In the past 5 years, we have heard enough about K-Pop, K-Drama and have atleast one friend in our social circles who absolutely can’t stop talking about the sheer beauty of their music or drama. Just when we were getting this one friend to shush for a while, K beauty made its entrance in the hearts of many beauty and skincare enthusiasts. So quick has been the growth of popularity of K Beauty that beauty influencers across the globe are spending heavily to get the perfect looking skin.
Some individuals like me, however, who do invest considerably on skincare products, have managed to stay blissfully unaware of the rather ‘popular’ beauty trends that K Beauty brought. So let’s together try to understand what K Beauty is all about.
K Beauty is simply what the beauty industry in Korea is called. Korea has a history of laying immense importance on good looking and healthy skin for women men and kids as well. It stresses applying a lot many skincare products before applying actual make-up. The most basic daily skincare routine of K Beauty is exhaustive and has 10 steps to be followed, but one can modify this and cut it to as short as 5 or as long as 15 steps.
This might surprise you but presently K Beauty is a £10 billion industry and is estimated to become a £15 billion industry by 2026.
But why is it so popular?
One of the prime reasons why K beauty has gained so much popularity is because of the unusual ingredients its skincare and beauty products have. They are ingredients that none other cosmetics or beauty brands use. Out of the many unusual ingredients that K Beauty is incomplete without is rice water. Yes, the women in Korea soak rice in water and leave it for the night to wake up in the morning and rinse the face with that rice water. It is believed that rice water is a rich antioxidant and a friendly hydrant.
Another reason behind the sudden and strong growth of popularity is its modern approach to beauty which is not just restricted to products made keeping in mind the female users but also males and kids.
What makes K beauty special is that it is always evolving and changing. Those who are into manufacturing K beauty products carry out extensive research to make skincare better by the day and to develop a product that helps to achieve a perfect combination of glowing and impeccable skin.
Further, the advent of social media and the rise of the ‘influencer’ culture on social media networks like Instagram helped the magic of K beauty spread across the globe. Let me also tell you that the products’ cute and aesthetic packaging are a cherry on top.
Intrigued? Want to jump right in? Here is how you can start
In times when acne and scars have become so common, a perfect-looking shiny and dewy skin has become a myth. Still, we go miles to achieve that feat! This is exactly what attracts people to try out K beauty trends, whether it be the honey skin, cloudless skin, glass skin or the very recent creamy skin trend.
These trends can be overwhelming, but we can start with the 10 most basic steps of the K beauty skincare routine
Oil-Based Cleanser: The first on the list is using an oil-based cleanser. Since our facial skin secretes impure oils, an oil-based based cleanser helps remove the excess oil, makeup and other impurities, without washing off the healthy oils. A water-based cleanser is not used first since water and oil repel each other and don’t remove the oil completely.
Water-Based Cleanser: Once the oil-based cleanser washes off all the impure oil, using a water-based cleanser helps in removing the impurities left behind by the oil cleanser such as dirt and sweat.
Exfoliant: This product helps in removing all the dead skin cells and rejuvenate the skin. An exfoliant can be your scrub, peels or any face pad.
Toner: With all the steps that you do before reaching this one, it is highly likely that the pH level of your skin will lead to an imbalance and might need to be brought back to its acidic state. A toner will help you maintain balance and restore moisture in your skin.
Essence: This product is made from fermented ingredients for hydrating and protecting your skin from rashes.
Treatment: This step specifically focuses on the skin concerns you majorly have by the use of serums. This serum targets some of the major skincare issues that people usually experience like acne, hyperpigmentation, wrinkles, acne scars, etc.
Sheet mask: A 20 min step that also uses sheets soaked in serum. These sheets are to be placed on the face to cool down the skin. However, one doesn’t necessarily have to include this in their daily K skincare routine and can be done once a week.
Eye cream: We all know that the skin below and around the eyes is extremely sensitive. Hence puffiness, fine lines and dark circles are easily developed if one puts immense stress on the eyes. An eye cream, a gel or oils work great on the skin around the eyes.
Moisturizer: We have all used moisturizers atleast once. This product is always a blessing to the skin. It will help the skin to completely soak all the other skincare products used on your face.
SPF: The sun rays are getting harsher than ever with the ozone layer depleting. A foundation or moisturizer containing SPF will go a long way in protecting your skin. So no matter which product you wear on your face, don’t skip this SPF step before stepping out of the house.
Now the question remains, where will I find these products?
Well, in almost every beauty store, but be careful to choose products of good quality and only after thoroughly researching about them. Some of the brands that you can trust are:
- LANEIGE
- Innisfree
- TONYMOLY
- Oh K!
- The Face Shop
- Skinfood
- Secret Key
Let’s jump into the K beauty bandwagon and find out for ourselves how good K beauty really is and is it really as promising as it sounds.
