r/30PlusKoreanSkincare

I’m in Korea, and lately it feels like skincare marketing here is all about absorption.

Every brand says their product helps active ingredients absorb deeper into the skin, and I get what they’re trying to say, but honestly… I still don’t know how much of it I really believe.

I’m not saying all of it is fake. I do think formulas have gotten better over the years. But if a product is using genuinely advanced delivery tech, can it really be sold at normal Olive Young prices? That’s the part I keep getting stuck on.

Maybe I’m just being cynical, but a lot of these claims still feel kind of vague to me.

Like, when brands say “deep absorption,” what does that actually mean to you?
Do you believe some products can really deliver actives that deeply?
Or do you think it’s mostly marketing language made to sound more scientific?

I'm curious to know what people here think, especially if anyone has a better understanding of the science side.

I recently got diagnosed with eczema on my face. This came after I was regularly getting redness on my face, especially around my mouth and nose. I kept thinking it’s just dry skin (I have combination skin), but nothing was helping. I then went to see a dermatologist who told me this is eczema. My question to you all is: anyone know how I should change my routine? I use mostly K beauty and I want to know what kind of ingredients I should be avoiding? Or what I should be going for? If anyone has had experience like this and has advice, I would really appreciate it!
I’m so tired of my face looking red most of the time

I tried skin1004's hyalu-cica and mixsoon's centella sunscreens and both made my skin feel tingly around the eyes and nose. Haruharu's airyfit didn't sting but it does leave my skin looking oily later in the day. Goodal's calming sunscreen broke me out. I don't think I'm acne-prone either so I don't know what happened with Goodal.

Roundlab was fine for me. My favorite was Innisfree Hyaluron Moist Sunscreen (discontinued). Does anyone have any recommendations for what I should try next? I think my skin is combo/dry and sensitive due to rosacea.

Whats your fav moisturiser

Love to know what people are currently using

Whats your fav that you will always repurchase

What ones did you dislike (im curious)

My current one haruharu cerimide cream is about to run and wanting to try something new.

♡♡♡

Hi everyone,
I’ve consulted with several clinics in Korea for facial procedures and I’m trying to make my final decision.
So far, I’ve had consultations with:
Louave Clinic
Dr. Newcell
GU Personal Beauty
Has anyone had procedures at any of these clinics?
I’d love to hear about your experience, especially regarding:
Your results
The practitioner’s skills
Communication before and after the procedures
Recovery
Whether you’re happy with your outcome
Any regrets or things you wish you had known beforehand
I’d really appreciate any honest reviews or recommendations. Thank you!

Hi, has anyone used Aestura lotion and Dr. Althea 345 cream and can share their experience with both? Which is better and lighter? Did they cause acne breakouts? I have sensitive, combination, and acne-prone skin. Thanks!

My skin is super sensitive and every formulation of a chemical sunscreen has broken me out bad and damaged my skin barrier (if you’re not allergic, Colorescience was the best babe I thought I found until I broke out in hives. Skin looked MINT). Mineral sunscreens seem to be the only ones that don’t irritate my skin but the process of finding one that blends into melanated skin well has been killing me.

Lately Tatcha’s The Silk Sunscreen has been my go to but it leaves a slight white cast which I hate but if I’m running errands or exercising, it’s fine. I also use Fenty’s Hydra Vizor Broad Spectrum Tinted Mineral Sunscreen and La Roche Posays Anthelios Tinted Mineral Sunscreen when I want to substitute makeup when out in the sun but hate how sometimes the end look of both products almost appears “powdery” on my face and not fully absorbed like the Tatcha. Also, I feel like the tinted sunscreens sit in my smile lines after a while and I hate it (I’m a very dry person at baseline so hydration is the foundation to my skincare routine). Also, my Tatcha causes my foundation (Milk Skin Tint) to oxidize so I be looking crazy an hour later when outside, like a damn Terra cotta pot.

Y’all, help a girl out! 😫 I’m tired of spending so much money on mineral sunscreens that get the job somewhat done or have me wiping off the tinted ones last minute, irritating my skin more from the friction of cleaning it, and putting another on. Not to mention, with the prices of these sunscreens, in this economy????

Hey All!

I’m 34 and a mum of two, and I’m finally ready to take my skincare seriously.

I have oily/combination skin—very oily in the summer and more combination in the winter. I live in South Asia, where it’s hot and humid year round, and my face sweats a lot.
My skin is also acne-prone, especially around my T-zone where I have noticeable pores. I still get hormonal breakouts around that time of the month, and
I have pretty dark under eye circles too.

Lately, whenever I look in the mirror, I feel like I look older and more tired than I actually am. Maybe it's motherhood, lack of sleep, or just life catching up with me, but I'd really like to improve my skin and feel more confident.

I'm completely new to Korean skincare and would love some recommendations for a simple, effective routine that's safe while breastfeeding. If you could suggest products for both AM and PM, along with the order to use them, I'd really appreciate it.

Bonus points if they're suitable for oily, acne-prone skin in a hot, humid climate. Thank you so much!

Does anyone have exfoliator recommendations? I’m currently using the ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% peeling solution and I’m almost running out of it and I want to try something new. Not the biggest fan of physical exfoliators so chemical exfoliation is preferred.

Thank you in advance!

Hi, I am basically a beginner with k beauty. I currently use basic cleansers like cetaphil and cera ve, a toner, a daily moisturizer, a collagen moisturizer mostly for under my eyes, and just ran out of a vitamin c serum I used regularly. I’ve dabbled with retinol a little. I have combination skin, no acne, breakouts are rare, clogged pores(?) on my nose, wrinkles mostly appearing on the forehead and scowl lines. I’m allergic to the flowery perfume scents in some products I’ve tried, like an Annua cleanser. I know I should add things gradually, so what would you recommend I add or replace? Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you!

Like most people, I apply sunscreen in the morning, then do my face and head to work. I may be inside all day, but I do occasionally venture out, and I sit near a huge window.

Are you guys all only applying SPF once? If you’re reapplying, when, and HOW if you have makeup on?

I need your best products please!

Ok, I now have special soap, oil cleanser, cleansers, toner, essence, serum, azaleic acid, vitamin c, moisturizer, retinol cream, and sunblock. In what order should I use things? Do I need to leave ten minutes between applying every product? I know I’m supposed to leave 15 minutes after applying sunblock before I apply primer and foundation… And what do I use after a mask?

Help, I’m so confused!

Thank you. I find this sub so helpful.

I have always had quite sensitive skin—neither oily nor dry—ever since my teenage years, and it reacts incredibly quickly to certain strong products, though surprisingly not to others you would expect it to. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had these persistent under-the-skin bumps that have no pus and cannot be popped. Some are red and some are skin-colored, but they aren't itchy at all, and even when I tried fungal acne treatments, they did absolutely nothing. Nothing worked for years until 2021 I stayed with a relative who recommended her face cream called ETIN, which she got from those Afro Asian hair stores. I was extremely reluctant because nothing ever worked and almost everything broke me out, but when I woke up the next morning, about 50 percent of my facial bumps were gone. Within a week or so, my skin was pretty much completely clear, and it continued like that for weeks. However, when I researched the cream, I discovered it actually contained betamethasone; it wasn't a large amount, but it is a topical steroid, and I'm honestly unsure how it's even licensed to be sold in a regular cream on the shelf in England it doesn’t warn you it’s in there as well !! . Eventually, I realized I didn't want to rely on this cream since steroids aren't good long-term, but when I tried new creams, most made my skin worse, and the ones that worked okay only lasted about two weeks before the bumps started breaking out again.
After that, I started looking into active ingredients and topicals. I tried using AHA and BHA actives, but they completely wrecked my skin, so I can't tolerate them and never use them now. I then tried Tretinoin, and at one point Adapalene, which worked great and gave me a similar clear effect. My routine for the past three years was to use a simple moisturizer like Cetaphil Sensitive on the days I used topicals, and then go back to my etin moisturizer on the other days, occasionally switching up the retinol. Last year, I tried regular Epiduo, and it made my skin look like glass—completely clear—but the results eventually mellowed out. I thought I’d give it another go this year, but I moved up to Epiduo Forte, which has been working okay but nothing exciting; if I use it more than twice a week, my skin really doesn't like it. What confuses me is that while some of these bumps are clearly clogged pores, most definitely are not, so I don't even know how Epiduo managed to clear them up in the first place.
On top of that, I am extremely sensitive to the sun and heat, breaking out into bumps if I'm in a lot of heat or out in the sun too long. When I have an extremely big sun allergy breakout, a 3-day course of steroid cream on my face is the only thing that gets rid of it. I used to use hydrocortisone, but that stopped working, so now I have a tube of betamethasone that I save strictly for extreme summer breakouts. This summer has been unbearably hot, so my plan is to use it for 3 days one week, wait maybe 10 days, and do it for a single day to maintain it until summer is over. Otherwise, there is no way I can even wear makeup or show my face without people constantly pointing it out and saying, "Oh, there’s a rash on your face," which feels like a typical heat rash looming mixed with bumps.
Lately, I’ve also been getting 15-minute laser resurfacing facials by Skin Laundry for the past two months. It’s worked nicely overall to get rid of congestion and give my skin a nice glow, but it’s expensive and not sustainable, so I'm just using a short course package I managed to get for a good deal. For my daily routine, I always try to avoid using my go-to ETIN moisturizer regularly because I’m not a fan of the ingredients. Right now, I'm using a simple base moisturizer like Adex Gel with Epiduo every now and then, and only going back to ETIN for a night or so.
Ultimately, my main point is: what the hell is up with my skin, and why can nothing tame it? Do I have some sort of inflammatory skin condition, because why else does it only calm down with the input of a steroid cream? I’ve tried looking into my diet and saw a post about a low-histamine diet, but the foods on there don't seem to trigger me, so it made no sense to completely change my diet for it. I even tried taking an antihistamine daily for two weeks straight to see if it would help, but absolutely nothing changed. I just feel completely trapped and don't know what's wrong with my skin, and I would love to finally get to the bottom of it. Yes I have good. Weeks but ultimately it’s the same issue. Also yes I’ve tried korean skin care. I’ve done everything under the sun hydrafacial you name it ! to heal my maybe broken skin barrier or whatever this is - 2 weeks of stripping down to basics or just Vaseline / water & nothing.

My current face wash is the blabs matcha

curious if there's a Korean skincare product you bought on a whim, received as a random sample, or didn't think much of at first, but that ended up making a positive transformation to your skin?