Guest post by Laura – The Empties Diaries (Korean Skincare Reviews & Life in Korea)

Hi, my name is Laura and I am happy to be sharing my thoughts on Vivian’s blog today! I came across her blog a few weeks (months?) ago now and really enjoy the posts, which is why I am happy to be given a new platform for talking K-Beauty – if only for this post!

I came to Korea five years ago now and during this time, I have come across quite a few beauty myths and rituals that many Korean women commonly follow that I don’t see mentioned or talked about much on the blogosphere, YouTube or all the other places on the Interwebs. This is why I wanted to talk about them in a little more detail here.

Just to give you a quick rundown of the topics that I wanted to go over today:

Let’s get cracking!

The Jamsu Method

Jamsu, or ??, literally just means to submerge or to dive. The technique itself is a bit on the older side now – I think it was a much bigger thing four years ago now. This is what you do. You make up your with all the products that you would usually put on, then get a glass bowl, fill that baby up all the way to the top and dunk your face in.

Move your face side to side for thirty seconds, then lift your face out of the bowl and try not to make too much of a drippy, droppy mess as you emerge.

I have tried this and cannot see it working for myself as I use a lot of glowy products, while this method tends to mattify (water evaporating on your skin can dehydrate, which is where the mattifying effects come from, I assume). I also find it too much of a faff and a hassle to prepare and wipe up afterwards. However, I could potentially see this method working for people with oily skin who like to bake their face with lots and lots of powder.

The 7-Skin Method / The Moisture Sandwich

In Korea, toners or essences are called skin. Yes, really!

The 7 skin method thus involves layering toners. Here’s what you do – cleanse your face, and then apply seven layers of toner, one after the other, either using cotton pads (which I would find a little wasteful) or using your hands to pat in product. You can then go in with a serum, ampoules, moisturisers, oils and/or sunscreen, depending on your preference. Supposedly, this helps dehydrated skin up hydration levels.

Personally, I love long skincare routines but I cannot get behind this. What I would recommend instead is the Moisture Sandwich Method as propagated by my favourite beauty blogger Paris B – what you do is, you mist your face in between skincare steps to lock in hydration, which is a method that I personally use on the daily. You can read more of her brilliant post over here.

Ingesting Collagen Tablets, Pork Belly and Chicken Feet for Better Skin

Korean women are absolutely obsessed with the idea of collagen. Collagen tablets, chicken feet (??), pork belly and pork trotters not unlike German schweinehaxen (??, ??) – so long as it is rumoured to be rich in collagen, Korean women will eat it up! In recent years, collagen supplements in all shapes, forms and sizes – be they drinks, diet jellies, pills or tablets – are all the rage and Korean companies are investing heavily in advertising such products.

Unfortunately, as people with connective tissue illnesses such as Ehlers Danlos syndrome (EDS) will tell you, consuming collagen orally does eff all for collagen production. The body will simply convert collagen into amino acids and see where amino acids might be needed at any given time. The collagen will not go into your skin – that is a complete myth that has been debunked so many times, yet refuses to die.

The Importance of Parasols, Rash Guards and Visors

Are there people in Korea who, like in the West, enjoy getting a tan? Yes there are, absolutely. From my personal experience however, the vast majority of Koreans try to stay out of the sun as much as they can. When the sun is out, and people have to wait at the traffic lights to cross the street, they will make it a point to wait in the shade or under a leafy tree nearby. The sun is avoided as much as possible and it makes complete sense! Photo ageing is one of the main culprits of skin ageing.

It should surprise no one then that Korean women have mastered the art of staying out of the sun. Girls and younger women tend to wear hats and parasols (??), whereas women from their thirties onwards will look to again, parasols, plus visors (???). At the beach, while you will definitely see people wearing Western style swimming costumes, a lot of them will be wearing rash guards – long sleeved swim suits that seem to be made for pro surfers rather than beach going and frolicking in the sun. All these combined work to Koreans staying sun safe.

Scrub massage at the Jjimjilbang

Korean bathhouses called jjimjilbang (???) are a cultural institution and some people even spend the night there, but they are also places of beauty rituals. If you are willing to spend ?15,000 – 30,000, depending on the location, you will be scrubbed with a scratchy sponge within an inch of your life. On the flip side, you will emerge with the softest skin of your life.

This service is available to both men and women, and both genders take advantage of the services. You can always have additional treatments such as facials or massages added on, but it’s the scrub that draws the crowds.

A word of caution though – if you have a lot of skin tags or wounds, you might want to check with your masseuse first! I have never had any issues myself however a friend of mine ended up with open wounds as the sponge took off her skin tags, causing them to bleed.

Kimchi and Other Fermented Ingredients for Better Skin

Koreans have mastered the art of fermenting all sorts of vegetables and side dishes such as kimchi are served with every meal. Many Korean women credit their great skin to eating fermented side dishes as it is just so good for overall health and in extension, if your body is healthy, more resources can be allocated to maintaining and repairing skin. Don’t believe me? Here’s what the BBC had to say:

There is growing evidence that fermented foods such as kimchi may improve intestinal health and as a result support the immune system and anti-inflammatory responses. Kimchi can also improve levels of good bacteria in the gut, and may help improve symptoms such as constipation and diarrhoea.

Yes, it is a more holistic, less intrusive way and it does require looking after yourself and your skin. It is not a quick fix and will not work overnight, but one look at how beautiful Korean women’s skin is and you’ll start wondering whether perhaps there is something to that diet laden with fermented foods and dishes.

Other fermented dishes include:

• doenjang (Korean version of miso paste),
• fermented side dishes and pickled vegetables,
• ginger teas,
• teas containing chrysanthemum flowers,
• green teas with brown rice in them,
• drinking vinegars to flavour drinking water and
• drinking yoghurts such as Yakult are popular, too.

Hanbang in Skincare

Hanbang (??) refers to the concept of Korean traditional medicine (KTM), which in turn has been influenced by Chinese traditional medicine (CTM). With the exception of Illi (Illyyoon), I have not tried any of these brands as the pricing is quite out there. However, Hanbang inspired skincare has been going strong for at least five years now.

Commonly used ingredients include jujube, deer antlers, mugwort, green tea, liquorice root, Asian pear, rice filtrate, snail secretions, Korean tangerine and especially ginseng – a plant whose extract Koreans go absolutely mental for and will pay top dollar for too. If you have tried Hanbang skincare, do share in the comments as I am quite curious myself!

Vitamins and Supplements

In addition to skincare and food that is meant to nourish the skin, all the Korean women that I personally know go absolutely mental for vitamin and mineral supplements. Be it vitamin C, zinc, vitamin D3, B vitamins, primrose oil or more obscure stuff like deer antler blood, Korean ginseng or propolis, supplements are taken religiously and I, too, have started taking some supplements such as the aforementioned zinc, B vitamins, iron and D3 supplements as I feel better, with higher energy levels and my skin appears less acne prone too.

NB – I am not a GP or doctor of any kind – please do your own research and consult with a doctor before you start self medicating, obviously.

Current Makeup trends and Beauty Ideals

I’ve seen lots of sources and posts online claiming that Koreans want to look white. As in, Caucasian white.

I don’t know the answer to that, though light skin has been generally considered attractive in most Asian countries, from what I can see, because it used to imply that you were rich enough to stay indoors, rather than labour outside – just like in medieval Europe.

What I cant tell you is that the above pictured girl, Pony of Pony Makeup fame, is generally considered beautiful. Is that an inherently Caucasian-White beauty standard? Personally, I’d err on the side of caution and say no not quite, but you be the judge. In my opinion, Koreans just want to be Korean. The above look is more of a typically Korean, K-Pop idol look to me than anything else.

Here are the current beauty / makeup trends for women that I have been able to identify just based on my personal, subjective experience of seeing Korean women every day for the past five years:

• double eyelids,
• very fair skin, and consequently, very light coloured foundation,
• moist looking skin aka glass skin, where foundation is almost undetectable,
• full lips (but not too full – more of a rosebud shape than actually full lips),
• coloured contacts,
• straight and fluffy eye brows,
• chiseled chin that looks like a sharp V,
• reddish-brown eye shadow,
• thin black liquid eyeliner that extends slightly downwards for a puppy eye look rather than a cat eye look,
• inner corner and under eye liquid glitter eye shadow placement,
• scarlet red lip tints that are concentrated in the centre of the upper and lower lips to emphasise the aforementioned desired rosebud shape, aka popsicle lips,
• see-through bangs (fringe) that are super curled and end just south of your eyebrows.

Final Thoughts

And that’s all for today! If you enjoyed this post, do give it a like and check out Viv’s and my blogs – you might just find something else that you enjoy. If there is something you’d like to add, do let us know in the comments. ?

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Thank you Laura for the informative post! Be sure to check out the rest of her amazing posts on The Empties Diaries ?