I Tried A 10-Step Korean Skincare Routine For A Month

- SAFIYA: Hello friends and welcome to another video. This

month

, I'm changing my current

skincare

routine

to a 10-

step

Korean one. In the United States, over the last few years, there has been a lot of buzz around Korean

skincare

. I've heard a lot about its benefits, such as hydration and anti-aging. I see the words "brighten" and "fill" a lot, but for me, there's always been an intimidation factor when trying it, mainly because of the number of

step

s and different types of products out there. So I bought this “Intro to Korean Skincare for Beginners” kit from this website called Soko Glam, which includes ten products and no instructions.

But after a bit of Googling, I think I at least know roughly what order the steps are supposed to follow. It looks like I'm going to cleanse, wash, scrub, tone, apply essences... Whatever the "essence" is. "It's, moisturize and re-hydrate. I'm Sisyphus, the sink is my rock. This is a big step forward for my current skincare

routine

, which consists of three steps: cleansing, exfoliating and moisturizing. But I'm excited to try this routine for a

month

and see if there are any noticeable benefits. Okay, let's dig in. Alright, let's finally cleanse this face, right? I think actually, at night we have nine steps, and then during the day. we have ten steps, because one of the steps is like SPF, but we have nine steps for the night, so let's see how long it takes.

I mean this is not one of them This is Tyler's hair foam. SAFIYA: But, uh- - TYLER Hi honey, I've actually been looking for that. Basically, we start with an oil-based makeup remover or cleanser. It's called "Clean It Zero" by banila co. .banila. Basically, I guess you use your old spatula, scoop out a little, water your hands, Bada bing, bada boom. - TYLER: Can you do it with makeup on? Don't you have to remove your makeup first? This is *supposed* to remove your makeup. It's like an oil. - TYLER: Are there any instructions in each of these boxes? -SAFIYA: I hope so. "Use the spatula and take a reasonable amount of balm." Ohhhh, it feels like coconut oil! - SAFIYA: "Gently massage the formula in circular motions onto dry skin to dissolve makeup." When I look at my hands, I have these little balls of something similar to the color of a foundation.

I really want to wash my face. - TYLER: You don't like it? I seem to like it to remove my makeup, but I don't like the way it feels on my face. - TYLER: One step down, eight to go. Oh, there's a little oil in my eyes, but I think my makeup is gone. - TYLER: He has completely disappeared. Next is our water based cleaner. Cleans with oil, cleans with water. And you hydrate, you hydrate. This is called “Really Fresh Foaming Green Tea Cleanser.” "Pump in one or two puffs and gently massage all over wet face." Oh, this smells so good.

It smells like the tea leaves at the bottom. I don't like drinking matcha, but at first glance I could accept it. Very good, pat dry. The next step is the scrub, so we have this that they have given us. This is the “Strawberry Food Therapy Exfoliating Mask.” - TYLER: Oh! - SAFIYA: Oh, it smells like strawberries, woah. - TYLER: I want to eat that! - TYLER: Crusty wants some too. - SAFIYA: Crusty, do you want some? SAFIYA: No. No. Basically, I just massage this into my skin. Oh, it's hot, ahhh! It's hot! Ohh, it's getting hot on my face!

I don't know if this is what it's supposed to do, it feels a little sour, almost? - TYLER: Yeah - SAFIYA: Like it's like chemically *attacking* the top layers of my skin. Alright, it's been a couple of minutes, let's get this out of the way. Oh! My skin is so soft! There we go, step three down. The fourth step is the toner. Re:p calls them “Organic Cotton Treatment Toning Pads.” - SAFIYA: They smell like ginger! "Immediately after cleansing, use a sheet of sanitary pad, apply it to sweep the T-zone and lightly pat the U-zone." "Zone U" must be this, right?

I don't feel any different, but... I think I smell a little more like sushi. The following is the essence. Here it is. - TYLER: There are so many products. - There are many things. - TYLER: You're going to have to look for this every time. This is "95 Whitening Power Essence" from Galactomyces. I think it's basically like a second toner. I think it's like... it's almost like a "pre-moisturizer"... I don't know. It does *something* good for your skin. It basically says, "On cheeks, spread a generous amount onto skin and then pat on under-eye area as if you were playing the piano." Alright.

I think I played the piano pretty well. Oh...I missed the mask part. - TYLER: What? I think I was supposed to do the mask before the essence step, so I did it out of order for this one. In the future, I will change them back to where they are supposed to be, but just for today I will put the mask on now. This is the Manefit “Bling Bling Hydrogel” mask and I think like most masks you just apply it for 15-20 minutes. The interesting thing is that this is one of the steps, but they only gave me a sheet mask.

So I guess I'm supposed to provide my own masks? Here is my top half. Oh, it's brilliant! Oh. It smells like plasticine. Alright, it's on my face, I'm going to let it sit for about 15 minutes and then we'll try to finish this skincare routine sometime tonight, man. - TYLER: This is *a* day. Alright, let's take this bad boy out. Oh God. I feel like I'm over-hydrating, like my skin is going to drown. So far, we've cleansed, cleansed, exfoliated, toned, masked, and essence. Now we are going to use lotion, then eye cream, eye cream and then night moisturizer.

I'm a little overwhelmed, but I think my face will like it. This is called "high bee snail lotion." It smells like corn. It feels really good though. This is like my third hydration step in a row and I have two hydration steps left. Alright, that was lotion. Next is the eye cream. This is Goodol's "Moisture Barrier Eye Cream". -SAFIYA: Ready? - TYLER: - SAFIYA: That was too much for the eyes. I'm learning as we go how much we need. Oh, wow. Oh, it's a rich, rich cream. Just pat it. So it's eye cream! Alright, so the last step of the night is this "Repair Night Cream". - SAFIYA: Isn't this a cream? - TYLER: Oh, that's tough.

I think it might actually be an essence, so are we supposed to put it in at the same time as this? Are you supposed to put two essences? I'm going to put this on now, but next time I do it, I'll do it at the same time I put this scent on. Alright, so I'm going to take some and we'll put it on top of everything that happened. Does it smell like honey? It feels very gentle, but at this point, I feel like I can feel the layers of moisturizer I already have on my skin. With that, I think I've used all my steps.

The only other step that is in the routine is this, which is an SPF to wear during the day, so we'll start using it tomorrow. I think overall I feel very hydrated; I think I feel treated, like I'm saying, "I treated my skin." I'll be a plump peach by the end of this. But besides that, the time is long. Maybe it's a little faster overall, just with the routine. This morning I felt hydrated, then I washed the moisture off and then put it back on, so I still feel hydrated. The theme for the first week was pretty much that my skin was drowning in lotion.

An interesting side effect is that because I was using my hands to apply a lot of moisturizer, my hands, especially my fingertips, are incredibly soft at this point. "You're welcome" to the hand of anyone you shake during this month. Hydration also basically became fertilizer for my mustache. It really has been growing nice, hydrated, soft and long. - TYLER: Because it's so humid it's a greenhouse for your mustache. - It's a bit like a rainforest. It's like, you know, if you keep it moist, I'll start growing. One of the first problems I ran into was the mask situation.

As I mentioned before, Soko Glam only gave me one mask in the kit, so instead of going out and buying a bunch of masks, I thought, "Why not have Eve, my mask printing machine, print one for me each?" evening?" I want Eve to be able to take her time and do what she needs to do, but there's no way she can do this every night. I mean, it's okay, Eve. Shh. I'm just going to cover her ears. Yes, she takes forever. SAFIYA: But even without Eve, putting on a mask every day would take too long overall, so the ten steps turned into nine steps pretty quickly.

I think overall I look more hydrated and dewy. I may look a little tired this morning because I didn't get much sleep last night, but overall I think my skin is finally accepting the moisture. By the second week, I had done the routine much faster and I feel like my skin looked quite plump and youthful. Tyler noticed this and decided to try some of the products for himself. Oh! Oh yeah. - No not yet-! No-! - - SAFIYA: At least let it sit on your face for a second. - It's like... it's like jam. She's putting Smuckers in my face. - I don't recommend putting Smuckers on your face. - Yes. - So can I eat it now?

Oh! Blech! - SAFIYA: Don't you think it tastes good? - It's bitter. - SAFIYA: Don't do that! - TYLER: It's much bitterer than you imagine. It looks delicious. That was going to be the hardest part: not eating it. I do not love you anymore. Wow! There are many seeds there. Very physical. I mean, it's just a wash, but... I like that. - SAFIYA: You really look great, to be honest. - Actually? Could you notice a difference? - SAFIYA: Yes, you look better than me. In addition to Tyler using and also eating some of the scrub, the second week also brought another obstacle.

Something going on right now is that we're going out of town for the weekend and I'm trying to figure out how to pack my Korean skincare routine. It doesn't necessarily go well. It is very difficult to travel with him. I was only able to take seven of my ten steps with me. I also had to check my suitcase to bring everything here, because there was too much liquid in each bottle. They were not at all "travel friendly". I also got my period that week, so between not having all my products, riding the crimson wave, traveling, and Chicago being pretty humid, I started seeing some pimples.

I started to burst out a little. It's like, there's one on the forehead, there's one here, one there. I feel like I'm only equipped with like 1,000 moisturizers these days and I want to be able to give myself a little spot treatment. I don't have one, because that's not really part of the regimen. I'm going to keep moisturizing it and hope it eventually goes away once my period goes away. By the third week, the grains were still there. So I

tried

my current local treatment, which is tea tree oil. But there are so many other products in this routine that I felt like it had become practically useless.

Then grains ruled the day. I have a good one here and then I also have a good one up here. And a smaller one going there, and a couple more going there. I feel like the philosophy around skincare has changed a lot. In the 2000s, it was like, "Oh, you have oily skin? You should dry your face and wash it." And now it's like, "Oh, you have oily skin? You should cleanse it with oil." What should I be doing? I don't know. Without the grains, by week 4 I felt like I had a pretty well-oiled machine. Literally and figuratively.

So this is me getting my entire routine in order. I think I finally figured it out, after weeks. So we have cleansing oils, cleansers, exfoliants, toners, essences, eye creams, moisturizers and a sunscreen. And that is. Pretty simple, huh? There is also my night serum/essence, but I only use it at night. So I guess it's just eight steps in the morning and at night. 8 steps twice a day, 16 steps a day. Um, 16 times 3 is 48, so 400 and like, 96 times? This month I did 496 applications of something on my face. I hope the math is correct. I think it is. - SAFIYA: In general.

I enjoyed my month doing a Korean skincare routine. I don't think my skin looks completely different. I don't think my face just looks like a baby's buttocks. But I do think my skin is probably more hydrated than ever. I definitely think I'm going to use all of these products until they're finished, like I *like* all of them a decent amount. And I actually think that after using it all for a month, I have a decent amount of everything left. My favorite steps were definitely the oil-based cleanser and the eye cream. Oil based cleanser is like witchcraft.

This stuff really takes off all your makeup. The other product that I really liked was this eye cream. Very pretty, smells good, very moisturizing. In fact, I've also been applying some eye cream to my forehead. I don't think it's much better than any other eye cream I've

tried

, but the smell encouraged me to keep using it. It was good for morale. So in some ways, using this kind of ten-step “starter pack,” was a good way to get to grips with Korean skincare without having to make a lot of decisions.nor make orders myself. I think you would definitely like to replace these products with other products.

It's more about following all the steps and really putting in the work. And the weather*. And the energy. And the friction. I do think I'm going to incorporate at least more steps into my normal routine. Maybe not ten, nine or eight, but you know, maybe five. Or six. I'm going to look for a spot treatment though, because the pimples come and go, but they are definitely a presence. Thank you all so much for watching, if you liked the video be sure to "smash" the like button. And if you want to see more videos like this, be sure to "mash" the Subscribe button.

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