Charlotte Cho along with her husband founded the South Korean skincare company called Soko Glam in 2012. Charlotte Cho’s company captured the attention of many skincare enthusiasts into investigating Korean skincare or K-beauty. In Korean culture, skincare is emphasized so more than makeup. On the other hand, Western culture appears to be the opposite. Nevertheless, the beauty industry in both cultures meet their consumers’ needs. Charlotte Cho’s company is responsible for testing and curating effective skincare products that are South Korean based and provide their customers with a wide range of products that help relieve symptoms such as acne, dryness, rosacea, etc. Soko Glam is the skincare website that I have been getting all my Korean skincare since high school. The pricing of the products is in between that of drugstore products and luxury brands. Soko Glam’s successful business model runs on the growing momentum of Korean culture influencing the younger generations all around the world from K-Pop bands (Korean pop music) to K-dramas.
The entire routine of Korean skincare is lengthy and sometimes cumbersome to follow, but the results are astonishing. The full routine is a ten-step process, but the common misconception is that all ten steps are done all at once, which is not the case. All ten steps can be broken down to three important actions that is cleanse, prep, and hydrate. The cleansing step consist of removing makeup or residue on the face by using an oil cleanser followed by a water-based cleanser. This step is known as “double cleansing”. The next step is using a toner to prepare for the subsequent skincare products to allow for better absorption.
Depending on the type of skin (i.e. oily, dry, combination, or normal), there are different toners that cater to each consumers' need. The toner that I am using is called d’Alba Peptide Serum Toner, and it is fragrant-less and hydrates my skin. The next two products are serums and essences. Serums are packed with nutrition and ingredients that directly help with skin care concerns such as hyperpigmentation. Common types of serum ingredients to treat hyperpigmentation is vitamin C or niacinamide. Essence is at the heart of Korean skincare because this further pack moisture and skin-benefiting ingredients to the skin and tends to be more watery than serums. The essence I am currently using is called Dewy Tree Ultra Vitalizing Essence and is made up of snail mucus extract that moisturizes and heal acne scars. The ingredient “snail mucus extract” might not sound appealing, but many Korean skincare products uses resources found in nature such as snail, mushrooms, ginseng, mug wort, aloe vera, etc. These are naturally occurring ingredients that are beneficial for the skin and most of the time gentle on the skin. Sheet masks are the highlight of Korean skincare because sheet masks deliver and force those skin benefiting ingredients into the skin, and there is a glowing effect after the treatment (results may vary). My favorite sheet masks have ingredients such as mug wort and tea tree because they help calm down the redness from acne and soothing the skin.
After all the preparation, facial moisturizer, eye creams, and sunscreen comes next. The best way to prevent premature aging is to apply a religious amount of sunscreen in the morning to block out harmful UV rays. Moisturizing is crucial during the wintertime because the heater can draw up a ton a moisture out of the skin leaving the skin dry and uncomfortable. The Korean skincare routine is quite long maybe a bit cumbersome for some, but after some time, the hard work begins to show.
Comments
Anna,
I have never heard of this brand before, but from listening to you describe the CEO and the company, I would definitely like to give it a try in the future. I also like how you clarified the idea of the "# of steps" routine. I think many people find it unnecessary and also confused on why Korean skincare routines have may number of steps to follow, but it's actually just a couple of large steps broken into smaller pieces. It might seem like it takes abnormal amounts of time every day, but if you look at it from a holistic point of view, it is nothing compared to the long term benefits you will see. Thanks for a great post!
I thought you did a great job of differentiating the concept of skincare and makeup, and how much more of an emphasis Korea places on skincare than perhaps Western societies do. Do you know if this value on skincare also applies to men? I feel like there is also a stereotype, at least in Western societies, that skincare is a feminine routine. From what you described Korea definitely has more products and steps to their routine which I can imagine stratifying the gender issue even more.
It is very interesting what you said at the beginning. Once, a friend who specialized in makeup told me that the Eastern culture focuses on preventing rather than covering, while Western countries focus on covering imperfection. I think that is the reason why skincare is so important in Korea. It is important to know how to hydrate and protect your skin against dust and sunburns. With this knowledge, we can develop beautiful skin that will not need too much covering later.