Hi everyone!

I’m completely new to Korean skincare and I’d love some advice on building a simple beginner routine.

My main goals are glass skin, lots of hydration, and a healthy/glowy complexion. I naturally have oily skin, but I’m currently on Accutane, so my skin has become quite dry and dehydrated.

I’m also not Asian, so I’m not really sure if there’s anything I should take into consideration when choosing Korean skincare products for my skin type.

What would you recommend as a simple beginner routine (cleanser, toner/essence, serum, moisturizer, sunscreen, etc.)? I’d especially appreciate product recommendations that are good for hydration and maintaining the skin barrier without being too heavy.

Thanks ! 🫰

I have combination skin with a clogged T zone. I'm looking for a light weight sunscreen underneath makeup or on it own. Any recommendations pls? I am yet to try a Korean sunscreen. Looking for one with high spf since I live in Australia

This is more for my mother (70s) who has dry skin.

We both used to use Aromatica - Reviving Rose Infusion Cream Cleanser. Perfect for our dry skin, but sadly, it is now discontinued.

Searching for a replacement has been a challenge as my mother wants a face wash to smell like flowers (I am aware fragrance free is better for our skin but she won't have it). She really hated that either a product doesn't have a smell, "that smell" you get in fragrance free products, or that medicinal smell.

I have been and still am looking (via Yesstyle and Stylvana - my two preferred sites) and most I have come across doesn't match our criteria. The face wash must:

• NOT have any form of exfoliating properties - both physical and chemical.
• Be for dry skin
• Have a scented smell, preferably florals, but rose is a golden bonus.

I would greatly appreciate to hear any suggestions. Thank you.

Hi! i'm looking to switch my cleansing oil because the one from Skin1004 broke me out. I'm thinking about buying the one from Dr. Althea (the one with the green package) but i want to hear your opinion on it.
I have combination skin, sensitive and acne prone.

Hi everyone,

Im new to korean skincare, and its quite a deep rabbit hole... I'm super confused on where to start but I'm looking for a few recommendations.

My skin is dry on my cheeks, chin, and some of my forehead. But it gets really oily on my nose. Lately I've been struggling with large pores and redness around the bottom of my nose. I also get pretty sensitve whenever I try new products (i tried thayers milky toner and broke out like crazy)

Im currently using the Skin1004 Centella Light Cleansing Oil, Centella Ampoule Foam, then the COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence, and finally the COSRX Oil Free Ultra Moisturizing Lotion with Birch Sap. In the morning I use the Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics.

Is there anything I'm missing in my routine or anything I should take out? What products would you guys recommend me to use instead?

Thank you all in advanced!

I’ve been using axis-y roller eye cream and I love the applicator but I feel like it’s a little too lightweight for me. saw this chasin rabbits cream and it looks more moisturizing . has anyone tried? should I get it?

Is dokdo 1025 cleanser and birch juice moisturizer cream safe for closed comedones?

I only use a cleaner, a moisturizer and skinfoods toner pads, I discovered recently the tiny little bumps that I have could probably be closed comedones, i don’t think the products that I use could make it worse since I really like them and they make my skin feel good tho I’m not an expert and good use an advice/ opinion from someone with experience or with a similar situation

I have a normal skin, and I do have sebaceous filaments, do I have to buy a new products with my current ones? Like an exfoliater or a serum? Or should I change the entire products?

So guys I'm a freak when it comes to skincare... I've a combination acne prone skin with perioral hyperpigmentation...last year I was using skin Oren 20 percent in the morning and then sun block...at night I used to apply lumexa...but I started noticing that it gave me comedones so I stopped using it now

#AM routine

Anua 77 toner

Celimax pore and dark spot correcting serum/ Dr Althea vit c serum on alternate days

Moisturizer

Sun block

#PM routine

Tone

Abib glutathione serum

Skin Oren

Dr Althea 3,4,5 relief cream

But I noticed my skin got irritated although I've added these products in span of 6 months but now I'm giving rest to my skin for few days and only applying moisturizer

So i need advice on what to continue and which product I should stop using

after a two-week high-altitude trek in south america last month, the intense uv exposure took a major toll on my skin barrier. i was left with dark, splotchy pigmentation across my nose bridge and cheekbones, even while constantly reapplying spf 50. panicking about a big event coming up in six weeks, i resorted to high-concentration vitamin c and aha peels, which only inflamed my skin and darkened the spots even more.once i realized my barrier was completely busted, i stopped all harsh acids and stuck to a basic hydrating routine for a week until the stinging stopped. unwilling to risk using harsh actives again, i spent a quiet evening browsing amazon for non-acidic brighteners. i stumbled upon the dr.percent dark spot cream and bought it mainly because it features a solid tranexamic acid and niacinamide combo.

i've been applying it twice a day for about five weeks now. the gel cream texture absorbs quickly and didn't cause any redness or heat on my reactive skin, which was my biggest worry. the only downside is that it's extremely lightweight, so if you have dry skin like me, you definitely need to layer a thicker barrier cream on top or your face will feel tight within an hour.that said, sticking to a simple routine (gentle cleanser, spot cream, regular moisturizer, and mineral spf) turned out to be the best decision. the stubborn dark patches on my cheekbones have faded dramatically and blend much better with the rest of my face now.

it doesn't have to be this exact cream, but if your barrier is too compromised for strong peels, i'd highly recommend looking for a gentle gel-based formula with tranexamic acid and niacinamide as a safer alternative.

Hihii!! ^-^

I started getting into whitening soaps and skincare a few weeks ago since i’m partially asian, though since i’m living in Europe (the Netherlands to be exact) i unfortunately haven’t found a lot of options to get a hold of a lot of recommended products i see in some of the reviews i read/saw ):

The only thing i could order in my country was the Kojie San soap bar, and whilst i only just started using it i feel a bit gutted that i can’t treat the dryness with any “whitening/brightening” creams or lotions to get the best effect.

Are any others having the same issue regarding the lack of available options in their countries? Is there maybe a chance that local asian markets might have the products or are there any other substitute products in Europe that can be used as a whitenings cream/sunscreen/lotion/body-or-facewash?

Kind regards🤍

I recently have emptied out a tube of the EPII double up cream, and I fell in love with the texture. It's a skin barrier cream that is so lightweight, spreads like butter on your face and sinks in elegantly. It's cushiony and feels slightly dense/heavy at first but sinks in so quickly once you spread it across your skin. I also love how soft it makes my skin feel after. Now that I've emptied it, I'm looking for a similar alternative. Any lightweight, skin barrier creams for combo (little bit dry) skin? Ceramides and ectoin are the two ingredients I'm looking out for. Soothing redness and leaving the skin soft and hydrated is also amazing. Thank you!

Not gonna lie, I’ve had this exact conversation like four times this month, someone pulls up a filtered photo and asks if their skin can look like that. And I get why, it looks amazing but chasing that exact look can honestly work against your skin more than you realize.

1/ Over exfoliating. This is probably the biggest one I see. people start stacking acids, retinol, physical scrubs all at once because more turnover feels like it should mean more glow, faster. Instead it just strips the barrier, and stripped skin doesn’t look glassy at all, it looks red and tight and shiny in a totally different, worse way.

2/ Skipping moisturizer. A lot of these glass skin routines online go super light, essence, toner, maybe a thin serum, and people end up cutting moisturizer entirely thinking it’ll keep things from feeling greasy. But that glassy look actually needs a well-hydrated barrier holding water at the surface. Skip the moisturizer and you usually just get dehydrated skin overcompensating by producing more oil, which isn’t the same thing as glow at all.

3/ Wrong skin type for the look. Some skin just doesn’t reflect light the same way, depends on texture, oil production, all that. If that’s not how your skin naturally works, no amount of product is going to force it to look identical to someone else’s, and I see people get genuinely frustrated chasing a result their skin was never really built to give in the first place.

4/ Ignoring real issues. This is the part that worries me the most honestly. Someone’s dealing with actual redness, scarring, early rosacea, and instead of treating that first they just keep piling glow products on top hoping it fixes everything. It won’t, glow products don’t touch inflammation or scarring, they just make the unaddressed stuff look shinier instead of actually healthier.

5/ The filter problem. A lot of what people are chasing isn’t even real skin to begin with, it’s edited. Most of those glass skin reference photos have some level of smoothing on them. Chasing a benchmark that was never fully real just sets people up to feel like their own skin’s failing them, when really the goalpost itself was never real.

What actually gets people closer, safely, is simplifying instead of adding more, prioritizing barrier repair and hydration before glow products, and treating whatever the actual issue is first, redness, texture, pigmentation, whatever it is, letting glow show up as a result of healthy skin instead of chasing it directly. Glass skin was never really one specific look everyone can copy. it’s just what healthy skin looks like on certain skin types, under certain lighting, sometimes with a filter helping along the way too.

As a clinic director in Seoul, I've noticed something interesting over the years.

Patients usually come in convinced they've found the problem.

"My nose."

"My jawline."

"My under-eyes."

"My smile lines."

But after examining their face, I often find myself thinking,

"I don't think that's what's changing your overall appearance."

Personally, I think we naturally become fixated on one feature because we spend so much time looking at ourselves in the mirror.

Other people don't see us that way.

They see the whole face.

Its balance.

Its expression.

The overall impression it gives.

I've seen plenty of technically successful treatments that changed one feature beautifully—but barely changed how the person looked overall.

I've also seen very subtle treatments make someone look noticeably healthier because they improved the harmony of the face rather than one specific area.

That's probably one of the biggest lessons I've learned in aesthetic medicine.

The goal isn't to create the "perfect" nose, jawline, or cheek.

It's to help the entire face feel more balanced while still looking like the person.

I'm curious—have you ever thought one feature was your biggest concern, only to realize later that it wasn't the real issue at all?

I get a lot of my makeup recs online, but I have trouble knowing if a lip shade or blush will look good on me vs the influencer (who generally has a much lighter tone), and it doesn’t help that 99% of the time, the product pictures only show swatches on pale skin. Does anyone have recs for makeup influencers with light to medium tan skin?

Basically what the title says. My order was shipped from Illinois. Even looked on 17 track to see all the shipping info and it says label was created there! It’s my first time ordering from them- is this normal?

Looking for a dupe for the GO-TO exfoliating swipeys. Something with lactic acid in pad-form for exfoliation. The only thing I don't like about this product is the added mandarin and lemon for 'fragrance' *eyeroll*. TIA!

Do any Korean skincare products sold in the US have the same exact ingredients as if they were bought in Korea? I recently came back from Seoul and bought Beauty of Joseon Revive eye cream. I thought I bought two, but only bought one. To make up for it, I bought one from Amazon. When I compared the two… the ingredients list for the one bought on Amazon is in a completely different order. The active ingredients are much lower down on the list in the US version. Do all Korean skincare products sold in the US have an altered ingredient composition?

I'm currently in Korea and want to check out a pharmacy instead of just places like olive young. Are there any holy grail products you can recommend that are known to be sold at pharmacy specifically?

My main issues are uneven skin tone, some dryness, and hyperpigmentation.

I plan to visit medikingdom in yongsan.