Monday, November 19, 2012

Korean beauty secrets

Korean women have truly the most beautiful, flawless complexions I have ever seen. Evened out skin tone, poreless skin, no age spots or blemishes. Not only do Korean women seem to have perfect skin but also a lasting youthful appearance which makes them look younger than their actual age. It's not only amazing but also makes one wonder what is the secret to such beautiful skin that radiates with glow even with out makeup?


☁ Skin care: The usual skin cleansing method most of us are familiarized with is the CMT ( cleanse,tone, moisturize) but korean women follow a different routine. This is a cleansing method consisting of 5 steps which are : double cleansing, massage & mask, tone, essence/serum, and finally moisturize. For an in depth explanation visit the following link :http://k-popped.com

☁ Oil cleansing method : In asian countries, including Korea some women don't use conventional facial cleansers instead they use oil to cleanse their skin But is oil beneficial to skin? Commonly regular facial cleansers contain sulfates that alter the natural ph on the skin which results in skin dryness that leads to wrikles. On the other hand oils help remove make up and dirt with out over drying the skin.

And for those who have acne prone skin you will be glad to know that not all oils are comedogenic I was able to find a chart that shows the level of comedogenecy of certain oils. I was surprised to find out mineral oil and safflower oil are both non comedogenic which means they won't clog pores. (source) Therefore all skin types can benefit from the oil cleansing method and there are various oils with different properties that can be useful to the skin depending on the needs of your skin.

Even though the oil cleansing method sounds fairly easy you may still have doubts on how it is done and how it works for a through explanation check the following link: theoilcleansingmethod.com/ 

☁ Layering skin products: Korean women use multiple products and take time massaging them into the skin. It is believed that the average korean woman applies 18 beauty products per day. This routine of applying various skin products also includes facial massage, and according to health.com massaging moisturizers and treatments onto the skin can make the products more effective. A benefit of massaging the skin is increased blood flow and better penetration of products.


☁ Whitening Products: In asian countries a blemish free complexion along with a fair skin tone is considered beautiful. During the Koryo dynasty in Korea people with white skin, were considered of noble decent. Nowadays the process of acquiring such fair complexion is achieved thru the use of whitening products. The goal is to remove skin yellowness, freckles blemishes or scars which results in an evened out skin tone and brighter complexion.

Koreans believe a perfect complexion involves having fair skin and consider it more important in their beauty routine than wearing makeup. Most korean women include at least one or more whitening products to their daily skin beauty routine. It is no wonder that in Asia, Korea is leader in whitening products as it is a country that considers white skin as beautiful.

☁ BB creams: You might ask yourself ¿what are bb creams? First of all the letters bb stand for beauty balm or blemish balm. BB creams serve many functions such as make up, base, foundation, and even concealer. These famous cream was originally just used by surgery patients, in order to cover scars, it was later adapted into a beauty product in Korea, becoming a hit. BB creams can be found in almost any store now, in a variety of textures, tints and with distinct properties.

                                                                                               
Korean women prefer a more natural look when it comes to makeup, instead of heavy foundation they prefer light tinted moisturizers or bb creams. Before bb creams were available in the U.S.A there were plenty of varieties of such product in Korea. What is truly amazing about bb creams is that they are a combination of makeup and skin care put together in one product. BB creams contain ingredients that help improve the appearance of skin such as, SPF protection, antioxidants and vitamins.

 ☁ Sun protection: Korean women know that in order to have beautiful skin it is very important to limit their sun exposure. Therefore they try to cover up as much as possible when doing outdoor activities, and avoid tanning at all cost. For Korean women protecting the skin from the sun in winter is equally as important as doing it in the summer.

Umbrellas, wide brim hats and protective clothing are some of the objects Korean women recur to in order to protect their skin from he sun. A top all these preventive measures wearing sunscreen is an essential step that can't be missed. This is one of the most important things a woman can do to maintain a youthful appearance, as mentioned in a previous post according to skincancer.org: 90% of visible signs of aging are caused by sun exposure.  
      

Western countries are now adopting the same point of view of Asian countries  when it comes to sun tanning, and sun protection. A study conducted by Mintel beauty and personal care revealed that in The U.S.A in 2011 the percentage of new products offering sun protection rose to 19%. A high difference if it compared to the percentage of 2008 which was 13%.

In Eastern countries there is definetly more awareness on the damage the sun can cause on skin. Staying away from the suns harmful UV rays can with out doubt benefit the skin in great measure. This may be one of the best kept beauty secrets Korean woman share in common. The best part is that protecting the skin from the sun is easy and affordable in general, and can provide positive results in the long run.

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Having beautiful skin like korean women might seem complicated specially if scars, spots, visible pores  and wrinkles are present. It is important to maintain a daily beauty regime that targets specific skin problems. Staying away from the sun will surely benefit, as it will delay the aging process, and prevent age spots to appear. Equally important and optional is to use whitening products, which help maintain an evened out skin tone, a characteristic of youthful skin.

There are without doubt many more Korean beauty secrets that western countries have no knowledge of yet. With Korean being one of the most advanced countries in skin care, we can surely expect to see more innovative products that will be made to battle aging skin in the future. When it comes to Korean beauty it is all about nourishing the skin and being gentle with it.
                                                                 
 sources:www.health.com 
                          www.modernmom.com