The K-Beauty Secret To Great SkinHydrate, soothe and strengthen your skin barrier with K-Beauty
The K-Beauty Secret To Great Skin
HERE’S WHY YOU NEED TO BOOST YOUR SKIN BARRIER
There are many ways in which Korean skincare practices differ to Western skincare regimes. One of the main ones? Forget strong actives like retinol. The basics of a K-beauty routine stems from caring for your skin-barrier. If your skin is hydrated and calm and your skin barrier is as strong as possible, Koreans believe that this is how you’ll be guaranteed good skin. This is why K-beauty products have a strong focus on soothing, hydrating and barrier strengthening ingredients. They’re mainly formulated to be low-irritant too. Here, we share everything you need to know to get great skin, the K-beauty way…
Why does K-beauty focus on soothing and strengthening skincare?
Besides knowing that great skin comes from an intact skin barrier there are a few other reasons that K-beauty focuses on preventing skin concerns with soothing and strengthening solutions. High stress and pollution levels are big concerns for Koreans so they tend to look for gentle ingredients in their skincare products that help to strengthen the skin barrier. Plus, Koreans often look to dermatologists for ‘active’ skincare solutions rather than finding these amongst their at-home skincare products.
What exactly is a compromised skin barrier?
When the lipids in your skin become damaged or depleted, the skin's defense system (aka your skin barrier) can get small holes or cracks in its structure where moisture can escape and lead to dehydration and premature ageing. It can also let irritants in which can ultimately case other skin concerns like acne, redness and sensitivity. This is a compromised skin barrier. You’ll see all kinds of skin issues when your barrier is compromised. If your skin is dry from too much moisture loss you can get an overproduction of oil to compensate for this dehydration causing blemishes and breakouts. On the other hand, dehydrated skin typically looks dull and can show premature signs of aging, like surface wrinkles and loss of elasticity.
Do Koreans have more sensitive skin?
No, not typically. As mentioned above, high stress and pollution levels are a big concern for Koreans. While this is a global problem, Koreans are often more aware of the effects of these factors on their skin and so tend to look for gentle ingredients that help to strengthen the skin barrier to bolster skin’s defenses and prevent unwanted skin concerns from occurring in the first place.
What ingredients should I look for?
K-beauty ranges typically offer loads of hydrating toners and essences rich in botanical ingredients that not only help to hydrate skin but soothe and build up the skin barrier too. Some examples are Centella Asiatica, Mugwort, Willow Bark Extract, Houttunya Cordata, Tea tree, Green Tea (or fermented tea) as well as tried-and-trusted ingredients like Niacianmide, and Hyaluronic Acid.
What are the top barrier-strengthening products I should be using?
What products are best for hydration?
It really is key to step up your hydration in order to help with protecting and supporting your skin barrier as when your skin barrier is properly intact it will help to minimize moisture loss. Again, choose products with hyaluronic acid as it’s an excellent hydrator which attracts and holds onto moisture in your skin.
What are the best hydrating and barrier-protecting products for oily skin?
The trick here is to avoid heavy creams and stick to a super-hydrating essence or serum layered into skin instead. When it comes skin barrier repair it’s all about what ingredients you choose – Mugwort, Propolis and Prickly Pear Seed Oil all help to strengthen the skin barrier and repair damage done.