My adventures in Korean Beauty continue and a couple of people have asked me what products I’m using, so I thought I’d do a little update and give you a list of stuff that I’m currently testing/using/can’t live without.
Before I get into that, here’s a comparison between my July 1st photo and one I took this morning. Looking at them side by side, I can see changes but I also noticed that I actually smiled. I usually don’t like to close up pictures or smiling for them, so confidence is up.
Looking at today vs where I started?
Yeah…noticeable.
But the thing that’s been the most fun about all of this is the scientific side of it. I’ve done more research on skin and beauty in the last 3 months than ever. When I started, I started small and added products in. I then tested each addition & looked at results. Some worked, some didn’t, and it’s been like that. I feel like a mad scientist!
Here are my current product details. In the interest of full disclosure, these are affiliate links (I gotta pay for my drugs kbeauty items)
When the lovely Colette Bennett got me started, I had 3 items total.
DHC Deep Cleansing Oil (Use first)
CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser (after oil cleanser)
Konjac Sponge Facial Cleanser with Added Green Tea and Activated Bamboo Charcoal (use with 2nd cleanser)
Two of those three items remain. I switched out the Konjac sponge for this [Missha] Natural Soft Jelly Cleansing Puff. It feels so soft and it’s squishy and easier to clean. Lovelovelove.
I also picked up Charlotte Cho’s The Little Book of Skin Care: Korean Beauty Secrets for Healthy, Glowing Skin so I could understand more about this whole process and what made this so different. My biggest takeaway was about the culture of Korean beauty and the theories behind what works.
Once I read her book, I had this OMG I NEED SHEET MASKS THEY SOUND AMAZING moment. Colette suggested this [TONYMOLY] I’m Real Mask Sheet Pack of 11 as a good starter.
As I continued, it was suggested I add a moisturizer. And this [MIZON] Snail Recovery Gel Cream was suggested both because snail mucin is a well-loved staple of kbeauty (yeah, it’s snail slime, but it does so many good things) and because a gel was lighter than a cream for a face that gets oily like mine.
I also discovered the BENTON Snail Bee High Content Steam Cream because bee propolis (bee puke aka bee hive glue) is good for inflammation and snail mucin helps with scars.
This was also around the time I got a sample of SkinFood’s Propolis essence and it was about time to add an essence to the routine.
Then there were the dark circles. OMG, I had them. Bags, dark circles, raccoon eyes, perpetually tired eyes, I had them. So, more research on numerous sites and I ended up getting MIZON Korean Cosmetics Snail Repair Eye Cream for daily used and these adorable [Tonymoly] Panda’s Dream Eye Patch for weekly use.
I continued with just this for a while and watched the results. Then, once I had all of this figured out, I added my first active.
Because I have so many dark spots and acne scars on my chin, I decided to try this Cosrx Natural Bha Skin Returning A-sol because it was all about cell turnover and getting the old gunk out of my face. Lawd, but I have some deeeeeeep seated gunk. This stuff caused me to purge those impurities out of my skin, but I can feel the difference when I wash my face. Old bumps under the skin are gone.
Of course, with purging come zits and so I discovered my ultimate savior:
[Cosrx] Acne Pimple Master Patches. I love them. I could write a love letter to them. I can’t live without them.
I also got samples and testers from Sokoglam, Memebox, and The 3B Box (I love them and it’s only $12 a box). So many good things. Masks, essences, serums, moisturizers. The samples and testers last. The Skinfood Essence and Black Sugar serum I got from 3B are still going. It amazes me how long so many of these things last and the price of them overall.
Allllll of that said.
For now, here’s my routine:
Morning
- Double cleanse: Prescription Sulfacleanse and Cosrx Low Ph Good Morning Gel Cleanser
- Cosrx Natural Bha Skin Returning A-sol (Link above)
- SKINFOOD Black Sugar Perfect First Serum 2X – light
- SKINFOOD ROYAL HONEY PROPOLIS Essence
- MIZON All In One Snail Repair Cream (Link above)
- Benton Snail Bee High Content Lotion
Evening
- Double cleanse: DHC Deep Cleansing Oil and CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser (Links above)
- Prescription Finacea Foam
- BENTON Snail Bee High Content Essence
- MIZON All In One Snail Repair Cream (Link above)
- Benton Snail Bee High content Steam Cream
I use one of my masks 2 – 3 times a week. I use my time applying these products as time I give myself and it helps me feel less stressed. Especially at night. I take about 2 hours to do my evening routine because I wait between phases, so it helps me decompress and wind down for the night.
The Cosrx acne patches are amazing. They are my “Can’t live without” item.
My next steps are likely to include a Vitamin C serum, but we’re not there yet. Gonna use what I have before I buy anything.
As for what each thing does, here’s the basic idea…
Bee and snail items are for healing scars. BHA is for cell turnover, which helps with dark spots and scarring. Brightening items like the Skinfood Black Sugar is to help with dark spots as well.
If you want to try a few things and see what happens, I’d suggest:
Memebox – get 10% off your 1st purchase with code ‘101smiles’
Sokoglam – Get 20% off your first order.
The 3B Box: They’re my fave so far.
Hope it helps and I hope you enjoyed this and I honestly never thought I’d write about beauty. Ever.