When we got orders to be stationed in Seoul, Korea I was ecstatic.  I am a total beauty junkie, I love all things skincare and makeup related.  Here I was getting an all paid trip to the Mecca of beauty.  At first I was enthralled.  On every street in Seoul there is at least one beauty shop. Each one has a cute little name and theme. Inside it contains fantastic promises of perfection. Sheet masks here are always on sale and cost about $0.50c…..how could I not indulge regularly. There is so much wonderful truth to the Korean beauty culture….They have access to so much great science and I think they have less restrictions on active ingredients and potency than the western countries.

But the truth is that Korean beauty is actually the most simplest of beauty.  Everyone talks of the intensive  ten or twelve step Korean beauty regime, practiced twice a day by the Korean girls. It gets a bad rap, as if it is overindulgent and excessive.  But in actual fact it is not very complicated.  Broken down, each step simply uses a specific product for a specific need.

Makeup removal and intensive cleansing takes up about four of the steps. This includes washing the face with an oil cleanser then again with a foaming cleanser. Then followed by a cream cleanser. So, yes, that may be a little excessive!

Then there is my personal favorite: exfoliation, which in this country is taken quite seriously!  Rarely will you find a harsh grainy physical exfoliator here.  The tendency is to gravitate toward the chemical or an acid exfoliation. There is very little scrubbing and more gentle skin removal.

The conscientious Korean girl will always use a toner and then follow with an essence which to me always feels like the same thing, however they are very different.  The toner cleanses off the remains of cleansers and dampens the skin in preparation for the active ingredients in the essence.  The essence is liquid but is thicker than the toner.  Are you still following????

After that is the treatment step…….usually a specific serum for a specific need. Whether it is for acne, skin lightning or age defiance, there is a serum out there.  In all honesty between Korean and other serums from the rest of the world I have found very little difference.

Then we come to the iconic Korean face mask…..The sheet mask is the most amazing invention.  It takes the faf and the mess out of masking.  Like I said, masks are cheap and readily available.  Between the Skin Food, Tony Moly and Innisfree (to name just a few shops),  there is always a sale and a deal to be had. I, however am partial to a more expensive mask with more active ingredients.  I like to go to the Olive Young (a shop like Ulta or Boots), where, once again there is always a deal.  I can get masks there by companies such as BOH, MediHeal and Dr Jart for as little as $2.50.  I have been building up a stockpile for when we leave!

After taking a relaxing 20 minutes in the mask and then massaging in the leftover mask juice, it is time to  moisturize.  Moisturizers are simply that, a moisturizer.  I once asked a shop assistant if she had one with SPF and she looked at me like I was crazy.  I, unlike the diligent Korean girl, like to cut corners by combining the two.

Eye cream is another step not to be missed in the moisturizing regime. Once again, self explanatory.

Lastly is sunscreen…..and it is no joke here. The last thing a Korean girl wants is a tan, or any kind of sun damage or sun spots..  It is not uncommon to see the girls with the telltale white cast of dried in sunscreen on here face as she goes through her day.

It is also not uncommon to see Korean girls walk around shamelessly wearing those little pimple spot stickers and a curler in the front of her hair.

The most surprising thing to me is that the average Korean girl does not actually wear a lot of makeup.  And what she does wear is very natural and beauty enhancing. Then to spice things up a little, their lipstick choice is usually a wash of something bright and popping…..like an orange or a pillar box red.

The Korean girl does really care about how she looks.  She is always neatly turned out, with her knockout body wrapped in classic clothing…….and don’t get me started on her beautiful hair.

To all of this obsession with beauty and looks, there can be a dark side, one that I will address at a separate time.  I feel for the Korean girl, she lives in a country where the use of the caucasian model is still very prevalent. This serves only to  set up standards that are impossible for her to follow.  I hope that these girls realize just how beautiful they are, everyone of them in their own way.  There does seem to be a turn in their thinking; they are becoming more empowered and accepting of themselves. And clearly when it comes to skincare…..they have an awful lot to teach the rest of the world.

♥Criona