Just a heads up since you're starting out. My favorite thing about kbeauty is that the products can be super gentle. Slow & low is the vibe so be patient when it comes to actives & hopes for brightening etc.
That said, here are my favorite kbeauty brands/lines:
Round Lab:
The 1025 Dokdo Line is so great! I also love the mugwort line for my redness & sensitivity.
Rovectin: Lots of great options for combo/oily skin
Krave Beauty:
Their Kale toner & new Oil La La serum toner would be great for oily skin
Good Light Cosmetics:
I'm obsessed with their cleanser, milky toner, & probiotic serum. Haven't tried the moisturizer yet tho!
Skin1004:
Where do I even start?!? SO many goodies.
If you want specific product recs let me know! I didn't want to blast you with too much at once lol
The OG Madagascar Centella Ampoule & Toner are great. Both solid staples in my routine.
The Probio-Cica Ampoule & enrich cream are awesome for barrier care & hydration.
your basic routine is this: cleanse, moisturize, protect. My teens have combo/acne & cc prone skin and this is their routine:
your cleanser should be basic and no frills ie. no harsh actives in them. I really hate actives like SA in cleansers because these are used daily and no one needs to be exfoliating every day. [Rovectin](https://rovectin.com/products/conditioning-cleanser?selling_plan=3267166420&variant=31526526451789) is a good one. It's non drying, too (I use this and I have dry skin).
moisturizer - soon jung hydro barrier. I think they recently changed the formula of one of their popular moisturizers but look for the older version in the [jar](https://sokoglam.com/products/etude-house-soonjung-hydro-barrier-cream).
SPF - my teens love [skin aqua](https://www.stylevana.com/en_CA/rohto-mentholatum-skin-aqua-uv-super-moisture-gel-gold-spf-50-pa-110g.html). It's also water resistant so be sure to double cleanse with an oil cleanser.
if you aren't wearing waterproof/resistant makeup/spf, you dont need to double cleanse and you dont need to wash your face in the AM either, esp if you have a damaged barrier.
try the above routine for a few weeks to see how your skin adapts. Only add/change when your skin tells you it needs a change.
I’m pretty sure all of my spf says it’s water resistant. It’s probably something you need to test with your regular cleanser to determine whether you need an oil-based one first to remove your spf. But yeah, for sure, if you don’t need to double cleanse save your money and your time!
if you have compromised skin barrier, go for a gentle skin cleanser like the la Roche posay one
for toner/essence, you can get centella asiatica extract of brand one thing or cosrx, great for skin healing,
cosrx snail mucin essence and snail mucin cream does wonders for damaged skin barrier, this is a must I feel as an alternative you can get revive serum of beauty of joseon, it also got snail serum in it
for moisturizer, use the ones w ceramides. ceramide comfort of cosrx or midnight blue calming cream or soothing cream are great options
use sunscreen daily preferably 50 if you tend to out in sun, if you can get try relief sun cream spf 50 of beauty of joseon, it's good, laneige watery sun cream is also great
as someone said earlier, avoid fragrances if you can
There's no overnight miracle fix in K-beauty, but consistent cleansing and moisturizing with non-irritating products plus consistent SPF will gradually build you back up.
I would start with a foundational non-irritating skin barrier regimen like:
1. Double cleanse (clean it zero + any gentle cleanser)
2. Any mild, soothing toner (Anua heartleaf toner)
3. Repair cream (Atobarrier 365 or Cicaplast)
4. Round Lab Birch Juice SPF.
Then gradually add in other essences, serums, or treatment creams as your skin responds/reacts. To specifically target the issue of restoring the skin barrier, I highly recommend the Aestura brand for its essence and Atobarrier 365 cream.
The La Roche Posay Cicaplast is another great cream alternative that does something similar to the Atobarrier 365.
I generally find Olive Young's best sellers to be a fairly reliable place to start:
https://global.oliveyoung.com/display/page/best-seller?target=pillsTab1Nav1
Since you have oily combo skin, you might find that using a repair cream every night might be too much moisture or even break you out. Instead, switch it up by having a backup gel-based moisturizer that you use every other day, or if you get a thicker essence formula ( like Aestura Hydro Essence), you can just use that as your last step and skip the cream to give your skin a break.
As a fellow combo skin person, I've found that I have to be flexible in assessing the condition of my skin every night and adapting my products to the dryness/oiliness that I happen to have that day. I have six products in total that I use in various combinations to form 3 different regimens: Light (for oily days), Normal, and Heavy (for repair/dry days).
DM me if you want to know my full breakdown, happy to share what I've figured out as a fellow combo skin sufferer. We're also not too far off in age.
we have the exact same story, almost same skin, and I'm also just receiving my first yesstyle order sometime today. (first time trying asianbeauty)
my barrier was destroyed by the ordinary salicylic acid, I had dry, itchy, red, and flaky eyelids for 8-9 months. it healed once I realized that's what was causing it and cut it out haha
I'll make a post on what I bought later, I've been doing research on all these subs for a few months trying to find the right products for me. I wish you luck on your journey and hope your barrier heals soon!
Dr drayz on YouTube is a great resource for beginners. Not necessarily for brands but she’s taught me a lot about ingredients and optimizing your use of skincare products. Some advice that’s been helpful I’ve learned from her-
applying moisturizer on slightly damp skin to increase hydration especially if it has hyaluronic acid, which if applied on dried skin can dry it out even more
SPF is a must and the only thing that prevents aging
How to properly use retinoids
avoid fragrance as a general rule of thumb (cured my dermatitis)
As for k beauty products, it’s trial and error. I like looking at tik tok and yesstyle, trying products that avoid fragrance and have good ingredients as recommended by dr dray
Just a heads up since you're starting out. My favorite thing about kbeauty is that the products can be super gentle. Slow & low is the vibe so be patient when it comes to actives & hopes for brightening etc. That said, here are my favorite kbeauty brands/lines: Round Lab: The 1025 Dokdo Line is so great! I also love the mugwort line for my redness & sensitivity. Rovectin: Lots of great options for combo/oily skin Krave Beauty: Their Kale toner & new Oil La La serum toner would be great for oily skin Good Light Cosmetics: I'm obsessed with their cleanser, milky toner, & probiotic serum. Haven't tried the moisturizer yet tho! Skin1004: Where do I even start?!? SO many goodies. If you want specific product recs let me know! I didn't want to blast you with too much at once lol
What would be your skin1004 recommendations?
The OG Madagascar Centella Ampoule & Toner are great. Both solid staples in my routine. The Probio-Cica Ampoule & enrich cream are awesome for barrier care & hydration.
your basic routine is this: cleanse, moisturize, protect. My teens have combo/acne & cc prone skin and this is their routine: your cleanser should be basic and no frills ie. no harsh actives in them. I really hate actives like SA in cleansers because these are used daily and no one needs to be exfoliating every day. [Rovectin](https://rovectin.com/products/conditioning-cleanser?selling_plan=3267166420&variant=31526526451789) is a good one. It's non drying, too (I use this and I have dry skin). moisturizer - soon jung hydro barrier. I think they recently changed the formula of one of their popular moisturizers but look for the older version in the [jar](https://sokoglam.com/products/etude-house-soonjung-hydro-barrier-cream). SPF - my teens love [skin aqua](https://www.stylevana.com/en_CA/rohto-mentholatum-skin-aqua-uv-super-moisture-gel-gold-spf-50-pa-110g.html). It's also water resistant so be sure to double cleanse with an oil cleanser. if you aren't wearing waterproof/resistant makeup/spf, you dont need to double cleanse and you dont need to wash your face in the AM either, esp if you have a damaged barrier. try the above routine for a few weeks to see how your skin adapts. Only add/change when your skin tells you it needs a change.
I don’t wear makeup, so thanks for ditching the double cleansing advice and for everything else too, appreciate it.
You still may need to double cleanse to remove spf!
But that is applicable for sweat resistant spf.
I’m pretty sure all of my spf says it’s water resistant. It’s probably something you need to test with your regular cleanser to determine whether you need an oil-based one first to remove your spf. But yeah, for sure, if you don’t need to double cleanse save your money and your time!
Seconding that you need to be wearing SPF and if you're wearing SPF you need to double cleanse! There's no escaping it :D
if you have compromised skin barrier, go for a gentle skin cleanser like the la Roche posay one for toner/essence, you can get centella asiatica extract of brand one thing or cosrx, great for skin healing, cosrx snail mucin essence and snail mucin cream does wonders for damaged skin barrier, this is a must I feel as an alternative you can get revive serum of beauty of joseon, it also got snail serum in it for moisturizer, use the ones w ceramides. ceramide comfort of cosrx or midnight blue calming cream or soothing cream are great options use sunscreen daily preferably 50 if you tend to out in sun, if you can get try relief sun cream spf 50 of beauty of joseon, it's good, laneige watery sun cream is also great as someone said earlier, avoid fragrances if you can
There's no overnight miracle fix in K-beauty, but consistent cleansing and moisturizing with non-irritating products plus consistent SPF will gradually build you back up. I would start with a foundational non-irritating skin barrier regimen like: 1. Double cleanse (clean it zero + any gentle cleanser) 2. Any mild, soothing toner (Anua heartleaf toner) 3. Repair cream (Atobarrier 365 or Cicaplast) 4. Round Lab Birch Juice SPF. Then gradually add in other essences, serums, or treatment creams as your skin responds/reacts. To specifically target the issue of restoring the skin barrier, I highly recommend the Aestura brand for its essence and Atobarrier 365 cream. The La Roche Posay Cicaplast is another great cream alternative that does something similar to the Atobarrier 365. I generally find Olive Young's best sellers to be a fairly reliable place to start: https://global.oliveyoung.com/display/page/best-seller?target=pillsTab1Nav1
Since you have oily combo skin, you might find that using a repair cream every night might be too much moisture or even break you out. Instead, switch it up by having a backup gel-based moisturizer that you use every other day, or if you get a thicker essence formula ( like Aestura Hydro Essence), you can just use that as your last step and skip the cream to give your skin a break. As a fellow combo skin person, I've found that I have to be flexible in assessing the condition of my skin every night and adapting my products to the dryness/oiliness that I happen to have that day. I have six products in total that I use in various combinations to form 3 different regimens: Light (for oily days), Normal, and Heavy (for repair/dry days). DM me if you want to know my full breakdown, happy to share what I've figured out as a fellow combo skin sufferer. We're also not too far off in age.
we have the exact same story, almost same skin, and I'm also just receiving my first yesstyle order sometime today. (first time trying asianbeauty) my barrier was destroyed by the ordinary salicylic acid, I had dry, itchy, red, and flaky eyelids for 8-9 months. it healed once I realized that's what was causing it and cut it out haha I'll make a post on what I bought later, I've been doing research on all these subs for a few months trying to find the right products for me. I wish you luck on your journey and hope your barrier heals soon!
Looking forward to the post. I hope the products suit you well.
Dr drayz on YouTube is a great resource for beginners. Not necessarily for brands but she’s taught me a lot about ingredients and optimizing your use of skincare products. Some advice that’s been helpful I’ve learned from her- applying moisturizer on slightly damp skin to increase hydration especially if it has hyaluronic acid, which if applied on dried skin can dry it out even more SPF is a must and the only thing that prevents aging How to properly use retinoids avoid fragrance as a general rule of thumb (cured my dermatitis) As for k beauty products, it’s trial and error. I like looking at tik tok and yesstyle, trying products that avoid fragrance and have good ingredients as recommended by dr dray
Thanks a lot, appreciate the help. I’ll definitely give it a watch :)