Honest Korean Skincare Reviews — Tested, Not Sponsored
Six months into my Korean skincare routine I had a very frustrating realization. My skin wasn’t bad. It wasn’t dramatically better either. It looked roughly the same as it had before I started — maybe marginally more hydrated on good days, slightly more irritated on bad ones. I had twelve products, spent around $180, read … Read more
I used the same foaming cleanser for four years before it occurred to me that it might be the problem. It was a popular drugstore cleanser, the kind that produces a satisfying lather and leaves your face feeling squeaky clean afterward. I associated that squeaky feeling with effectiveness — surely if my skin felt that … Read more
My brother called me suspicious for having more than one product on my bathroom shelf. He had two things — a bar of soap that he used on his face and body simultaneously, and a can of shaving foam. His skin at thirty-four had the texture of a gravel path, a persistent redness around the … Read more
My coworker asked me if I was feeling okay three times in one week. I was fine. I’d slept reasonably well, wasn’t particularly stressed, and had done nothing unusual that week. What I had was the specific combination of dark under-eye circles and the beginning of fine lines that made me look perpetually exhausted regardless … Read more
By 2pm my forehead looked like I’d applied a highlighter I never bought, and my cheeks looked like I hadn’t moisturized in three days. Both statements were happening on the same face at the same time. For years I bought skincare the way the labels told me to — pick the section for your skin … Read more
My bathroom shelf used to have eleven serums on it. Eleven. I counted them one Sunday morning while looking for a specific one and genuinely couldn’t find it among the others. Some were half-used and forgotten. A couple had separated and gone slightly off-color in the bottle. One I’d bought because an influencer used it … Read more
There’s a specific kind of guilt that comes from waking up with mascara on your pillowcase. I went through a phase — longer than I’d like to admit — where “evening skincare” meant occasionally remembering to wipe my face with a makeup remover wipe before collapsing into bed. Some nights not even that. I’d wake … Read more
My mornings used to be a disaster. Not in a dramatic way — just the familiar chaos of alarm snoozing, ten minutes less time than I thought, and skincare that consisted of splashing water on my face and applying whatever moisturizer was closest to the sink. Some mornings I’d remember sunscreen. Most mornings I wouldn’t. … Read more
Every November my skin staged a quiet protest. Not dramatic — no rashes, no obvious reaction. Just a gradual tightening that started around my cheeks, a flakiness along my jawline that foundation couldn’t cover, and a dullness that made me look tired regardless of how much sleep I’d had. I’d apply moisturizer in the morning … Read more
For the first six months of my skincare journey I was using my Korean toner completely wrong. Not slightly wrong. Fundamentally, structurally, embarrassingly wrong. I was treating it like the Western toners I’d grown up with — the ones that smelled like rubbing alcohol and felt like a punishment for having pores. I’d pour some … Read more