I loved Charlotte Cho’s “The Little Book of Skin Care.” I especially loved how she grew up in CA (like me) and went abroad to Korea (like me, though I only studied abroad for a couple of months). But that was definitely enough time to fall in love with city life in Seoul, and all it has to offer!
There’s so much to say about Korea, but I’ll focus on skin care for now. I also grew up with a mom who emphasized putting on sunblock every day (fun fact from this book-you need to say “sunscreen” since it doesn’t really “block” your skin from the sun fully). Anyways-I also grew up putting toner on my face each day since I was a teenager-and it’s definitely gone a long way!
Nowadays, K-beauty is all the craze, and I love it! Since this quarantine, I’ve also decided to focus more on my skin care routine, and try all the free sample products I’ve received over the years. My skin care routine involves doing a double cleanse (from Charlotte’s “Then I Met You” line-and I had never done a double cleanse before), toner, essence, serum, eye cream, and moisturizer. Some days I’ll do a face mask or exfoliate before cleansing. I’ve also tried hair masks and added more oil to my hair and body (and face!). Oh, and I’ve been taking collagen + vitamin C pills, which is also all the rage right now. Btw, doing all this only takes about 5 minutes-so it’s definitely worth it to invest in your skin (and you don’t need to go out and spend $$ on facials). There’s tons of high end brands, but also cheaper products that still do the trick. If you want to check out some skin gurus, turn to Michelle Phan or Jenn Im (LOVE them)!
Also as a side note, prevention is key. You may not see immediate benefits from putting on sunscreen, for instance, but trust me, I’ve seen people with tons of sun spots. It can take years to appear, but they will come up. I know the desire to have a nice tan is strong (Charlotte Cho talks about this in her book), but a tan also means your skin is getting damaged. And both of us grew up loving to tan in the Cali sun!
Alright, so here’s some products I’ve been loving during this quarantine:
-Hera’s signia serum, essence
-Laneige’s toner, water sleeping mask
-Then I Met You’s toner, living cleansing balm, cleansing gel
-Etude House’s face masks
-Kopari’s coconut melt
-Thayers’ witch hazel toner
-Fresh’s black tea eye concentrate
-Farmacy’s honey potion mask
-Moroccanoil’s hair treatment
-Belif’s moisturizing bomb
-Amore Pacific’s eye reserve creme, age defense serum
-Sol de Janeiro’s Brazilian bum bum cream
I feel like I should do a makeup recommendation post next…that’s a whole other topic!
Overall, prioritize your skin-it makes up most of your body!