the Low Down: Korean makeup/beauty products & my Holy Grail

Over the past few years it seems to me that Korean/ Asian makeup products have become more known and available in American markets. Undoubtedly this has to do with the hallyu wave and the K-dramas and K-pop groups that feature the flawless, perfect young things all sporting that poreless look achieved by that miracle product: BB cream. Americanized and Europeanized BB creams can now be found in any drugstore or high-end retailer under brands like Flower (Drew Barrymore's line for Walmart) and Dior.

But Asian makeup is so much more than BB cream.* In this post, I'll run down a few of my favorite Korean makeup houses and products therein.

(Makeup houses in Myeongdong, cr. visitkorea.or.kr)

But first, a few notes on the Korean makeup houses/brands. Anyone can tell you that makeup and beauty products are a serious business in Korea, and a single street can have anywhere from 5-10 makeup houses all lined up right next to one another. But Teacher, you ask me, which house/brand is the best? I don't think one house/brand is overall better than another. It basically comes down to packaging, brand loyalty, and standout products. Etude House, arguably, has the cutest packaging. People have their favorite brands and stick to them as to not have to deal with the intimidating task of venturing out and exploring all the other brands out there. And then there are the standout products. What I mean by this is that when you aren't loyal to a single brand, or maybe loyal or several brands, you shop around for the standout products of each house. For instance, I myself tend to stay loyal to a few brands, so I love the face products from TONY MOLY, the nail polishes from ETUDE HOUSE, BB cream from MISSHA, and face masks from OLIVE YOUNG.

For a breakdown of Cosme Road (Cosmetics Road) in Myeongdong, check out the feature on K-Beauty on visitkorea. And without further ado...

(A recent beauty haul courtesy of Erica, Julie, and Andrea)

My Korean Makeup / Beauty Product HG (Holy Grail):

1. Masks: MEDIHEAL Tea Tree Healing Solution Essential Mask

If you're even a tiny bit familiar with Asian beauty products, you've probably seen these somewhere before, or maybe you've even been gifted them by a good friend recently returned from Asia. Basically, these are sheets of cotton in the shape of a face, soaked in all sorts of wonderful face serums. After washing your face, you put the mask on, laugh at how monster-like you appear, and continue to do so for about 20 minutes. After peeling the mask off, pat the residual serum into your skin with clean fingers.

(Erica and I clearly having too much fun)

2. BB cream: MISSHA M Perfect Cover BB Cream (No. 23)

The BB in BB cream stands for Blemish Balm. Word is that BB creams were invented to help cover and treat severe scarring. Thus, BB creams are both makeup and a treatment cream. BB creams these days a packed with all sorts of promises: SPF, anti-wrinkle, whitening, anti-aging, moisturizing, oil control, etc. But the reason why I love BB cream so much is that it has medium coverage that feels weightless, and more importantly, looks like real skin. When I wear BB cream, I feel like my skin can still breathe. The finish isn’t cakey and I don’t need to layer it on think to get the coverage I need.

I had the opportunity to test out several BB creams when I was in Korea, and Missha’s is by far my favorite. A complaint about BB creams is that it only comes in one or two light shades. Missha has 5 shades to pick from—and if you get a shade too light for you, mix it with some foundation—but overall, I feel like Missha’s formula suits me and my body chemistry the best. I do have the Skin79 BB cream that everyone seems to adore, and while the Skin79 one is a good product, I still prefer my Missha BB cream.

One final note on BB creams. A lot of westernized BB creams are now widely available, but on the whole, Asian BB creams are really different from American BB creams. The American versions are more like tinted moisturizers (a la Laura Mercier). And now there’s CC creams popping up in stores where the CC stands for Color Correcting, and supposedly targets different issues than American BB creams. All of this sounds like a headache and I’ll just stick to my Asian BB creams that give me the best of all worlds, thank you very much.

3. Face mask ("Pack" in Korean): TONY MOLY Eggpore Tightening Pack

This pack is the second “step” in a 3 step-eggpore process. Everyone talks about the first step, the blackhead out oil gel, but I’ve found that I like the tightening pack better. I have yet to try the third product, the pore covering balm, but I’ve heard interesting and good things about it. Also, with all these eggpore products come in similar egg-shaped containers that contain plant seeds so that you can reuse the container as a pot to grow your plant in.

This pack is a clay mask that has egg whites and Camilla extracts to deeply cleanse pores. Now, there’s no way to make your pores shrink; there’s only reducing the appearance of them. When you use this pack you do concentrate the product on the skin near your nose (where people tend to have the most visible pores) for 20 minutes until the clay mask dries. Wash away with warm water.

You do feel a “tightening” sensation, but that is due more to the drying mask than your pores actually becoming smaller. Still, I think this is a good mask and I like that it’s a product specifically used to target cleaning the large pores on your face. My skin and pores feel extra squeaky clean after I finish using it.

4. Hand lotion: MISSHA Moist 24 Hand Cream 

(almost gone!)

Hands down my favorite hand cream. It has manuka honey and sunflower extract to nourish and give nutrients to your skin and the formula is really long lasting (maybe not 24 hours though). I really love how the lotion feels on my skin. It has almost a gel-like consistency out of the tube that absorbs quickly and makes my skin feel soft and hydrated without feeling slimy, sticky, or filmy. And it’s scent is exactly how I like lotions to smell: nothing too strong or flower or sweet, but just a subtle scent of freshness that refreshes. When I started to run out of my tubes, I luckily had friends send some over from Korea to replenish my stock!

The next two products from Etude House have been all the rage lately and have a billion reviews online so I won’t go into too much detail.

5. Lipstick: ETUDE HOUSE My Blooming Lips Lipsticks

(love the detail. Shade is OR202)

These lipsticks have great pigmentation and a lovely scent. Although their staying power isn’t super long lasting, they don’t dry out your lips and apply so well because of their super creamy formula. They come in awesome colors in cute packaging.

6. Nail polish: ETUDE HOUSE Ice Cream Nails Nail polish

(in colors: Strawberry and Green apple)

I said that Etude House could quite possibly have the best/cutest packaging of all the makeup houses in Korea, and this just proves that fact. It’s nail polish that looks like ice cream cones. Again, it’s nail polish that looks like ice cream cones. ICE CREAM CONES.Fun colors in great opaque formulas that are good for summer and spring months. But seriously, I like to collect them just for the cuteness factor alone.

And there you have it, my Korean makeup products HG. There are a lot of other products that I enjoy, but haven't quite made it to my HG list yet. As I run through my residual products from Korea, and explore more products, I'll probably do an update sometime later. Also, if anyone has questions on brands or are curious about different products, feel free to ask! :) 

*Obviously, Asian makeup products are not merely comprised of Korean products, but since these are the products I know best, I'm writing about those.