Beauty Talk | Korean Beauty Secrets

As we all know, Korean women and men (no surprise!) are so conscious about their skin condition and hence spend a great deal of time and of course money to get the flawless skin that we all want.

Warning! Medium Song Hye Kyo photos. :D

Ain't that the ultimate praise of them all? Oh! Jo In Sung..~melting~

My favourite Korean actress, Song Hye Kyo is one of those who have admirable skin. I watched all her dramas ever since Autumn in My Heart back in 2002. I was only 12 and even until today, I’m still in love with her acting.

Then, in 2006, I started to join my friends in K-Pop fandom and discovered K-Pop boy bands like Big Bang, DBSK, Super Junior, and SS501. Then, I came to admire Kim Hyun Joong as singers and now actors. Now, you guys know why I’m into TheFaceShop products so much, huh?

Anyway, I just read an article on Korean Beauty Secrets today and would love to share my opinion about it with you guys.

First, adequate skin hydration.

Song Hye Kyo endorsing Lotte Chilsung drink brand Water Bottle Icis 8.0. Source 

I read somewhere that Koreans drink glass of water right after waking up in the morning. Well, I sure do that and it’s more of a habit now. Drinking lots of fluids can help you to add a healthy glow to your skin. In other words, let’s just say that drinking a lot of fluids can help you maintain your body pH and it’s important to stay hydrated all the time.

Second, beauty sleep.

Remember this? LOL My favourite. Full House back in 2004. 

Okay, some of you may know that I’m an architecture student. I get to sleep 4 to 6 hours a day and more than that is more of a luxury. But to you guys out there, who doesn’t have design projects to complete, stop your K-drama marathon and get that beauty sleep! Haha :D You know who you are~

Third, my favourite topic, skin care products.

First and foremost, you should know your skin type and for those who’re living in multi-season country, you should also know how your skin changes according to season and hence it’s important to coordinate your beauty regime with the current season. In Malaysia, it’s hot all year around so among my options is I need to change my skin care products every 6 months. It’s recommendable because your skin tends to adapt to your skin care products after 5 to 6 months and your skin will override (um, what’s the better word? We’re not talking about computer here), the skin care benefits and will stop respond and then you’ll notice that your skin condition will start to go to the opposite direction. Which means BAD news.

So, get the correct skin care products and see the difference! For me, one of the things that I noticed ever since I start this amazing beauty regime is I rarely break out. Usually, if I don’t wash my face over 6 hours, I’ll break out within the same day but now, not anymore!

Fourth, double cleansing, toning and moisturising.

I recalled a K-actress, Suzy Bae talked about her ‘424’ technique, where you must clean your face with cleansing oil (I would suggest TheFaceShop Rice Water Bright Rich/Light Cleansing Oil) for 4 minutes, followed with cleansing foam (I would suggest TheFaceShop Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam) for 2 minutes and then rinsing your face for 4 minutes, preferably running water, starting with lukewarm water and finishing the step with cold water to close all opened pores.

A lot of people think that toning step isn’t as important as cleansing step (I was one of them before) but boy, no! To me, I assume that toning is the last step in cleansing stage where by using toner or lotion some would call it, it would wipe off all whatever traces left on your skin. It balances the pH of your skin, too! Prepping it for moisturising stage. Some Koreans love to tap their skin with fingers after applying their toners, believed it’s for better absorption. I couldn’t agree more.

Moisturising. It’s inevitable for those who have dry skin but to those who have oily-normal skin, don’t think that moisturiser isn’t important. As we washed our face, we strip the natural oil that our skin produced along with dirt and whatnot, so it’s important to compensate the oil loss so our skin won’t over secrete it and yes, turn your face into greasy ball. So, go ahead and splurge on great moisturisers that works best for your skin. For me, I’m currently using TheFaceShop Flebote White Crystal Emulsion (day) and Moisture Radiance Cream (at night).

Fifth, another favourite topic, facial masks.

Facial mask sheets are usually paper thin sheets that infused with certain active ingredients for an example Pearl Extract, Honey, and etc. to give the intended nourishment to your skin. It’s recommended to use these masks for every 2 to 3 days for better results. They’re the most affordable facial masks in the world. 

Wash-off masks are usually comes in packs, packets, tubs and whatnot. Some of them can give you certain nourishment you need for an example soothing a sun burnt skin, or brightening a dull skin, while some others are integrated with exfoliating function. My current favourite is Skinfood Rice Wash-off Mask, which can brighten and exfoliate your dead skin cells at the same time. Another would be Etude House I Need You Yogurt Wash-off Pack that comes in cute butter packs. 

Sleeping packs or masks are also popular these days. It gives  your skin nourishment it needs while you're sleeping. I remember how Song Hye Kyo was raving about this thing! She was featured in Cleo magazine I think and she mentioned about this product again and again. But my favourite would be TheFaceShop Raspberry Roots Sleeping Mask. But I'll definitely  gonna get this one when I'm finished with mine. 

Homemade masks are great as well provided you have ample of free time on your hands. Mfavourite would be Oat and Honey mixture.

Sixth, have you heard about facial stretching exercise? 

Common practice among K-actors and actresses, where they repeat ‘Ma Me Mi Mo Mu’ for 10 times as to exercise their lip and cheek muscles. I saw this being done by Sharpay Evans in High School Musical before, with a little bit of modification, though. LOL

Last but not least, their nice and simple make up.

BB cream, warm hues eye shadows, black eye liner, mascara, pink blusher for healthy looking skin, and natural colour lip products i.e. lip sticks, lip tints, or my all-time favourite, lip balms. Well, among few things. 

One of my favourite architect, Mies van der Rohe, famous for his saying of Less Is More. So, let’s change it a little bit to Less Makeup, More Skin Care! And that! Is how I see it! ^_^

Do share your experiences, must-have product and if you wanna be more symbolic, your first Korean skin care product!

See you guys next post!