For the adventurous makeup enthusiast.
Korean beauty products have been increasingly popular internationally with brands like TonyMoly and Dr. Jart+ making moves into stores like Sephora. Deep-treating skincare, vibrant lip and cheek products, youthful and bright eyes, and dewy, fresh skin are essential to perfecting Korean-style makeup. Cosmetic companies are always releasing effective, aesthetically pleasing, and sometimes borderline-strange products to keep up with Korea’s consistent demand for new and innovative beauty products.
Here are a few interesting and unique beauty products coming out of Korea.
April Skin—Magic Snow Cushion
Above all else, Korean beauty is all about dewy, bright-looking skin. Korean-style makeup emphasizes the natural beauty of one’s skin rather than concealing under heavier makeup. It’s for this reason that Koreans typically do not use heavy foundations, often opting for lighter BB or CC creams instead.
The April Skin Magic Snow Cushion isn’t a foundation, nor is it a BB cream. It is a “BB cushion compact” that is taking Korea by a storm, selling out immediately after multiple releases back in September. While the product is unimpressive looking in its container, it provides a fuller coverage and has moisturizing properties. It is a unique skin product full of antioxidants from blueberry and açaí extracts and a boost of hydration from aloe vera, all the while providing a flawless coverage without using much product. This product comes in two different series, one being for oily skin types and the other for dry/normal. It’s also SPF50, which is a plus!
Etude House—Tint My Brows Gel
The two most important components of Korean-style makeup are dewy, healthy skin and full, soft brows. A straight, full brow has been a Korean trend that has spread to other countries over the last year, and having a low arch and fuller brows give you a sweeter, more youthful look (which is quintessential to Korean-style makeup.)
The Tint My Brows Gel is from Etude House, one of the leading cosmetics companies in Korea. This product has been a hot topic in the beauty-verse recently for its unusual formula—you apply the gel to your eyebrows in the desired shape, allow it to dry for several hours or overnight, then peel it off to reveal a natural tint underneath. Tint My Brows comes in three shades of brown, light brown, and gray brown.
Nature Republic—Snail Solutions
A skincare system made with snail goop sounds mildly off-putting, but you’d be surprised at how regularly it is found in Korean beauty products—snail mucin is known for its highly moisturizing properties. Nature Republic’s Snail Solution series is made with 70% snail secretion filtrate, which brightens and improves dull skin while reducing wrinkles. It comes in a trio of a booster, emulsion, and face cream.
Berrisom—My Lip Tint Pack Tattoo
My Lip Tint Pack has the same concept as the gel from Etude House. It has a thick, mask-like texture that can look intimidating for a lip product, but the color payoff is much softer and feminine looking. You apply the product evenly across your lips, wait until the product begins to peel away from your skin, then gently peel it off for a soft yet vibrant color.
Lip stains are a popular favorite in Korean beauty as they are less likely to smudge and transfer than lipsticks, and they tend to give a more youthful look than their gloss or stick counterparts. My Lip Tint Pack is enriched with aloe vera leaf extract, marine collagen, royal jelly extract, hyaluronic acid and honey for healthier lips, which is also a plus. The series comes in six different shades, ranging from neon pink to purple.
Which Korean beauty product would you want to try?
Photos from Beauty Box Korea, Nature Republic, and Memebox.