Koreans are well known for their smooth and radiant skin and occupy a prominent place in the beauty world. Go Hyung-Jung is a Korean actress & model who even in her 40s has the most luminous, flattering & flawless skin. The glow that her skin reflects, envy even the teens.
She published her skincare secrets in a “beauty documentary” titled “Go Hyun-Jung’s Texture” in 2011, the same year she turned 40. The book (a bestseller that sold out in just two days of its launch), covers Go’s beauty philosophy as well as her tips for leading a healthy lifestyle.
It is known that Korean women use up to 17 products in a day, for their skin care and also spend hours on skin care. In the past, Korean women made their own skincare products including everything from scrubs, lotions, creams, and oils. Ground mung beans were made into soap by blending the powder with water and lotions were made from the juice of plants.
Some of the beauty philosophies from Hyun-Jungs beauty secrets are brought to you by IBT:
1. Treat Your Skin from the Inside Out:
- If you have a problem skin, maintain a food diary and observe the effect different foods have on your skin.
- Avoid salty and spicy foods to keep skin clear. Prefer diet with plain / bland food to re-calibrate skin from the inside.
- Hyun-Jung does not follow the 8 glass water a day rule. Instead she drinks good amount of water whenever she feels thirst.
- Her favorite beauty foods are raw salads, fresh apple, blueberry, carrot juice, honey.
- She takes grapefruit tea which suppresses her appetite and keeps her energetic.
- She takes organic Vitamin B and C.
2. Clean Skin is Clear Skin:
- Wash your hands before applying makeup or skincare.
- Avoid touching your face except when you clean or apply skincare.
- To wash your face, mix foaming cleanser with warm water and work up a rich foam.
- It takes her 15 minutes to cleanse her face.
- To treat acne and pimples naturally, wash affected areas with salt and lukewarm water solution. It sanitizes the area and prevents the breakouts from getting worse.
3. Skincare Commandments by Go Hyun-Jung:
- According to Go, the direction of application is as important as the skincare product you use. She applies skincare (Eg. serums, toner) from the center of the face to outwards.
- A most important secret is to use more skincare serums at a time. Koreans use up to 5 serums at a time.
- For Koreans, serums are more important and they don’t stress much on moisturizers or creams.
- For neck cream, she starts from beside the jawline down to the decolletage in an outward ‘C shape’ motion.
- Apply skincare products once it is warmed up in your hands, and press both palms onto your face to improve absorption of all the skincare layers.
- Go discards skincare after 2 months of use for hygiene reasons – a steep contrast to the 12 months we’re usually told by other beauty experts.
- Apply hand cream up to the elbows, and neck cream all the way down to your decolletage.
- Never rush while applying skincare. It takes Go 20 minutes to apply body lotion, covering each bit of skin moisturized.
- Apply toner with your hands instead of cotton pads to reduce redness.
- She has a two step facial mask routine, starting with a cleansing mask followed by a nourishing mask.
4. Makeup Philosophy:
- Go prefers using her fingers to apply foundation. Unless the sponge is brand new or the brush is fresh and clean, she avoids using them for hygiene reasons.
- Use Snail creams to regenerate the skin and for good complexion.
- Brows: Her philosophy on makeup is centered on beautifully shaped brows. She spends an hour a month to carefully get her brow shape done. It keeps her skin around the eye beautiful and defined.
- Primer: Before applying base makeup, she applies a generous amount of hydrating cream to avoid looking tired by the afternoon.
- Foundation: The secret to natural looking skin is not to apply foundation all over the face. She applies foundation only on the shadows of the face (under the eyes, under the cheek) and keeps the high points of the face sheer. Avoid foundation around the nose to prevent caking.
- Lips: Her typical lip routine starts with BB cream & lip balm in the morning, followed by lip gloss in the afternoon and lipstick/liner in the evening.
- Sunscreen: Apply a matte sunscreen on your forehead and nose, and a dewy formula on cheeks and other dry areas.
- Contouring: Using 2 different shades of foundation, a sheer application on the high points of the face, and using both matte/dewy formulas not only contours the face but also creates natural highlights without the need for a separate highlighter.
- Eyes: For natural looking eyes, use only eyeliner and mascara, and matte powder under the eyes to prevent smudging.
- Blush: She doesn’t apply blush!
5. The Bathroom is Her Sanctuary
- Go spends more time in her bathroom than any other room in her house, including daily home spas with drops of essential oil.
- In addition to that, she soaks her hands and feet in warm water with half teaspoon of salt to relax and relieve tired hands and feet.
- She also likes to use grapefruit oil to massage her calves.
- Drink a cup of tea or water before having a bath to prevent dehydration due to bathing.
- To reduce puffiness in the face, soak a face towel in ice water, remove excess water and cover your face with it for few minutes.
- She applies body oil starting from the legs and moves upwards.
- As for hair, she finishes off with a cold water rinse, lets her hair dry naturally if she’s staying indoors.
- She ties her hair back in different positions to prevent hair loss in concentrated areas.
6. Include Facial Stretching in Your Exercise Routine
- Go’s exercise routine not only involves stretching her body but also her facial muscles.
- The most effective way to do facial stretching is to coordinate it with your breathing.
- Expand your facial muscles & jaw on the exhale.Then when inhaling, contract all facial muscles including your eyes, nose and cheeks.
- Although she believes that laughter is the best exercise for the face, she also exercises her lip and cheek muscles by pronouncing “Ma Me Mi Mo Mu” 10 times – much like the phrase used in singing exercises. This is apparently common practice among most Korean actors.
Korean Food:
Kimchi, a fermented cabbage, roasted barley tea, fermented rice wine are the beauty foods for Koreans.
Courtesy: Yonhap News, Drama Beans, Beauty Swatch
Though we have very good skincare products available in India, here are a few best products of Korea just for reference sake for enthusiasts:
Top Korean Skincare Products:
- Tony Moly Kiss Kiss Lovely Lip Patches (Rs.1027, Yesstyle.com)
- Nexcare Acne Dressing (Rs.804, Yesstyle.com)
- Skin Food Rice Mask Wash Off (Rs.1007 on Yesstyle.com, Rs.1553 on Amazon.in)
- Mizon Snail Recover Gel Cream (Rs.2488 on Amazon.in)
- The Face Shop Range
- Nature Republic Range
- Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner (Rs. 1758, Yesstyle.com, Rs.2728 on Amazon.in)
- Etude House CC Cream (Rs.1007, Yesstyle.com)
- Tony Moly Appletox Honey Cream (Rs.939, Yesstyle.com)
- Etude House Hyaluronic Acid Mask Sheets (Rs.668, Yesstyle.com)