It starts out straightforwardly enough – with washing your face. But the fabled 10-step Korean skincare routine is then quick to test your commitment, if not your patience.
The second step is to wash your face again, with a different cleanser, to remove everything you missed the first time round and reach even deeper into the skin. Then there’s the exfoliant, chemical or physical, to create an even texture.
Next comes the softening step, the ‘essence’ or milky toner, which is patted onto the skin to open the pores and prepare it to receive yet more products.
Steps five and six are both treatments. The first is typically a serum, for tightening, brightening or hydrating. The second is more targeted and tailored to your particular skincare concerns – a pimple patch, for example, or an eye product to tackle fine lines.
Then it’s time for a sheet mask: an arguably defining step of the Korean beauty regimen, and – apparently – essential for achieving that dewy ‘glass skin’ look, where the skin appears unmarked by imperfections and even pores.
