This will probably end up being a long series of posts, some detailing products that I use, and some detailing just basic skincare principles that I have learned over time. Consider this post number one, and as such it will be the most general, as well as talk about what got me into K-Beauty, and why I stick with it. I will do a post later on my favorite products, and what keeps me using them, and re-buying them.
My Skin History:
A lot of people are turned off by the Korean 10-step system. They see it as too involved, too time consuming, and high maintenance for their daily lives. On top of all of that, they think that it has to be expensive. Since I was 15, I have consistently suffered from hormone related acne and dry skin that always flares up around my period, when I’m stressed, and when I eat specific foods. Once my teens were coming to a close and I was entering my twenties, I was beginning to think that I was going to be done with all of this. You know hormones should be settled. Well guess what, in the words of Blinkin from Robin Hood Men in Tights “Nope! I was wrong!”
In my twenties with work stress plus my hormones flaring up yet again, as well as losing about 30 lbs of weight off of my body, after a reprieve of about two years in college, my skin exploded again. I thought I was never going to be able to get it under control. Honestly, my skin was the worst it had ever been. My chin and cheeks were covered with red, uneven acne spots. When one spot would go away, a new one would replace it. For ages I couldn’t get to the bottom of it, and neither could my dermatologist. We already had me on the pill, we added in antibiotics, we had topical solutions. Nothing was working, and my confidence was at a serious low.
What Changed?
In the middle of all of this skin turmoil, I happened to get into K-Pop and the Korean Language (you can read about that meet-cute here), which of course turned my head towards the skincare. Naturally, I wanted to understand how all these famous people had such AMAZING skin. Insert lots of googling, reading lots of articles, and finding SokoGlam. SokoGlam is a website run by a Korean American who lived in Korea named Charlotte Cho. What Charlotte really wanted to do was build a website where she could educate people on Korean Skincare, with a bit of Korean culture. Finding this website for me was a game changer. After reading a little bit into the posts on her blog, seeing how it had transformed other people’s skin for the better, I realized just how inadequate and backwards my thinking about skincare was. Like so many Americans, I thought that I could combat my skin into submission.
I have never been more wrong. After reading that book, my outlook completely changed as what they were saying made sense. You can’t beat a dying plant to make it come back to life, you have to water and nurture it. The same goes for your skin. After reading the science behind ever step in the routine, and what ingredients will help with different concerns, I bought 100% into the idea that this was my new direction. Yes, it would be more time consuming to have a ton of steps in my routine, but I needed something that works.
Where did I start?
Obviously, I didn’t dive right in and buy every single step at one time, I started adding them one by one. First it was Leaders sheet masks and the belif Bergamot extract toner, then the Erborian Ginseng Milk and Solid Cleanser Oil, which was sent to me in a link by a friend, as it was a French/Korean hybrid brand. After I started using the Ginseng milk, I immediately noticed that my skin was looking plumper, and slightly more even (still breaking out like crazy, as I wouldn’t find out I had a hormonal imbalance until about 6 months later). This spiraled into me adding the youth elixir treatment of the same Ginseng line (despite how expensive it was). I went back to my Sephora purchase history, and after the Cleansing Milk, I went HAM. I bought sleeping masks, eye creams, essences. Like I went full on Beyonce Upgrade U and just started trying everything.
This actually back fired on me a bit. I put too many products on my skin that didn’t work for my skin type, just because they are supposedly good for me. Insert “The Little Book of Skincare” from SokoGlam, with a side of new medication from my dermatologist called spironolactone to balance my hormone levels. After reading that book, adjusting my routine and new medication, my skin has really begun to settle. My acne scarring has faded a lot, and I’m feeling much more comfortable. I’m also having fewer breakouts, and I have begun to really tailor my skincare to instead of adding in things that are just good for your skin in general into products that I know my skin will love.
The Result:
Honestly, I wish I had a before and after picture for you all to see of the before. Honestly, my skin was so bad, that I didn’t even like being in front of cameras. I was too self-conscious, and I didn’t used to be like that. Although I still get breakouts occasionally, I know how to calm my skin and make it feel better. Plus, I have really discovered what kinds of ingredients will work with my skin.
I live religiously off of Sokoglam’s monthly curations. They have yet to lead me astray, and they have seriously helped improve my skin, as well as my mindset. Today, I am probably the happiest and most content that I have been in a number of years. This is with the direction my life, my health, and my skin. It also can only go up from here! Life really does get better as you get older (something I would have scoffed at three or four years ago).
This is going to be the first post in a massive series of posts about K-Beauty and skincare. I will begin linking all of the new posts below. I also really want to hear about what got all of you into skincare and k-beauty. Let me know in the comments below!
사랑합니다!
–Rachel
