Majority of the ingredients used in Korean skincare are safe, even the most exotic ingredient such as snail slime are typically safe. Though most Korean skincare brands are cruelty free, and some brands are even vegan friendly by opting for natural traditional ingredients to be used in their products.
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.
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.
Korean skin care focuses on using natural ingredients and is ahead of the game in beauty product innovation. American skin care has traditional creams and toners but Korean skincare is unique. Korean skin care products have many forms - puddings, jelly creams, hydrating gels, peeling gels, sheet masks, etc.
Unique and Natural Ingredients
K-Beauty products are known for their unique, innovative, and natural ingredients. Many products contain ingredients like aloe vera, ginseng, vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, honey, bee venom, and tea tree oil.
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).
Innisfree is one of the most popular Korean beauty brands known for its wide selection of products that are reliable due to its commitment to organic ingredients. As the name suggests, it is infused with Jeju island's volcanic scoria— a pure element that forms directly from the lava following a volcanic eruption.
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 ...
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.
According to one survey, the highest-quality beauty products come from Japan, the United States, and France (in that order).
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.
Unfortunately, not every South Korean product is cruelty-free yet. Brands that sell in brick-and-mortar stores in China must test on animals by Chinese law, meaning that brands like Etude House and Laneige are out. On the other hand, brands like Neogen, Klairs, and CosRX are all in the clear!
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.
That means that the majority of these cleansers, creams and serums are safe to use daily and by anyone, no matter your skin color, looking to fade dark spots, scars, or even out their skin tone.
Instead of using products full of harsh ingredients that strip the skin's natural barrier, Korean skin care philosophy is about working with your skin's natural ecosystem by cleansing, hydrating, nourishing, and protecting it — allowing your skin to thrive.
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.
Skincare is More Important than Makeup
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.
In Korea, skin is always first. They value skin as being more important than makeup or fashion. Their skin secret is that they are using alternative, animal and natural ingredients that a lot of popular skincare brands hadn't really considered using in the past.
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.
This routine is perfect for black women since it involves treating, exfoliating, and applying sunscreen daily. With K-beauty you'll never have to struggle with dull skin tone or dark acne marks. For perfect skin, K-Beauty has come up with an extraordinary lineup specifically for African American women.
Additional Info: It is free of alcohol, parabens, artificial colorants, fragrances, mineral oil, urea, and other harmful chemicals.
Use the green tea range by Innisfree. It is specially designed for sensitive, oily and acne prone skin. Hey Apurva, You can try the Innisfree City Pollution Defender Cleansing Foam, Innisfree City Pollution Defender Micellar Water, or even the Innisfree City Pollution Defender Cleansing Gel.