Asian Skin Care Routine

Being an Asian myself, I notice that there are several differences between an Asian skin care routine and a Western skin care routine. With the latest trend being the a lot of Asian branded skin care products from mainly Korea or Japan, I think that it'll be great to share with you guys on the main parts of an Asian skin care routine.

It's strange but I notice that most westerners prefer to splurge on make up (personally I love to buy these as well since they're the fun part of a girl's life) but Asians usually go nuts about skin care. Sunblock, whitening, brightening, all the things that prevent skin from tanning and helping skin grow whiter is what most of us splurge on. I myself like to splurge on sunblock and face masks, they're my two favourite things. We like to have pale and bright skin, I myself try to avoid tanning myself to much and prefer to stay in the shade because of this. Although I'm pale for an Asian, it's nothing compared to most Westerners who have very pale skin. Pretty much a clear bright skin is the aim with of most women in Asia.

A typical skin care routine for me would be:

1. Do the Double Cleanse, this is when I first use my Cleansing Cream/Lotion (in my case the Lush 9 To 5) or a Cleansing Oil to first remove my make up completely from my face, then I use a Foaming Cleanser to further ensure that no make up is still in place.
2. Next I would use a Toner, most Asian Toners not only cleanse but they also hydrate the skin, to fix the amount of fluids lost through the Double Cleanse technique. Western toners usually help to remove the particles between the skin so they are a bit more drying. Sometimes, we could use a Booster which helps the absorption of other products into the skin together with the toner. Some toners have a mix of both a toner and a booster while some brands separate them.
3. For those people who use Eye-cream, the next step would be to use the eye cream on both the upper lid and the eye bag area. As the skin around the eye is very delicate, it is best to spread the eye cream with light pressure by using the ring finger. Most people feel that using an eye-cream is only for those who are fighting anti-ageing signs but teens can use them too, as long as its only for hydration purposes. (Eyeshadow goes on better after using eye-creams)
4. For the skin care enthusiast, they would use the Sheet Masks (or Paper Masks) for night time ONLY. Paper masks are basically thin cotton sheets soaked in treatment essences that helps a particular skin problem (e.g lemon = brightening, honey = moisture & brightening, etc). You could use them daily, or twice a week (it depends on you really). Use the mask for 15-20 minutes and don't wash it off, just rub the excess residue into the skin. 
5. Next is the Essence/ Serum which are just liquid concentrated skin care actives, with a texture thats around a liquid and a gel. They are also known as ampoules.
6. After the Essence is the Emulsion. Emulsions are just lighter versions of moisturising creams but with a lesser concentration of the skin care active ingredients in an Essence. Living in a tropical country (terrible heat and humidity issues) would mean that this is the only moisturising you'll need.
7. Spot Treatment comes after, all the acne treatments, whitening serum, anti-ageing spot treatments, etc are used after
8. Then for people living in four seasoned countries, they could use Creams to further moisturise their skin.
9. Finally (again this is optional) for the night time routine, there's the Sleeping Pack my favourite being the Laneige Sleeping Pack Ex. It's basically a sleeping mask that gives intense hydration and other added benefits to the skin 
10. For day time routines, use a Sunblock at the end.

Depending on how hot and humid the day is I might use some products that merges some steps together (e.g use a toner that already has a booster) or when I'm feeling lazy, I tend to skip some steps but this is the basic Asian skin care routine, you could try and combine steps if you want to try and save on time. It has great results and hopefully, you'll get your favourite Korean celebrity's skin.

If you want to go FULL on Korean, then some brands that are legit from Korea are Innisfree, Skin food, Etude House, and Face Shop. ( I like them all really but not so much on Etude House, leaning more to Skin Food and Innisfree as a favourite Korean brand) 

Your skin care products don't have to be full on Asian, just use products you feel fit the categories listed above and substitute them in. Western products could be used too together with the routine. I like to switch up my masks between the classic clay mask and the paper masks just to get both benefits from the two masks,

Have fun getting the lovely skins you want :) good luck. No need to hide yourself too much with a ton of make up, let your natural beauty peek through. With clear skin, it's much easier to apply make up.

-Elizabeth Tiffany