Based on tradition, Koreans only used natural and harsh-free ingredients to create the clear, glowy, and natural-looking skin through multiple generations that made K-Beauty products better and so popular today. Natural Korean makeup can still be made today for people to try at home by making your very own face mask.
The technology and the ingredients behind K-beauty are hailed as the most innovative and advanced around, much more so than Western brands – we can thank them for the introduction of BB creams into the Western market in around 2012 after using them for 20+ years.
The Use of Natural Ingredients
One of the reasons that Korean skincare stand out is there high use of natural ingredients. And Koreans use ingredients that are not commonly used by other countries. Snail mucus is a popular ingredient in Korean creams and masks and considered to have a lot of benefits.
Kuhn said it's also important to keep in mind products formulas vary by country. “Every country really has their own sort of regulatory process,” said Kuhn. “There really is no international board that's overseeing ingredients.” Kuhn said, for the most part, K-Beauty products are safe.
Korean beauty products are incredibly advanced when it comes to ingredients and formulations because the Korean beauty R&D labs are pushed to extremes as Korean women continue to raise the bar for beauty products – in a culture where skincare is an extremely serious pursuit and the standard for “flawless skin” is ...
Since ancient times, Koreans have only used natural, harsh-free ingredients for their skincare routines: green tea, “snail slime”, bamboo extracts, propolis, and honey are just some examples of the elements they used and have passed through generations.
While Korean skincare relies heavily on ingredients such as snail mucin, rice bran, sea-kelp, and sake, Japanese skincare prioritizes moisturizing and anti-inflammatory ingredients like green-tea, hyaluronic acid, Camellia oil, and Aloe Vera.
Skin care is highly valued in the Korean culture. Korean skincare focuses on prevention, making it more effective than traditional Western beauty techniques. In South Korea, parents teach their children about skin care very early on. Their children quickly learn the importance of cleansers, SPF, and moisturizer.
That's not to say Koreans don't use Korean beauty products at all. There are countless free-standing brick and mortar stores on every other block in Seoul from the likes of Missha, Innisfree, Belif, It's Skin, Laneige, among many others.
It goes a bit like this: a balm or oil cleanser (1), a foaming cleanser (2), an exfoliant (3), a toner (4), an essence (5), an ampoule or serum (6), a sheet mask (7), an eye cream (8), a moisturizer (9), and then either a thicker night cream or sleeping mask or an SPF (10).
Whereas western skincare focuses on exfoliating to reveal new skin, Korean skincare is all about putting nutrients back into the skin. Korean skincare adopts a more gentle approach, with less of a focus on scrubs, retinols and harsh acids. Each product in a Korean beauty routine serves a specific purpose.
Laneige, Primera Son & Park Beauty, SkinRx Lab, Etude House, Moonshot, Peripera, Son & Park, IOPE, Too Cool for School, Sulwhasoo, Neogen, Klairs, and Missha are some of the most popular Korean skincare brands.
Over the past couple years, Cosrx has built up a cult following — not only in America but also Korea. In fact, it's not even a mainstream brand over there, Soko Glam's Charlotte Cho tells Allure. She compares its popularity to American beauty brand Paula's Choice.
According to one survey, the highest-quality beauty products come from Japan, the United States, and France (in that order).
Korean beauty standards prioritize a slim figure, small face, v-shaped jaw, pale skin, straight eyebrows, flawless skin, and larger eyes.
Korean beauty ingredients are innovative and inspired by nature. Whether it's a serum incorporating ingredients like snail mucin to ampoules that include microneedles made of marine solids, Korean beauty innovates with unique ingredients you often won't find in other skin care.
Shiseido Company, Limited (Japanese: 株式会社資生堂, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha Shiseidō, pronounced [ɕiseꜜːdoː]) is a Japanese multinational cosmetic company. Its product categories consist of: skin care, makeup, body care, hair care and fragrances. It is one of the oldest cosmetic companies in the world.
To put it plainly, Japan is defined by simplicity. A classic J-beauty routine centers around two things: a minimalist approach and natural, time-trusted ingredients. Thanks to years of meticulous research and technology, Japan's beauty industry is often the first to come up with breakthrough formulas.
Sure, idols may use whitening cream just like any Korean high school girls but anything more that that is just unnecessary. Also if you are talking about skin color on screens, then lighting in studio and film editing can render great impact on it.