Beauty Secrets: K-Beauty

K-Beauty is getting popular. South Korea churns out more than 100,000 unique products,

including skin care and skin care packaging, a year. BB cream, facial sheet masks, maple tree sap, and fermented extract, to name a few. In addition, Korean women spend more of their money on cosmetics than any other country. Their skin care routine is not a chore but something they enjoy doing and are willing to spend time on. That's is exactly what my mom did every night. Korean women use 9-10 steps...isn't that amazing?! I have a Korean ethnic background, but born and raised in Japan, and I did not attend to my skin like my mom did. I wish I followed my mom's regiment of taking care of skin. When my mother was admitted to a nursing home at age 83 years old, my sister went to see her for a first time at the facility and asked the staff where she could find our mom. When she mentioned her name, the staff asked her, "Is that the lady with beautiful skin? Wow....."

Anyways, here is the typical Korean skin regimen:

1. Oil Cleansing (very important, even you don't use heavy makeup but Sun protection

product etc. are usually oil base).

2. Foam cleanser

3. Exfoliate (optional and if you prefer make sure to be gentle, American skin care routines are nearly addicted to exfoliation).

4. Toner

5. Essence

6. Serum

7. Sheet Mask

8. Eye cream

9. Moisturizer

10. SPF for day time

I strongly agree with step 1 & 2, not only for water proof make-up, but also because the SPF oil base it is not easy to remove without scrubbing it. Step 3 depends on the base of toner and what type of your skin, toner was used to remove any residue of make-up to really clean the skin but with step 1 & 2. I would skip it unless you have oily skin and toner has a little bit of alcohol.

At the end of the day, I am usually too tired to do a mask or anything special but make sure cleanse face (Cleansing Oil and Ionic Cleanser Extra) and use Vita-C Serum and Age Defying Moist. 12 products?! I remember my mom always using a mask. She would cook an egg, applied liquid inside of the egg shell and apply what I call a "Friday the 13th" mask.

Weather is also a big factor for beautiful skin. Cold climates are a huge advantage for youthful skin. Korea's winter is extremely cold and any part of the world with cold weather, woman are always known to have beautiful skin. I live in Los Angeles, in the San Fernando Valley, where long hot and dry summers are definitely a disadvantage for the skin. After one year of living in the US, I went home to visit my family. My mother said, "What happened to your skin?" I guess I must have gotten darker from the strong California sun and neglect from skincare. Before I was known for fair skin but the sunshine is strong in California. Sun is a big aging factor for sure.

In Korea and Asia, in general, woman are highly attentive of protecting their skin from the sun; even while driving by wearing gloves to cover the arms.

Back in May & June 2015 my Beauty blog I talked about "What foods improve our skin?" To my surprise, the number one food was garlic and soy beans. Korean foods are full of garlic and soybeans: garlic is rich in sulfur which is necessary to produce collagen in your body. Garlic also contains large amounts of lopoic acid and taurine, which are essential for rebuilding damaged collagen fibers. Soy milk and other soybean-based foods contain genistein, also an element that aids in collagen production. I know for sure if you spend time to take care of your skin or anything else it makes a difference.

I recommend INSOO Magic uplifting mask, this facial mask made of an egg shell's membrane which is very similar to our skin and hair. Ancient Chinese and Japanese medical records show they recommend this for cuts and skin abrasion because of its exceptional ability to repair the skin.

Have a blessed day and let us take good care of what we have!