Obsessed with Asian/Korean stuff - taking your skincare to the next level!

[FrugalFashionista]

Asian and Korean skincare products seem to be a big thing in skincare and beauty right now.

Interested in the following?

• finding a great sunscreen
• tailoring a multi-step ritual to your skincare needs
• talking about geisha beauty rituals
• learning what snail slime, bee venom and starfish have to do with beauty
• plumping up your skin with sheet masks and sleeping masks
• experimenting with essences

Please come here and share your questions, experiences, links and best shopping tips!

"Boots"

Oh but I don't bother with sunscreen at all in the UK as it's just so easy to stay out of the sun here. Asian women find pale skin fashionable. I think tans are beautiful on all skin types so I'm not really interested in blocking out the sun's rays. I would put a sunscreen on if I was going to the beach, of course. I keep out of the sun and use a fake tan/make up for color.

This is what I found in my Missha box - minus one long name ampoule sample! The best Mother's Day present ever, but you'll probably understand why I am joining the shopping ban...

Coconut I did some googling but Neutrogena spf 25 hand cream (at Boots!) was the best thing I found. So very smart of you to think about this - I pushed the pram in the tropics, the backs of my hands are the only place in my body where I have lizard skin significant sun damage, and I now routinely cover them in the same spf 30 or 50 that I use for my neck and body.

Loving all the new faces on this thread, welcome! RL stuff interfering but will read everything properly later in the evening.

Not necessarily Korean inspired, but does anyone have any well-formulated bronzing gels (not self tans) that work well on pale skin? I am off for a week in the sun soon, and would quite like to look tanned (ish) whilst still smugly using my factor 50spf in manner of lily-like Korean beauties. I don't have time to buy over eBay but could get to Boots or buy from Duty Free! Any recommendations welcomed

ilovetosleep I KNEW you'd like the Caudalie SOS - lush, isn't it my apologies to your DH.

oh frugal that is happiness in a box! What a lovely mothers' day present.

Aww thanks for having a look for me frugal it's so difficult to find a high spf hand cream anywhere. I bought the Paula's Choice one but it really is just sun cream ie not "hand creamy". I though maybe the Asian market might have some because they seem so sun damage aware. Think i read somewhere they wear sleeves on their arms that block out uv when they've driving!
Alas the search continues..

coconutamericano, Japanese women wear these to keep the sun off their hands so no need for sunscreen

I see! Not practical for buggy pushing though

Can't believe I'm going to say this but frugal I will swap your box for Jared leto (he's mine but I'm liking your missha box more right now )

I need a clay mask to attempt wombats pore shrinking thing. My new approach to skincare shopping is to only buy products priced £7 or less each. its not been terribly successful thanks to you lot! I think I might break that rule and order the pink spot treatment and some missha bb. I just wish the UK prices weren't so steep as I'm so impatient having to wait for stuff to arrive :(

Still here!

How are you guys managing to figure out the right shade for a BB cream? I'm totally confused. I'm MAC NC20/25. I don't need one (or do I?!?) because I have a near full bottle of Face and Body Foundation but I want one!

stevie I can't link now as am on my phone, but I googled 'mac nc20 colour match bb cream' or something similar and was amazed at how many other people chat/write about this stuff too! Came up with a list of ones to try and I'm going to order samples off ebay I think.

vegancow thanks for that. I have ordered 2 eyeliners and the sleeping mask!
I have many things winging their way over from Korea now. I have no idea what I have already bought since none of it has arrived!

ilove Doh! Never thought of doing that most obvious thing. Great idea, thanks!

ilovetosleep I'm nw20 too. Where are you getting your BB samples from may I ask?

Oh you're nc 20. Not exactly the same

bigbuttons you'll love them when they finally arrive! Which shade eyeliners have you ordered?
I have no.6 and no.11 and yesterday ordered no.8 which seems very popular to brighten the eyes, from reviews I have read.

How to match a BB cream to your skin? A bit trickier than it sounds as some of them are grayish and oxidize to your skin tone in 15-30 minutes. I found my match by sampling at Sephora but didn't know about oxidation. A BB cream that matched my skin exactly straight off the tube became slightly too dark when I was wearing it. Luckily it was a trial size tube and I could refine my search by using that shade as a starting point when I googled other people's swatches. This picture was really useful for my NW5-10 skin. Missha #13 matches my lily white neck, the next shade #21 would be a good starting point for most people, and there is a shade #23 too.

I got a bunch of Missha Perfect Cover samples from Missha Germany - you could also order them but some eBay tubes are so cheap that this is not necessarily economical. I have tried countless Western foundations and BB creams that are too orange on me. I was worried that Asian BBs would be too yellow but shade #13 looks just right for me.

After choosing the shade, texture is the next thing. Missha Perfect Cover has a glowy and slightly translucent finish, Missha Signature is more matte and has better coverage. Both feel really great and wear well (but I need powder on my T zone with both). I went to a party today after work and although I had put on Missha Signature in the morning, my skin looked flawless until I removed the makeup. Today was my first day with Missha Signature, so I don't know about breakouts yet. None so far!

That's really helpful frugal.

vegancow I got the white one to help brighten and I took ages over the next;there were such a lot of gorgeous colours! In the end I went for black plum. I wanted a purple to help bring out the green in my eyes. To be honest I could have bought them all!
I've just done a lotion mask with the sheets I have and some hada labo lotion/toner. I'm really looking forward to the sleep mask. I have a funny feeling I've already ordered a different one as well!
Do you know if there are equivalents in Korean skincare to lotions such as hada labo?

m0gz Deal! The moment Jared Leto rings our doorbell the box is yours I still call him Jordan Catalano
lucysmam Sulwhasoo is a high-end brand, I saw a pot of moisturizer that cost $200 I am dying to try their sleeping mask but it will have to wait... If you are looking for alternatives, the Reddit HG list is a good place to start!
VeganCow thanks for the fab product recommendations, they sound great!
Sakura ooh what an amazing opportunity to get immersed! Your observations about paler skin are really interesting! Thanks for the tips, I am already loving masks and wish I had worn those gloves a bit more
Coconut I have an Under Armour running top that covers the backs of my hands (just my thumbs stick out), something like that might look slightly less melodramatic
Ilovetosleep hope the masks suit you. I kind of hated my first sheet mask, the woke up to fabulous skin. The results may vary with skin type, mine is quite dry.
bigbuttons and m0gz waiting for the packages is so hard - lets hope your packages arrive really quickly! Loving the sound of what you are ordering!

Very excited - I think I just found a dupe for a Chanel serum that I love! It's a super hydrating gel, Missha Super Aqua Ultra Waterfull Serum. Light fresh floral smell, absorbs immediately: very similar feel but Chanel is four times more expensive

Frugal, there's a 50ml oil cleanser of theirs on ebay for about £7.50ish I was reading about earlier. One of the blog posts I read earlier said it goes on and on so wondered if it was worth trying a smaller bottle for the same price.

It's fun going on youtube and watching the vlogs by young studenty type women from Canada, UK America and Aus who are living and working in Korea and Japan. They almost all have on vlog about this topic. Sometimes Korean and Japanese women themselves vlog about it with English subtitles. I used to watch them to improve my Japanese.
It's a bit of an information overload though, but if you are interested in this topic it's fun.

bigbuttons never heard of hada labo and just looked it up, it looks fab! Where do you get the sheets from to do a mask, how do you actually do it? Do you do it after cleansing and before moisturiser/sleeping pack?

Bigbuttons lots of my products seem to have hyaluronic acid in a form or other and it seems to really suit my skin so the Hada Labo hyaluronic lotion sound fabulous! I think you can do a similar mask with Korean essences. Haven't tried but a fab idea and also keeps the cost of sheet masks down!

This is really veering into don't try this at home territory, but if someone is into DIY, read this! And please snap a selfie if you do the facial sauna part Someone here mentioned that you can buy those dry sheets at Muji.

I packed in moisture last night layering serum, cream and sleeping mask. I was so excited about having all the proper products that I actually forgot to acid tone My face did not fall off, and no breakouts. And this time I can honestly say that my face is 100% hydrated.

Here is a new English-language shopping site for Japanese stuff, though eBay and Amazon may be more straightforward.