Beauty is a cultural thing too? Yes, it is. Growing up as a Korean girl, I still remember how I learned to properly take care of my skin ‘the Korean way’ after my brutally candid relatives picked on my skin for being too dark and acne-prone. Here it goes. 2-step cleansing, toning, moisturizing, essence/ampule/serum, the ever-important eye cream and facial cream on a daily basis, with the exfoliator, sheet masks, sleeping packs from time to time. Never rub your skin and only apply gentle forces. Oh, and don’t forget to apply sunscreen every day even if you stay indoors. Does this sound too much to you? Well, welcome to the world of Korean skin care. 美容是一種文化嗎？是的。作為一個韓國女生，我還記得，當我被「愛說真話」的親戚，挑剔皮膚黝黑又多暗瘡後，是如何學會正確的「韓國式」皮膚護理法。每天進行雙重潔面、爽膚、保濕、精華、非常重要的眼霜和面霜，間中去角質、敷片裝面膜及睡眠面膜。要注意千萬不要揉搓皮膚，而是使用陰力按摩。還有就是即使你足不出戶，亦要每天塗抹防曬霜。聽起來太多嗎？這就是韓式護膚方法。 As much as the routine above might sound too extreme, that is how most Korean women take care of their skin. Needless to say, the results are pretty evident on Korean female celebrities; always displaying poreless, pristine skin even on ultra high definition screens. But after all, all the bazillion skin care steps boil down to cleansing, toning and moisturizing. Here is your step-by-step guide on Korean beauty.

雖然上述的程序聽起來有點複雜，但這確實是很多韓國女性保養皮膚的方法。結果不用多說，就是在超高清屏幕中，仍能看到的韓國女明星零毛孔、純淨皮膚。其實眾多的護膚步驟不外乎清潔、爽膚和滋潤。參考一下以下的韓國美容指南吧。

Cleansing

Step 1: Oil-based point makeup remover To remove point makeup, such as the eye and lips, I use an oil-based point makeup remover. Remember never rub your eyes too hard, since skin around the eyes is much thinner than the skin on the rest of your face.

要卸除重點妝，如眼睛和嘴唇，我會使用卸妝油。記著，千萬不要太用力揉眼睛，因為眼睛周圍的皮膚比你臉上其他的皮膚薄得多。

Step 2: Facial cleanser This is the part to remove foundation applied on skin.

這是基礎的潔面步驟，可以深層洗掉殘留在皮膚上的粉底液。

Exfoliating (Optional)

Step 3: Exfoliator When I feel like I’m not pulling off my makeup well, I turn to exfoliators to get rid of the dead skin. Scrub your face gently for a few minutes, with special care around the parts you see peeling off. Recommended for use once or twice a week. Alternative: using a Konjack sponge. 若覺得仍未完全乾淨地卸妝，我會以去角質方式以洗走死皮。使用去角質啫喱或磨砂，輕輕擦洗臉部幾分鐘，直至死皮剝落。建議每週使用一至兩次。另外，亦可以使用Konjack sponge作清潔。 Step 4: Facial pack I shouldn’t be calling myself Korean if I don’t do facial packs regularly. When it’s before an important day, I always turn to facial packs. Either organic or manufactured, applying facial packs itself is fun, and it’s normally a mother-and-daughter, sisterly, or a best-girl-friend-thing to do. 如果我不常使用面膜，就不應自稱韓國人了。當重要日子來臨，我總是會使用面膜為皮膚急救。不論是什麼成份，敷面膜就是一種樂趣，也是母女、姐妹、好友間的必做的事。

Toning

Step 5: Toner Right after cleansing and wiping the moisture off, your face is dry like a desert and needs moisture as soon as possible. If the toner is watery, use a cotton pad to apply the toner, well, more like to wipe off your skin, but if the toner is thick, it’s meant for absorption, so apply it with your palm all over your face. 潔面後，面部水分被擦拭，你的臉會乾得像沙漠一樣，需要立即滋潤。如果爽膚水是水狀，可以把爽膚水倒在化妝棉上，再去擦拭皮膚。但如果爽膚水較稠，需要多點時間讓皮膚吸收，需要用手掌按壓在臉上。

Moisturizing

Step 6: Lotion/Emulsion The first step in moisturizing your skin is applying lotion or emulsion. I normally care the least in this moisturizing step and rather focus on putting facial creams later on. Difference between the two? Creams are thicker and richer, thus providing more protection.

保濕第一步是乳液。通常我較少注意這個保濕步驟，並把重點放在之後的面霜。兩者之間的區別是甚麼？面霜是較厚、較豐富，能提供更多的保護。

Vitalizing (Optional)

Step 7: Essence/Ampoule/Serum This part is currently the booming market in the Korean beauty industry, and products in this category all fall under one aim: to deliver higher concentrations of active ingredients, e.g. anti-ageing, whitening. Yet this part remains a mystery to myself… 活化肌膚是目前韓國美容行業中，正蓬勃發展的市場。這類產品都有一個共同目標：提供更高濃度的活性成分，如抗老化、美白。

Protecting

Step 8: Eye cream I can’t help but mention social influence to this one, because this part is what the media and older women (including my mother) stress about the most – to put on eye creams! Still doubtful on a special cream solely dedicated to one area of the skin, but I put on eye cream anyways. 這是社會影響力的一大效益，因為韓國媒體和老年婦女（包括我的母親）非常強調的眼霜的重要性！雖然還在懷疑這專門於眼睛的特殊面霜，但反正我就是塗了。 Step 9: Facial cream This is the most important part of the daily skin care, with that said, I have used over 20+ trending facial creams of a variety of brands but still haven’t found ‘the one.’ Skin types change over time, though I tend to stick to watery creams in summer and substance wise rich creams during the cold seasons.

這是日常護膚中最重要的部分。只能說，我已使用了超過二十種各大品牌的大勢面霜，但仍未找到「The One」。人的皮膚類型會隨時間而改變，然而，我堅持在夏天使用水狀面霜，冬天使用較豐盈的面霜。

Step 10: Spot corrector These are useful when you have a pimple popping out and want to get rid of it. Apply the corrector at the very last part of your daily skin care and let your skin do the work.

這在當皮膚有暗瘡並想擺脫它時，十分有用的一步。在日常護膚的最後部分使用矯色霜，讓皮膚自我淡化暗瘡及色斑。

On a regular basis

1. Sleeping packs When I want my skin to glow the next day, or when I am lazy to go through all the steps, or simply when I just feel like it, I use sleeping packs right after putting on the toner and sleep on it. Any watery cream if applied thickly would have the same effect as well. 想在第二天容光煥發，或者懶得去完成所有的保養步驟，我會在使用爽膚水後，塗上睡眠面膜，就可立即睡覺。又或是任何水潤面霜，只要夠厚厚一層，亦可有同樣效果。 2. Sheet masks Finally we get to the last runner up, sheet masks. Korean women usually buy these in bulks and use them as like step 4 facial packs to lie around with friends and families for a nice little girly session, with the only difference as in less work with sheet masks, since all the concentrated ingredients are soaked in a white cotton sheet mask. 韓國女性一般會大批量購買片裝面膜，並把它們當作步驟4的面膜，和朋友及家人躺在一起，開個可愛少女會議。唯一的區別在於片裝面膜較簡便，因為所有精華已浸泡在一個白色棉片面膜上。

Overwhelmed much? Too much to try all at once? Don’t worry. I rarely go through all the ten steps, and usually shorten the process in the mornings as cleansing-toner-lotion/facial cream and double cleansing-toner-eye cream-facial cream for most nights. Depending on my skin’s condition that day, I add and drop some steps, but trust me on the product recommendations; I used them all, and they’re all the ‘it’ items among Korean women. Now what are you waiting for? Ready to try the Korean way?

不知從何入手？一次過要嘗試以上全部？不用擔心。我很少會完成所有十個步驟，通常會縮減至早上清潔－爽膚－乳液/面霜，和晚上雙重清潔－爽膚－眼霜－面霜。你也可根據當天皮膚的狀況，添加和刪減一些步驟。但請相信我對產品的建議，因為我使用過以上所有，他們都是韓國女性的「It item」。現在你還在等什麼呢？準備好嘗試韓國的護膚方法嗎？

TEXT: JISU J
CHINESE TRANSLATION: L.H. YAN
DESIGN: MOLLY L/ HOKK FABRICA