The 10-step skincare routine had made quite a frenzy over the skincare community. Influencers, YouTube vloggers, Bloggers, and famous personalities have had their share of experience in the routine. For people who are new to skincare and even those already in the skincare game, this routine is pretty long, time-consuming, and a splurge with the amount of products that one has to use.
This routine is not intended for everyone. In fact, this has no scientific backing. For the most part, it might seem like a marketing strategy to get us to use such an amount of product. Using this every single day as a routine would cause us so much time and potentially harm our skin because of the amount of ingredients that get in contact with our skin. However, there are moments in our skincare experience that we want to splurge and treat ourselves lavishly and if that can be achieved by using ten products in one routine then why not? After all, skincare will always be a personal experience; it’s not just a routine, it’s a ritual…
Here’s my experience with the routine and my brief explanation for each step. Have fun reading while learning…
STEP 1. Oil cleanse
For this routine, I used the Hanskin Cleansing Oil and Blackhead. This oil cleanser contains Jojoba oil which will help melt the sunscreen you use during the day as well as your make-up. This also contains Salicylic acid to combat blackheads. This one though has quite a few number of essential oils, so if you are extra sensitive you may want to avoid this. But in a wash-off product, this may also not cause that so much harm. Don’t forget to emulsify when using a cleansing oil.
STEP 2. Foam cleanse
As part of the double cleanse, a water-based cleanser is imperative. In this routine, I used the SoonJung ph 6.5 Whip Cleanser. What I love about this cleanser is the presence of Panthenol which is perfect for calming and soothing the skin because of its anti-inflammatory properties; Madecassoside for the anti-redness and anti-scaling effect; and Camellia Sinensis leaf extract for the anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits as well.
STEP 3. Clay mask
Clay masking is the stage where you want to remove excess sebum, gunk, and dirt. If you are into the oily skin type, clay masking is a great step. Basically, this is still part of the cleansing stage. I chose the Innisfree Jeju Volcanic Pore Clay Mask for this stage. There is nothing fancy in this product apart from the use of the Jeju volcanic ash. It’s a pretty basic clay mask that does what it’s supposed to do. It also has different plant and fruit extracts for added skin benefits.
STEP 4. Exfoliate
This is sometimes the overlooked stage or the most abused part in skincare. This is where we introduce an active ingredient like AHA (alpha hydroxy acid), BHA (beta hydroxy acid), and PHA (poly hydroxy acid) into the routine. These acids will help our skin turnover to happen much faster, revealing a brightened and more even toned skin since AHA, BHA, and PHA slop off dead skin cells as well as whiteheads and blackheads.
For this part, I used the Some BY Mi AHA BHA PHA 30 Days Miracle Toner. It is formulated as a toner but with the presence of these three exfoliating acids qualifies it as an exfoliant. Aside from the acids, this also contains other nice ingredients like niacinamide and plant extracts.
STEP 5. Toner
After double cleansing and exfoliating, it is time to return the ph balance of our skin and prep the skin for the next products. This is when a toner comes in. For this routine, I used the SoonJung ph 5.5 Relief Toner. With a ph of 5.5, this toner will really restore the natural state of the skin after the cleansing and exfoliating stages. This has calming and soothing ingredients like panthenol, madecassoside, and camellia sinensis leaf extract- all efficient for anti-inflammatory and anti-redness.
STEP 6. Essence
A lot of people are confused between the difference of a toner and an essence. Whilst toners are for hydration and to return the skin’s natural ph levels after cleansing as well as prepare it for the next steps, essences on the other hand, can have similar texture with toners but with more active ingredients that may bring brightening and well-aging ingredients like the famous fermented ingredients. Think of it as a toner with a kick!
For this, I used my staple essence from Purito – the Fermented Complex 94 Boosting Essence. What I love about this essence is that it contains 94% of fermented ingredients that can help brighten the skin as well as take care of those wrinkles. This is a 3- in- one essence (ph balance, skin layering, skin tone). I have emptied many bottles of this already. This is truly my go-to essence.
STEP 7. Sheet Mask
Sheet masking is just basically providing more hydration to the skin. It’s a mask soaked in essence. When at it, use the excess essence to other parts of your body like your neck, arms, and chest. My go-to sheet mask is the Mediheal Tea Tree Care Solution. Mediheal is very famous in South Korea; many Koreans love this sheet mask and for all the good reasons. It uses a silky cellulose mask sheet which feels very nice like a second skin.
It’s a very hydrating mask with tea tree extracts and salicylic acid to help control sebum and acne. Allow this mask to soak your skin for 10-20 minutes. Never, ever sleep with a sheet mask on. It will dry you out and we don’t want a dry-out skin, we want a dewy and hydrated one.
STEP 8. Treatment
This stage is the most specific one. This is where you target the specific need of your skin at the moment. It could be treating pimples or acne, discoloration and hyperpigmentation. For this part, I chose the Missha Time Revolution Artemisia Ampoule. This ampoule will target any redness and inflammation that your skin is experiencing. Artemisia is very efficient in calming and soothing highly sensitive skin. It has an herbally scent that is so good too.
STEP 9. Eye Cream
This stage is not really necessary in a typical routine because eye creams are just glorified moisturizers that are marketed in a small tube and sold expensively. But since it’s a 10-step Korean routine, here goes the eye cream. What I used is the Innisfree Green Tea Eye Cream.
STEP 10. Moisturizer
The last step of all skincare routines should be to lock all the moisture and the beneficial ingredients that were applied previously. But one thing about the moisturizers that I use is that I always look for barrier support ingredients like ceramides, fatty acids, and cholesterol. The Illiyoon Ceramide Ato Concentrate Cream has all that. It has Palmitic acid which is a fatty acid, Hydroxypropyl Bispalmitamide MEA which is a molecule acting as a ceramide, and cholesterol.
Final thoughts
After undergoing all the steps, I can instantly feel a very hydrated, moisturized, and supple skin. There truly is an instant dewy glow. It also feels really good to have done something as extensive and as detailed as such a routine to my skin. There’s a sense of healthy skin feeling after.
However, after doing all the steps, I also realized that I cannot go through the same routine every single night. It’s laborious and time-consuming. Definitely a must-try once in a while; when we feel so down and stressed from the horrors of everyday hustle, the 10-step Korean skincare routine will surely give us a lot of self-love and self-care.
