year and I’ve been doing my research like crazy and the main thing I’m wondering about is the laneige cream toner, I have oily skin so I was afraid to buy it, I wanted to use it in the mornings especially if I don’t cleanse my face, do you think that would be okay? Also what’s a good moisturizer for the day time, I’m looking for something lightweight and effective and I want it to be Korean skincare as well!!