Jasmine Kim's 8-Step Korean Beauty Regimen

Jasmine Kim’s 8-Step Korean Beauty Regimen

Monday, November 21, 2016by Wendy Lam

WL: For those that love skincare as much as I do, you’ll definitely appreciate my friend Jasmine Kim’s guest post. She’s been telling me for years about all sorts of beauty products she uses and giving me tips but I’ve never really paid attention until last month (October 2016). I’ve always thought it was a waste of time (I was super lazy) and why women need so many skincare products and steps to keep the skin beautiful but now I know and I’m obsessed with skincare! I’ll be sharing my beauty regimen soon. Read on and get some tips from my gurl and achieve beautiful skin like hers!

On a side note: everyone’s skin type is different so I recommend to only try one new product to your beauty regimen at a time in case you’re sensitive it.

Guest post by Jasmine Kim

As a child I was pre-disposed to great skincare practice from family members. Even as a child, my mother and I would go to Korean saunas for full body scrubs that usually included amino facials. There, I was taught the order of each process and purpose. First I would lay in the jade or salt rooms for detoxification and to open the pores, then wet sauna, and hot tubs to make the outer layer of dead skin “prune” for easier exfoliation.

As an adult, I’m still obsessed with glowing, even-toned, dewy skin. I mean who isn’t right? I have to say I’m definitely more skilled in my skincare regimen than I am at doing makeup for a night out. Within the last 5 years, I’ve really edited down my makeup arsenal to the tried and true types of makeup, shades, and techniques that work for me. But no matter how much I perfect my makeup skills, bad skin will always show through – for me at least. That’s why my regimented practice of skincare is so essential. With that said, diet and an overall healthy lifestyle is just as important as the topical practice. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m no “angel” when it comes to diet and lifestyle (i.e., long nights out, etc….) but, I exercise 2-3 times a week (which is also super good for your skin as it boosts circulation and detoxifies) and balance my foodie binges with healthy homemade meals on a 70/30 basis.

I’ll admit, as an Asian woman I do have more facial fat and melanin in my skin (yellow tone in skin) which provides thicker and more elastic skin texture. That doesn’t stop me from doing everything I can to age as gracefully as possible.. I could go on about how health of the mind, body, and spirit contribute to aging gracefully but let’s just start with the general day to day practice of what I use and how.

Here’s a breakdown of my day to night skincare regimen…

Daytime beauty regimen

In the morning, I’ll wash my face with tepid water and IOPE’S Enzyme Powder. I like to use this in the morning as the grains gently exfoliate and preps my skin for all the products I’ll layer after. IOPE’S Enzyme Powder also boasts ingredients that’s said to help retain moisture for up to 3 hours after washing my face. This is important as we lose moisture from our face due to multiple environmental conditions like air conditioning, pollution, stress, etc throughout the day.

Once my face is cleaned and dry, I begin with Son & Park Beauty Water on an organic cotton pad to swipe over my face. I love that this water has so many essential oils and is really multi-purpose. You can also use this like a micellar water to remove makeup with a cotton pad. I like to use this beauty water for erasing makeup when I’ve made a mistake and want to start over. Other makeup removers will leave a residue so when I try to re-apply, the makeup doesn’t apply as flawlessly.

Once my face is toned, I apply eye cream. I alternate between two different eye products for the day. If I’m particularly parched or puffy in my eye area, I will use Sisley Paris Eye Contour Mask but a very light layer and leave it on like an eye cream – no need to tissue or wash off. I keep the tube in my fridge so when I apply it, the cold gel instantly de-puffs my eye area. It works well under makeup as the gel texture absorbs quickly into skin.

For other days, I use AMOREPACIFIC Future Response Age Defense Dual Eye Creme. You always hear that the skin around your eyes is much thinner than your face. With that said, the sunblock you wear for your face shouldn’t be extended to your delicate under eye area. I love that this day and night eye kit from AMOREPACIFIC. It’s also great for traveling!

On to serums. I regularly use iS Clinical Active Serum. This water like texture has ingredients that also help with oil production and acne prone skin. I’m not particularly “acne prone” but I suffer from the monthly hormonal breakout. The willow bark (natural saliclyic acid derivative), bilberry, sugar cane extracts really help to exfoliate, re-texturize, and keep your face clear. The hero ingredient in this serum for me especially is the Arbutin and Mushroom Extract that inhibit melanin production (those pesky brown spots commonly found on cheeks) which Asian women in particular are prone to.

My choice for moisturizer changes on the condition of my skin that morning. If I had a late night and I wake up looking gray and parched, I’ll lightly pat Sunday Riley Juno Hydroactive Cellular Face Oil. If I have an extra minute I’ll pat my face all over a little faster and harder with my finger tips as a mini massage to get blood flow going. I layer over the Juno oil with this super mild moisturizer called Complex 15. It’s unscented, contains no parabens, lanolin or mineral oil. Proven to be hypoallergenic, noncomedogenic, and fragrance-free.

During the weekdays I try to wear as little makeup as possible. My go to for evening my complexion + sun protection is IOPE’s Air Cushion. I’ll dab rms beauty Un Cover-Up Concealer/Foundation, highlighter and accent with a creme blush and liquid bronzer. My favorites right now are CHANEL and Giorgio Armani. For those days that I need an extra glow, I use Benefit Watt’s Up! Cream-to-Powder Highlighter. It makes me look instantly awake. Then I fill my brows in with ETUDE HOUSE Drawing Eye Brow Pencil #01.

Then I set my t-zone and brows with By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra Powder as its meant to keep your face from drying out throughout the day. I don’t apply the cushion on my neck and chest since its tinted so I use a separate sunblock for these areas. I love Clé de Peau Beauté ‘Protect’ Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 50+, it’s my beauty splurge because it feels great and doesn’t clog my pores.

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Nighttime beauty regimen

When I get home, the first thing I do is change out of my “outside clothes” and wash my face. It’s become such a habit that I can’t fully relax until both are completed. I am not as diligent as many Korean women are with cleansing but I try my hardest to incorporate at least 3 steps of cleaning each night.

Step #1: First I massage a cleansing milk or lotion. I try to stay away from oil based cleansers as I have eyelash extensions and oils break down the eyelash glue faster. Right now I’m using IOPE Ideal Soft Cleansing Milk and Giorgio Armani Regenessence Velvety Cleansing Milk. I massage either product (about a quarter size amount) all around my face and neck and lightly wipe off with tissue. Side note, the smell of the Armani milk is a bit plastic like but it works and is gentle. I bought it on a whim as I love most Armani makeup products but I think IOPE is a better bargain and product.

Step #2: I wipe the rest of the makeup/sunscreen off with Micellar Water. I love NEOGEN Real Flower Cleansing Water for its super calming benefits.

Step #3: I use the Laneige Pore Deep Clearing Foam Cleanser, sometimes accompanied with muslin cloths to really clean and lightly exfoliate.

Step #4: The final step of what I consider night cleansing is the toner I use with a cotton pad to remove anything I may have missed in the first 3 steps. If I wipe my entire face and neck and the cotton pad is “clean” I know I’ve done a good job. 🙂 I use the same Son & Park Beauty Water (toner) that I use in the morning at night too.

Step #5: After I hit 30, I started to invest in a really multi-functioning eye cream. Right now I’m using Clé de Peau Beauté Eye Cream. It’s seriously the best all around. I use the wand to massage this around my orbital bone and then pat with my ring finger to absorb. It’s like the Rolls Royce of eye creams.

Step #6: My nighttime serum of choice right now is 3LAB Perfect ‘C’ Treatment Serum to fight and slow down my inevitable hyper-pigmentation.

Step #7: Every other day, I try to incorporate a mask. The below three are the ones I alternate between – one is for purifying, the collagen sheet mask is so effective and every girl needs to multi-task with a sleeping mask. My 3 masks a week regimen truly makes a difference in the health of my skin. It’s also a soothing process that helps me unwind after the daily grind.

For added penetration of my serum and fortifying masks, I do a quick pass with a derma roller to really open my epidermis. I like the one from Stacked Skincare.

Step #8: On days I’m not doing a mask, I will moisturize over my serum with MISSHA Cell Renew Snail Cream. The concept may seem gross but this really locks in moisture and makes my skin supple like no other.

Lastly, for different seasons, days, skin conditions there are different products I use but this is a basic daily routine breakdown at the moment.