Ever since the 10-step Korean skincare routine exploded, I’ve had my head turned and I never looked back. I moved away from thicker and more active heavy moisturisers that feel heavy, sticky and embraced the (more tedious) process of layering thin water like essences and serums.
Post 2020 I had bit of a nomad period where I kept moving between Pune, Barcelona and Berlin. I was basically living out of a suitcase for 2 years. It was a fun adventure but the constant changes meant that my skin suffered. I was also unable to stick to a long routine. In 2023, I move back to Pune and the permanence helped me embrace longer skincare routines again. From the start of 2024, I’ve been adding essences to my morning and evening routines. I have a few other bits I use when I need an extra spritz of hydration. Let’s explore!
The Staples
These products, I use as part of my everyday routine. Beauty of Joseon Ginseng Essence Water is addictive to use. It’s very light in body, the bottle dispenses drops slowly. This instantly hydrates the face and sinks in quickly. I enjoy using this so much, my used up my first bottle on just 2 months. I’m now on my third. Pune has very harsh summers where the air is very dry, my skins feels parched instantly after cleansing. This eliminates that initial dryness and keeps my skin hydrated for the next set of layers. Ginseng is also a good ingredient in keeping the skin calm, the niacinimide also helps with evening out the skin tone. Since introducing this and the next essence in my routine, my skin texture feels better.
On most days, my next step is the CosRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Powder Essence, this has more body for sure, you can feel that slight tack while applying but it spreads to evenly and transforms to a thinner consistency. This very much leaves a film on the face and gives off a sheen. Layers of this can help with the glass skin look. It’s my first time trying snail mucin and it has helped so much with softness and improving texture of my skin. It helps with recovering the skin from dryness, environment and sun damage.
I purchased the Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum VI on a whim but I do want to try out more ginseng products. This isn’t as runny as the Beauty of Joseon essence, has more body but helps very watery and light on the skin. This can be layered up multiple times without feeling heavy or appearing differently. This also helps the rest of the skincare products to absorb better. However, I have not used this long enough to give enough of a review on it yet.
The Inbetweens
These products are not part of my everyday routine, they serve specific purpose. Thermal waters were my first foray into hydrating layers, I tried a bunch but once I tried Omorovicza Queen of Hungary Mist, my search stopped. For a spray, the dispensation is at times more important than the actual product and this dispenses the finest mist evenly for the entire usage. On a hot day, this is perfect to add more hydration. Particularly during lockdown or if I’m at home all day, this is my preferred way of rehydrating my face. As the name might suggest it is a light water and absorbs into the skin very easily. It has a very light fragrance.
The Laneige Cream Skin Toner I also find good to use when I just want more hydration and moisturization mid day or in-between routines, or even perhaps on a lazy day where I just want one product. It is milky but also runny, more body than the ginseng essences but less than the snail mucin. This can also be layered up to give that glass skin look and me thoroughly hydrated throughout the day. This doesn’t leave bit of a sheen which isn’t my favourite thing in humid weather, but in winters I don’t mind it as much. This is now been reformulated and can be purchased as Cream Skin Refiner but from what I see only the finish hasn’t really changed.
Let me know if you like layering and how you do it!
Beauty of Joseon Ginseng Essence Water – Myntra, Nykaa, Maccaron, BeautyBarn, YesStyle,
CosRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Powder Essence – Myntra, Nykaa, Maccaron, BeautyBarn, YesStyle, Sephora
Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum VI – Nykaa, YesStyle, SephoraUS,
Laneige Cream Skin Refiner – Nykaa, Maccaron, YesStyle, Sephora.in, Sephora US,
Omorovicza Queen of Hungary Mist – Nykaa, CultBeauty, Nordstrom
Leave a Reply