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1. COSRX Snail Mucin Essence moisturizes and enhances your skin's natural glow. The idea of anything slimy on your face may put you off but snail mucin is a miracle ingredient in the K-beauty world because of its abilities to help prevent and repair damage, hyperpigmentation, dryness, and acne until your skin's elasticity is at its best. Give it a try and thank me later.
2. Sioris Time is Running Out Mist works as a nourishing toner, mist, and serum for thirsty skin. It's made with 78% organic fruit water (sourced from green plum or yuja) and oils like macadamia for long-lasting moisture. The ingredients are harvested in Korea during peak season for freshness!
3. Mediheal Tea Tree Sheet Mask balances and clarifies in a 15-minute treatment using herbal extracts like willow bark and tea tree oil. Chamomile and Asiatic pennywort calm redness. The cool thing is that the Mediheal logo on the mask becomes more visible as the 15-minute treatment completes, acting as an "indicator" for when you can take it off!
4. Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin E Sleeping Mask is lightweight but packs a heavy punch of antioxidants that'll help slow down cell aging, brighten, balance, and aid in skin regeneration. The cream is known as "shape memory cream," so it'll cling to skin and absorb easily. And it's light enough to be used as a daytime moisturizer for dry skin. Multi-tasking for the win!
5. Goodal Green Tangerine Vitamin C Serum is not like other Vitamin C serums in that it has a thicker, gel-like texture that's more moisturizing, contains 70% of green tangerine extract (which contains up to 10 times the amount of vitamin C), and leaves NO sticky feeling or residue on skin unlike traditional serums! This is because it's made with vitamin C derivatives instead of pure vitamin C (which reacts harshly with sunlight and are prone to irritating skin). That means it can be used with abandon by sensitive skin types too!
6. Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Cleanser gives you a super clean face without the super tight feel. In fact, cleansers that make your skin feel "squeaky clean" are often stripping away natural oils on your skin! This one's gentle gel-based formula leaves your skin feeling hydrated and silky.
7. Acwell Licorice Cleansing Toner lets you achieve the much-coveted "honey skin" — also a trend in Korea along with "glass-skin." Honey skin is skin that's luminous, dewy, and smooth. This toner provides an extra level of cleansing while hydrating to restore natural barriers. It brightens with peony, licorice water, and green tea and helps drastically reduce hyperpigmentation. We stan licorice now!
8. Missha Sun Milk Essence enhances skin tone and has a light texture more like an essence than a thick lotion (perf for makeup). If you, like everyone, hate the oiliness and white cast sunscreens usually leave behind, this one has none of that. It's packed with flower extracts like camellia and lotus and leaves a lovely dewy finish while boasting SPF 50. A star, this one!
9. Or Etude House Sunprise Sun Milk, which is packed with SPF 50+ plus 20 different vegetable and plant ingredients like açai berry, cactus, and even mistletoe for the ultimate protection and hydration! It's also mild (great for sensitivity), matte (great for oily types), and non-sticky. What else do ya need?
10. Banila Co Cleansing Balm is the star of all oil cleansers! It starts off as a sherbet-like balm and transforms into a silky oil for the first step of your double-cleansing routine. It gently melts makeup while brightening with vitamin C-rich acerola fruit. Double-cleansing does wonders for properly cleaning and brightening skin!
11. Glow Recipe Watermelon + AHA Sleeping Mask is a cult fave for a reason! The bouncy gel texture helps hydrate overnight and exfoliates with AHAs and watermelon, allowing you to wake up to a supple face! It also refines pores, prevents dryness, and boosts your glow, leaving your skin soothed and smoothed. I'm already making heart eyes.
12. Meebak Cica Gel to Foam Cleanser cleanses very gently for hydrated, super soft, and comfortable skin (yes, such a cleanser exists). It uses the soothing ingredient cica to clear pores, boost collagen, prevent blackheads and whiteheads, and support your skin's natural pH level without leaving it stripped. If your skin doesn't feel soft and bouncy after this, I'll change my name 😌.
13. Skinfood Black Sugar Mask exfoliates away dead skin cells and fights dark spots and dullness with mineral-rich Brazilian black sugar. Daily exfoliation will help lighten and fade acne scars so with weekly use, you might see smoother, brighter skin.
14. Klair's Freshly Juiced Vitamin C Drop helps fade dark spots, prevent future pigmentation, firm and brighten, and reduce fine lines. Vitamin C is absolutely key for fading scars and the 5% in this one means it's gentle enough for sensitive skin, especially if you're just getting started!
15. Dermal Collagen Sheet Masks target different concerns and contain vitamin E and collagen for plump, hydrated skin. Choose whichever one your skin needs that day, kick back, and let the mask do its work. *Cue happy dance.*
16. Son & Park Beauty Water is super versatile. This cleansing water tones, mildly exfoliates with willow bark and papaya, cleans away grime, refreshes and soothes with lavender and rosewater, and resets the skin's natural pH level. You'll see brighter skin, smoother texture, and easier absorption of other skincare. What a ~beauty~ indeed.
17. Skinfood Egg White Pore Foam Cleanser uses egg white extracts to regulate excessive sebum, deep-clean pore-clogging impurities, tighten pores, and rid skin of bacteria so you're always coming out with the freshest complexion. Plus, egg whites are naturally anti-inflammatory — it's an ~egg-cellent~ cleanser to get!
18. Innisfree Pore Clearing Volcanic Clay Mask digs deep and clarifies pores, exfoliates, and removes sebum with volcanic ash. The ash comes from mineral-rich hot lava clusters from volcanic eruptions in South Korea's Jeju Island — a rare ingredient your skin deserves!
19. COSRX Blackhead Power Liquid literally helps clear up stubborn blackheads and clogged pores around your nose and cheeks and helps control oil. Goodbye congested pores!
20. COSRX pimple patches tackle those pesky zits. I swear by this brand — they are both effective and fast-working. You won't want to tell anyone you have extras.
21. Holy Snail Shark Sauce takes skincare back to the basics. This moisturizer's stand-out ingredient is niacinamide, which is key to helping you fight hyperpigmentation, brighten, and fade those pesky dark spots. (Also no worries, this is shark-free).
22. Missha Snail Cleansing Foam rescues skin from acne scars and hyperpigmentation, helps rebuild skin cells, and restores skin to a bright and hydrated complexion with 3% snail mucin. Snail mucin helps boost elasticity, smooths texture, and tightens, because snails are the best. 🐌
23. COSRX one-step toner pads calm redness and irritation with but a swipe! The green tea leaf water and witch hazel is a foolproof combo to do that while minimizing pores, decreasing excess oil, and soothing. Your skin + this = spa date.
24. Mizon Collagen Power Firming Eye Cream brightens and deeply nourishes your delicate under-eyes with its powerful combo of raspberry extract, argan oil, hyaluronic acid, collagen of course, and MORE. It's a superhero cream; chuck that $60 eye cream, you don't need it.
Your skin after all of these:
