5 Korean Skincare Products For A Simply Dry Skin Routine

Caring for dry skin can be quite a struggle as you need to be careful with what products you use as you can risk hurting your skin barrier. It can be quite frustrating when you want your skin to feel smooth and moisturized but all you find are drugstore items that make you feel greasy and still dry.

Korean skincare is very innovative in terms of formulating their ingredients and are usually budget-friendly. This innovation has allowed South Korea to be popular for their glass skin which is having skin that is so smooth that you look like you're made out of porcelain.

Here are five Korean skincare products that can help simplify your skincare routine while also helping your dry skin.

1. Krave Beauty Matcha Hemp Cleanser

The first step to a skincare routine is face wash. Having dry skin means that you need to mindful of what your cleanser has as you don't want to strip your skin too much of its natural oils. A good cleanser for that is Krave Beauty's Matcha Hemp cleanser and its main ingredient is matcha.

Dry skin needs to have a lot of extra moisture and can be rough and flakey which can feel very uncomfortable to have. This cleanser, it leaves your skin feeling adequately cleaned without feeling that you have been stripped of your natural oils.

There have been clinical studies where volunteers had Camellia Sinensis Leaf Water, a component found in matcha, be applied onto their skin for 30 days. The results showed that volunteers who had Camellia Sinensis Leaf Water applied to their skin had an increase in skin moisture that lasted long term and improved skin texture.

Having an increase in skin moisture in your cleanser is important for dry skin because you don't want to start out your routine with extra dry skin.

2. The Great Barrier Relief Serum

After cleansing your face, you want to continue by putting on a serum before your moisturizer. Krave Beauty Great Barrier Relief serum feels lighter than a moisturizer but heavier than your typical serum. One of the main ingredients of this serum is tamanu oil which the website claims can help repair broken skin which in turn will help your skin better absorb other products.

As per a study, the biological activity of Tamanu oil on mice wounds and revealed that it has similar properties to hydrocortisone that promoted wound healing. Hydrocortisone is a popular ingredient that is typically used in eczema creams. However, hydrocortisone doesn't always work for everyone's skin so tamanu oil can be an alternative but be aware that it can cause a reaction if you're allergic to nuts.

Dry skin can sometimes mean that your skin is more vulnerable to cracks and can feel irritating and sometimes even painful. Using this serum can potentially help your skin repair itself without the greasy feeling that other dry skin products tend to leave.

3. Snail Mucin

Cosrx's Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence is composed of a high 96% concentration of snail mucin. Putting snail mucin can seem a bit strange at first but it makes your skin feel plump and full of moisture.

A test was done on mice where they had incisions made and had snail mucin put on them showed that it promoted wound healing fairly quickly. To reiterate, having dry skin can be prone to have broken skin which is not good because your skin is not being protected. If you're not so keen about the Great Barrier Relief serum or are feeling adventurous, this could be a better alternative for you.

4. Soonjung 2x Barrier Intensive Cream

When going to bed, it is important to keep our skin extra moisturized because we go through transepidermal loss meaning that our skin loses moisture while we sleep. This is very important especially to those with dry skin because you don't want your skin to feel a tight and dry first thing when you wake up.

Soonjung has a moisturizer called, 2x Barrier Intensive Cream and its notable ingredient is panthenol. Panthenol in this study, had people apply different concentrations on this ingredient after washing their face with a cleanser containing SLES (Sodium Laureth Sulfate) a very drying agent. The study aimed at measuring how much transepidermal loss occurred after applying panthenol. 

The results were that after daily application for fifteen to thirty days showed that significantly less transepidermal loss occurred and encouraged skin homeostasis. Maintaining skin homeostasis is necessary because it allows the skin to do its job properly which is protecting you. 

5. I'm From Honey Mask

Sometimes your skin needs an extra bit of love and care and a great way to meet your skin needs is by using face masks. Face masks are a great way of treating specific concerns on your skin. The I'm From Honey Mask is a great way of tackling dry skin.

Honey is a great ingredient for dry skin as it's been proven to be able to help with skin disorders such as seborrheic dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, and psoriasis. These disorders deal with the skin being too dry and flakey. What makes this mask impressive is that it contains a 38.7% concentration of honey.

Having concentrations of certain ingredients is good because you get it in pure form and therefore, is more likely to be more potent and effective on your skin. The higher the concentration, the more likely it will be at helping your skin.

In conclusion, Korean skincare has a lot of products with innovative ingredients that are not typically seen on the western market. Finding good products for dry skin can be especially hard as most products are either greasy feeling or don't do the job well. These products will hopefully help your skincare routine be simpler and easier.