Guides

The basics, in plain English — the actives, the routine, and where to buy.

Topic

The routineHow to build a Korean skincare routineThe famous ten-step Korean routine comes down to three or four steps that matter. A plain-English guide to building one for your skin — in the right order, and tuned for Australia's sun.Sun & SPFWhy your Korean sunscreen pills, and how to stop itSunscreen can ball up and rub off when you layer a Korean routine. The cause is usually the layers underneath. Here's what pilling is, and the simple changes that help.Sun & SPFHow to reapply Korean sunscreen over a full face of makeupReapplying sunscreen is easy on bare skin and awkward over makeup. Here's how to top up a Korean SPF through the day — sun sticks, cushions, and the formats that promise more than they deliver.Sun & SPFChemical vs mineral filters in a Korean sunscreen, and white castWhy one Korean sunscreen vanishes on your skin and another leaves you grey comes down to the filters inside it. Here is the difference, and how to tell what you are buying.Skin goalsHow to get rid of blind pimples, the Korean skincare wayA blind pimple is a pore sealed shut under the skin, which is why a hydrocolloid patch made for a surfaced spot does little for it. Korea's answer is to keep the pore clear and let the bump settle, without forcing it.The routineA gentle Korean skincare routine for acne-prone skinAcne-prone skin is more often over-treated than under-treated. A short Korean routine that cleanses gently, uses one acid instead of three, and keeps the barrier calm — plus how to fade the marks a breakout leaves.IngredientsNiacinamide: the quiet all-rounder in your Korean routineNiacinamide turns up in Korean toners, essences and exfoliants as a supporting player, a few lines down the ingredient list. Here's what this form of vitamin B3 does for skin, and the actives it sits happily beside.The routineA Korean skincare routine for dry and dehydrated skinSkin that feels tight isn't always short on oil — often it's short on water, and the two want different fixes. Here's the Korean way to layer hydration, and the step that stops it evaporating before the morning's out.IngredientsWhat Korean snail mucin does, and how to use it in a routineSnail secretion filtrate is the ingredient Korean brands like COSRX turned into a staple. Here's what it does for skin, what the evidence behind it supports, and how to layer it so dry skin holds the extra hydration.Sun & SPFWhat SPF and PA ratings mean on a Korean sunscreen labelKorean sunscreens carry two ratings you won't find on most Australian bottles: an SPF number and a PA rating in plus signs. One covers the rays that burn, the other the rays that age skin — here's how to read both.Skin goalsKorean skincare for dark spots and hyperpigmentationKorea treats an even, luminous tone as the point of a routine, and builds it with gentle brighteners you can use every day. Here's what fades dark spots, and why sun protection does most of the work.Skin goalsKorean glass skin: what it is, and how to get closer to itGlass skin — yuri pibu in Korean — is the name for a smooth, lit-from-within complexion. This is what moves the look, what's fixed by genetics and light, and the hydration doing most of the work.The mask stepKorean face masks: sheet, clay and sleeping, and which you needIn a Korean routine the mask is an occasional boost, and it turns up in three forms: sheet, wash-off and sleeping. Here's what each one does, and which your skin will get the most from.IngredientsAHA, BHA and PHA: how to choose a Korean exfoliating acidKorean skincare treats exfoliating acids as a gentle habit — AHA, BHA and PHA, each with a different job. How the three families differ, and which one your skin will get on with.The routineA Korean skincare routine for sensitive skinSensitive skin does best on fewer, gentler steps — the barrier-first approach Korean skincare is known for. Here's how to build a calm routine around ingredients like centella and heartleaf, and what to leave out.The routineWhere does sunscreen go in a Korean skincare routine?Sunscreen is the morning step people most often get out of order. In a Korean routine it's the final layer — on over your moisturiser, once your skincare has sunk in — and reapplying it is half the job.The routineA Korean skincare routine for combination skinCombination skin is really two skins on one face — an oily T-zone and drier cheeks. Here's how to build a Korean routine that treats each zone for what it needs, instead of fighting the whole face at once.The routineA Korean skincare routine for oily skinOily skin does best on a gentle, layered routine — the approach Korean skincare is known for. Here's how to build one that hydrates, balances oil and keeps shine down without drying your skin out.IngredientsWhat Korean heartleaf does for your skinHeartleaf — Houttuynia cordata — is the herb Korean brands like Anua built a sensitive-skin range around. This is what the research supports, how it differs from centella, and when it's worth reaching for.The treatment stepKorean essence vs serum: what each does, and do you need both?Essence and serum sit on the same treatment step, at different strengths. Here's what each does, whether you need both, and how to choose the one Korean active that suits your skin.The cleanse stepKorean double cleansing: do you really need two cleansers?Double cleansing — an oil wash, then a water-based one — is the cleanse step Korean skincare carried furthest. What each wash is for, when you need both, and how to do it without stripping your skin.