The Korean Skin Care Routine – Steps and Results

by Mary Lou | Last Updated: July 30, 2017 When you buy something using the links on our posts, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Learn more.

Hello, lovelies! It’s Mary Lou here.

If you’ve been living under a rock or have nothing about beauty in your social media feed, then you might have missed one of the most intruiging beauty crazes for this year — the 10 step Korean Skin Care Regimen.

Now you already know I am enamored with Korean and Japanese beauty products — Evidence A being my review on facial masks for acne some time back and Evidence B being a photo of my shopping loot.  So, it probably comes as no surprise that I’ve been doing the same skin care routine RELIGIOUSLY for the past couple of months. Now that I’ve acquired some expert status, I’m ready to share with you what I’ve been doing and whether it was effective for me.

Let’s dive in!

Korean Skin Care Steps

korean skin care tips

Via metro

Here are the stripped-down basic steps of this beauty regimen.

  1. For night time, start by removing all makeup and dirt with an OIL CLEANSER. Massage and rinse.
  2. Double cleanse with a WATER-BASED CLEANSER to remove any remaining residue.
  3. Next, rehydrate your skin with TONER.
  4. Then apply ESSENCE to your freshly toned skin.
  5. Once the essence has soaked in, massage a booster or SERUM into your skin.
  6. Next, apply EYE CREAM for protection and hydration. And you’re done for the night.
  7. For day time, do the double cleansing and moisturize with your favorite MOISTURIZER.
  8. Apply SUNSCREEN always whether you’re going out or just sitting in front of a computer.
  9. Twice a week, incorporate exfoliating before toning. Massage an EXFOLIANT into your skin to remove dead cells.
  10. Lastly, apply facial sheet MASKS 1-3 times a week especially during days when you or your skin needs pampering.

The Secret

korean skin care effect

Via cheekycomplexion

So as you can see, it’s actually NOT a one-time 10-step process at all. Because that’s what I thought! When I first heard of this beauty routine, my first thought was that it was excessive. Like what the fudge! Who does ten steps every night? I’d be long asleep before I can do all of them.

But turns out, for daytime, there are 5 steps: double cleansing, toning, moisturizing, and sun protecting.

Then for night-time, there are 6 steps: double cleansing, toning, essence, serum, and eye cream.

My babies, the Korean face masks, are only to be used up to 3x a week for when you want a little spa session at home.

The above isn’t really a secret but it’s something I didn’t know.

My Honest Review

After doing this close to two months and missing only one day, I feel I’m qualified to give you a real honest review of the whole thing and I can sum it all up in three words:

I love it.

Here’s why:

Pro Beauty Tips

korean skin care use

Via hk.asiatatler

Because I tried to make the Korean skin care steps so skinny and basic, I didn’t get to add in some tips and advice so I’m listing them all here:

To Sum Up

Am I going to continue with this regimen? Yes, I definitely will especially since I think it will help keep my youthful skin for longer and help me have healthy youthful skin even when I get really really old.

If you want to try it too, I wrote up a list of the best products for each step. Check it out HERE.


Author: Mary Lou
In the Before Times, Maru spent vacations traveling and making stops at showrooms to test the latest massage chair models. Nowadays, she’s hunkered down in her small sunlit home dotted with her ever-growing collection of fiddle fig trees, indoor plants, and Himalayan salt lamps. Find her at LinkedIn.