K-beauty has been bringing people clear, glowing, and blemish-free skin for years. Their skincare products make you so radiant you don’t need makeup, and if you are looking for makeup, Korean brands often integrate built-in skincare, so that it becomes beneficial to your routine. Here are our top picks to know about.
1. Son & Park Beauty Water
This stylish bottle of beauty water doubles as a toner. It’s gentle as can be, but is still a powerful cleanser. Papaya extract naturally exfoliates, while hazel water calms and smooths.
2. Cosrx Advanced Snail Peptide Eye Cream
It might sound gross, but snail goo is actually one of the best routes to glowing skin. This eye cream absorbs fast and significantly reduces dark circles due to niacinamide, hyaluronic acid peptides, and…wait for it…snail secretions.
3. Dermal Korea Collagen Essence Facial Mask
Can’t afford a facial or collagen injection? Consider this very reasonable sheet mask, which is collagen infused and has tons of stellar reviews from happy customers on Amazon. One reviewer with chronically dry skin said they saw issues clear up in a matter of days after applying this.
4. Tony Moly Panda’s Dream Smudge Out Mascara
This mascara lengthens and adds maximum volume, with unparalleled definition in just a few sweeps. Unlike other mascara on the market, this one doesn’t smudge or clump. The wand also happens to be an adorable panda.
5. Laneige Glowy Makeup Serum
This makeup serum is basically a makeup primer that eliminates dryness and dullness. Along with being a lightweight primer, this Laneige product is a hydrating serum, making it a pre-makeup hybrid we’re obsessed with in 2021.
6. Amore Pacific Color Control Cushion Compact SPF 50+
This is another skincare/makeup hybrid from K-beauty that we love. It has brightening and moisturizing skincare benefits, but also provides natural blemish coverage and SPF protection.
7. Etude House Tint My Brows Gel
Brow gel has been around for a while, but usually, it comes with the same spiral applicator of a mascara wand, which can be slightly hard to apply. This brow tint adds color and the appearance of thickness with its tiny, precise applicator.
8. Elizavecca Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask
If you’ve never tried a bubbling mask, this one by K-beauty brand Elizavecca is a must. It has a carbonated effect, foaming on your face as your pores soak in the good stuff, eliminating excess oil while doing a deep clean.
9. Banila Co Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm
In Korean skincare routines, a cleansing balm is common. It’s similar to an oil cleanser and has been described as “sherbert-like”. This product is applied to dry skin and rubbed in, which makes it melt into an oil, breaking down all the dirt and makeup from the day.
10. AMOREPACIFIC Treatment Enzyme Peel Cleansing Powder
As we mentioned before, cleaning routines are the basis of beauty when it comes to Korean products. Try to get a cleanser that contains enzymes, which will slough off all those dead skin cells gently. This innovative cleanser is a powder-to-foam exfoliating daily cleanser with plant-based enzymes that are easy on your skin but remove impurities.
11. Shangpree Marine Energy Eye Mask
The pandemic has caused a lot of stress in our lives, which manifests in less sleep and puffy eyes surrounded by dark circles. If you can’t make it to the sap, consider keeping a pack of these marine-based eye masks, made of a cooling gel that mimics the feel of cucumber slices, but molds to your skin better, infusing it with soothing algae and moisturizing hyaluronic acid.
12. Peripera Lipstick
Peripera’s products certainly don’t look like traditionally packaged makeup. Instead, they look like tincture bottles, with applicator wands masked as dropper lids. Their Velvet line of lip products are probably their most popular offering, and users describe the feeling as a “light mousse” that lasts a long time and never leaves lips dry
13. Erborian Bamboo Matte Powder Effect Cream
The secret to fighting extra oily skin is to keep your skin hydrated and provide a matte layer that doesn’t dry it out. This cream has silica, a natural ingredient found in clay that soaks up that excess oil. It helps your makeup stay on for longer with a fresher look, but you can use it as a moisturizer thanks to the addition of hydrating bamboo sap.
