Try listing all the reasons we look to South Korea for inspiration and stock up on the best Korean skin-care products from major brands like Amorepacific, Belif, Cosrx, and Dr. Jart+ to maximize the benefits of our routines, and we’d likely be here until tomorrow. “Koreans are serious about their skin care,” says Charlotte Cho, cofounder of Soko Glam, an online retailer specializing in Korean beauty products, and more recently her own brand, Then I Met You. “They also know what they want, like innovation, gentle ingredients, pleasing packaging, and they definitely don’t want to pay a fortune for it,” she adds.
It’s no surprise that some of our favorite stateside brands — like Then I Met You, Peach & Lily, and Glow Recipe — are inherently inspired by Korean innovations and often developed and manufactured in the heart of Seoul. The Korean philosophy of skin care is, and has always been, based around pure hydration and respecting the skin barrier,” Liah Yoo, founder of KraveBeauty, previously told Allure.
Even the Korean approach to treating acne is gentle in nature and tends to feature hydrating, calming ingredients. To name a few, there’s niacinamide, green tea, hyaluronic acid, and Centella asiatica (aka cica), Y. Claire Chang, MD, a board-certified dermatologist at New York City’s Union Square Dermatology, previously told Allure.
In other words, Korean brands have long upped the standards for the global skin-care industry — and if we’re being honest, our personal standards as well. Our skin (and the state of our pores) has been forever changed by double cleansing, and Korean sunscreen formulas are basically second to none.
Get comfortable and get your clicker finger ready to add all of these products to your online cart, because we gathered the latest, innovative, and price-savviest innovations in Korean skin care all in one place for your online shopping convenience.
