The Famous 10-Steps
Get perfect skin with the Korean 10-step skincare routine. Learn how to double cleanse, exfoliate, and moisturize for a clear, youthful complexion. Say goodbye to blemishes and uneven skin tone and hello to radiant, healthy skin. Follow this ultimate guide for a flawless complexion.
The 10-step Korean skincare routine is famous for its complexity and results. But the beauty of this routine is you don't need to be do every step every day. The full 10 steps should happen once or twice a week, maximum. Every other day, you can make it a 5 or 7-step Korean skincare routine, relative to your skin needs.
Following this alongside K-beauty products will set you on the road to getting the skin you want.
1. Oil-Based Makeup Removing Cleanser
As your makeup's oil-based (and water and oil repel each other) the best way to remove your makeup is with an oil-based cleanser. This will also remove any other oil-based impurities on your skin without removing the healthy natural oil.
2. Water-based cleanser
This is to get all the impurities the oil cleanser doesn’t whisk away, such as sweat and dirt. Water-based cleansers are the most common kind of cleanser and often foam. These are best for your skin since they're based on water, which your skin can always use more of.
3. Exfoliator
As a final cleansing step, you’ll want to exfoliate. Exfoliating removes dead skin cells and buildup. You can do this with scrubs, peels and pads (or a gentle exfoliating cream). Remember tho that this can be hard on your skin; so do it sparingly. Maybe once a week.
4. Toner
Once cleaning is all done, you'll balance your skin's PH. But all the exfoliating and cleansing can make your skin dry and imbalanced. Toners will help bring that balance back and add extra moisture.
5. Essence
This step is unique to Korean skincare routines because essences are a staple of K-beauty. Essences are something like a cross between a toner and a serum and are made with fermented ingredients that hydrate and protect the skin. This step offers your skin an opportunity to build itself up strong.
6. Treatment, Serums, or Boosters
If you have specific skin concerns with your face, this is the step where you use your particular treatments. With Korean skincare, treatment refers to anything focused on a specific problem; usually, serums will do the trick here. So if you’re concerned about wrinkles or acne, this is the step where you would apply serums or treatments to combat those issues.
7. Sheet mask
This is another step you’ll only want to do once a week. Sheet masks are sheets of serum-soaked paper. You lay them on your face and wait for 20 minutes while the serum soaks into your skin. Doing this once a week is an extra treat for your skin.
8. Eye Cream
The skin surrounding your eyes is thin and sensitive and needs special care to reduce puffiness, darkness, and fine lines. Eye creams, gels, or oils can be selected to target the specific issue you're concerned with or to just generally build up the skin around your eyes.
9. Moisturizer
Seal all that work you just did into your skin with a layer of moisturizer that your skin will soak up.
10. Sun Protection (SPF)
The final step is to give your skin protection from sun damage. This step we can't stress enough, even if you're using another product that already has SPF, you need it to ensure your skin is properly protected.
