The skincare world can be a tricky one, especially if you are just beginning to learn all about what goes into perfecting your skin’s health. Skincare products or routines are very unique depending on the country it is from. Culture is definitely a big factor when it comes to how these products are made and how important they are to a certain society. In Korean culture, skincare is not just an optional thing, it is almost like it is part of well-being, kind of like taking a vitamin everyday. While in Western culture, skincare is optional and seen as an unnecessary part of one daily routine.
Furthermore, there are a lot of differences when it comes to the focus and purpose of skincare in these two countries. Korean skin care is primarily focused on prevention when it comes to making skincare products. American skin care primarily focuses more on fixing skin problems afterwards rather than preventing them beforehand.
In Korea, the products that are sold contain ingredients that are natural such as: hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and green tea extract. These products also contain tons of vitamins and antioxidants. From a young age, Koreans learn about the importance of SPF and have the most advanced SPF formula products in the world.
In America, skin care was first made as a way for consumers to buy products only so they could continuously fix current skin issues. The products made in America used to also have a lot of chemical based products which can be more harmful to the skin and end up making consumers buy more products than needed. Lastly, in western culture SPF is talked about, but unfortunately, not sufficiently. SPF is seen as something to apply only for the beach or pool. However, the sun is always affecting our skin and SPF is the number one way to prevent almost all types of skin issues.
Ever heard of the term “K-beauty”? Well, if you haven’t, it is a very popular term that stands for Korean beauty. Not only is Korea famous for skin care but also makeup products. Once again the two diverse cultures have extremely different outlooks on skin care and makeup, in Korea minimalism is the goal when applying makeup, while in America layering makeup is the common standard.
Obviously, as globalization has increased Korean skin care techniques have traveled over to America and now western culture is starting to make skin care more important. It is not until recent years that western skin care markets started to incorporate the same ingredients as Korean products. As well as nowadays, many western products are moving their focus in skin care products to prevention and are making more SPF beauty products. Although there are no Korean skin care products available in western department stores, consumers can buy Korean products online and have them shipped. Hopefully, in the future Korean skin care products can make it to the shelves of western stores but so far the western world is making gradual steps to improving skin care.
So, hopefully, if you are new to the skincare world this gave you some useful information on skin care ingredients and fresh perspectives on the two countries and how they view skin care, and of course you know your skin better than anyone else it’s just a matter of trying products out and figuring out what works best for you!