Why we love it: If you want to expand your Korean skincare routine to body care, start with Illiyoon. The brand is known in South Korea for its gentle Ceramide Ato line, which you can find in every supermarket. Formulated with ceramide NP, a popular ingredient for hydrating and supporting your skin barrier, the Illiyoon Ceramide Ato Soothing Gel can be used on both your face and body for nourishing moisture. The fragrance-free formula is designed with sensitive skin in mind, so it’s also a great choice for skin that’s irritated or inflamed.
“I’ve tried all of the lotions from this line, and this would be my top recommendation if you prefer a body lotion with a lighter texture. Unlike some of the brand’s thicker creams, this one is a gel cream that sinks in fast and doesn’t leave any residue behind. You can also use it on your face, so it’s a true head-to-toe lotion. I get flaky patches on my legs sometimes and this formula smooths them out after just a couple of applications,” says GLAMOUR contributor Sarah Y. Wu.
Your Korean skincare questions, answered
What is the best skincare brand in Korea?
If you’re curious about the most popular skincare brands in South Korea, you’ll want to check the Olive Young Awards and Hwahae. The former is South Korea’s leading beauty retailer, which issues its coveted beauty awards every year. The latter is an online review platform that shows which best-selling Korean beauty products are trending in real time.
That said, popularity in South Korea is just one of many indicators that a product is worth trying. “While this can be a strong indicator of a product’s potential success, it’s not the only factor—I dig deeper to understand why something is trending,” says Charlotte Cho, a licensed aesthetician based in New York City and cofounder of Then I Met You and Soko Glam.
To curate the best Korean skincare products for Soko Glam, an online K-beauty retailer, she also pays attention to “delivery systems, absorption technology, and the way a formula interacts with the skin.” She also looks beyond what’s popular in South Korea to what’s trending globally, which can differ. “With the embrace of Korean products by US consumers, we have now reached a point where its popularity in the US is actually more important now than the popularity or trend that originates in Korea,” she says.
Why are Korean skincare products so popular?
Why are Korean skincare products so popular in the Western world, you ask? “Because [they’re] simple, effective, and offer formulations and innovations that are ahead of their time,” says Julia Marinkovich, UK representative at COSRX.
According to Julia, in South Korea, skincare is considered as a great investment and is as vital to people as good nutrition and exercise. “Clear, glowing skin is a sign of skin health, and everyone strives for this,” she says. “That’s how trends like glass skin have taken off across the globe.”
She also highlights that Korean products tend to have straightforward formulas with minimal sets of ingredients that instead focus on using highly effective natural ingredients. “Western skincare typically focuses on exfoliating to re-new our complexion, whereas Korean skincare is centred around adding essential nutrients back into the skin,” Julia explains. “ It’s much gentler, as it uses a hydration-first approach, rather than a prominent focus on acids and retinols.”
What are some of the best K-beauty ingredients to look out for?
There are a wide range of ingredients that Korean beauty brands turn to that are not so common to see among Western brands. One of these – brace yourself – is snail mucin.