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Koreańska pielęgnacja twarzy - fakty i mity - Orientana

Korean Facial Care - Facts and Myths

Korean face care has become very popular. What is it really like in Korea? Let's find out.

South Korea is one of the world's largest exporters of cosmetics, and its cosmetics industry plays a key role in the country's economy. Korean face care, often referred to as K-beauty, has gained global popularity due to its innovativeness and the popularization of a multi-step, extensive action trend, as well as the deeply memorable image of impeccably beautiful Korean women.

According to data from recent years, the value of Korean cosmetics exports has exceeded 8 billion dollars annually, making Korea one of the leaders in this industry. Exports of Korean cosmetics are growing at a rate of approximately 20-30% annually, with the largest recipients being China, the United States, Japan, Southeast Asian countries, and Europe.

The Korean government is behind the strong development of this industry and provides it with strong financial support. Korean skincare is one of the most important interests in the country.

Why is Korean skincare so popular in Poland?

The success factors of Korean skincare include innovation. Korean brands offer modern formulas, e.g., cosmetics with snail mucin, activated charcoal, or fermented ingredients. Most Korean cosmetics on our domestic market declare themselves as natural cosmetics. Korean cosmetics packaging stands out with its modern and attractive design. Korean skincare promoted a comprehensive skincare ritual (e.g., 12-step), convincing consumers that more cosmetics lead to better results.

What is the beauty standard in Korea?

Beauty standards in South Korea are strongly shaped by history, culture, and media influence, especially K-pop, influencers, and TV dramas. Both body and face appearance are crucial in the lives of Korean women.

Slimness is highly valued, and the ideal figure is slender, with a visible waist and long legs. In Korea, there is a strong emphasis on weight control, which is evident in the popularity of diets and fitness programs. The beauty ideal includes long, slender legs and small, delicate hands and feet.

Fair and radiant complexion is highly valued and is considered a symbol of youth and health. Skin brightening treatments and whitening cosmetics are widely available.

According to beauty standards, a Korean woman should have an oval "V-shaped" face, narrowing towards the chin. The perfect oval face of Korean women is most often the result of face contouring procedures, as well as plastic surgeries changing the jawline.

Large eyes are also a symbol of beauty. Often, the effect of eye enlargement results from a double eyelid procedure (blepharoplasty). Korean makeup focuses on emphasizing the eyes, e.g., with eyeliner and false eyelashes.

Korean women also strive to have small, full lips. Ideal lips are proportionate to the face, with delicately defined contours. Products that create a "gradient lips" effect, where the center of the lips is more intensely colored than the edges, are popular.

The nose should be narrow, straight, and slightly upturned. Nose corrections (rhinoplasty) are one of the most common plastic surgeries.

Facial symmetry is considered a key beauty feature, and the pursuit of symmetry drives the popularity of treatments such as fillers and facial corrections.

Korean face care or face modification to the Korean ideal?

South Korea is one of the world leaders in terms of the number of plastic surgeries performed per capita. According to data from 2015, the percentage of young women who underwent plastic surgery increased from 5% in 1994 to 31% in 2015.

Korean women are among the biggest users of Botox in the world; it is estimated that 42% of the female population aged 21 to 55 have undergone the procedure. A common graduation gift is plastic surgery to enhance beauty.

South Korea is often called the world capital of plastic surgery. 464,452 foreign patients are recorded as coming for aesthetic medicine treatments. This trend is constantly growing; last year saw an increase of 16.7% compared to the previous year.

Among the most popular aesthetic medicine treatments in South Korea are:

  • Blepharoplasty (double eyelid surgery): a procedure involving the creation of a fold on the upper eyelid, which gives the eyes a larger and more open appearance.
  • Rhinoplasty (nose correction): surgery aimed at changing the shape or size of the nose.
  • Face contouring: procedures such as zygoma reduction or jawline surgeries, aiming to achieve a slimmer, more V-shaped face profile.
  • Liposuction: removal of excess fat tissue from various body parts.
  • Skin whitening treatments: procedures aimed at brightening the skin tone, popular due to local beauty canons.

Korean skincare consists of 12 steps

Korean skincare involves 12 steps – a method of skin care that emphasizes regularity, multi-stage cleansing, and intensive hydration. Every Korean woman should have a set of 12 cosmetics at home:

  • Oil makeup remover
  • Water-based cleansing (gel or foam)
  • Peeling – up to 3 times a week
  • Toner
  • Essence
  • Serum / Ampoule
  • Sheet mask
  • Eye cream
  • Emulsion / Lotion
  • Moisturizing cream
  • Sunscreen
  • Sleeping mask

Korean skincare is mainly done at home, but Korean women often reapply cosmetics during the day (at school or work). Concern for appearance is very common, so seeing someone applying cream or essence in a cafe, subway, or office surprises no one.

During long flights, Korean women readily use sheet masks. Applying a mask during a plane journey, though it may seem bold, is normal in Korea and Asia. These masks hydrate the skin and protect it from dryness.

Why is Korean skincare so important and what lies behind it?

Focusing on an appropriate appearance is required by society. In Korea, a one-dimensional perspective of beauty is accepted. Unique, individual beauty features are not welcome; in fact, there is a silent imperative to conform to a single standard of beauty. These demands are definitely stricter for women than for men.

Why do Korean women adhere to beauty standards? The Confucian cultural roots of South Korea mean that women "listen" to social norms and strictly adapt to them. This intensifies insecurity and feelings of inferiority. In South Korea, good presentation expected in certain professions or situations is not just about appropriate attire. An immaculate physical appearance is considered a sign of respect and ambition, which is almost always expected, for example, from potential job candidates.

The desire for flawlessly white skin is a phenomenon related to class in Korea, where people with fair, flawless complexions are considered wealthy. Light, impeccable skin is idealized and is a way of distinguishing oneself from the poor. Both now and in the past, wealthy people did not work in exposed and sun-drenched areas, such as fields or construction sites. Tanned skin is associated with farmers and the working class.

While tanning is a common practice among people in, for example, the United States or Western Europe, whitening products are an indispensable part of Korean face care. Advertisements for skincare products are always described with adjectives such as "youthful," "bright," and "illuminated." BB creams are usually offered only for lighter skin tones. Korean skincare does not allow for a slight tan.

K-pop stars, who have a wide influence on South Korean society, are the face of the cosmetics industry — both explicitly, as they publicly advertise cosmetic products, and implicitly, as the link between their popularity and the features highlighted by these products is strong. Korean skincare is strongly supported by influencers. After all, someone has to buy those 12 cosmetics for daily use.

It is precisely these social norms that expect women to look a certain way that have led to the enormous development of aesthetic surgery. The number of plastic surgeries performed to enhance beauty is the largest in the world and is constantly growing. In a society that remains deeply patriarchal, Korean women who do not conform to beauty standards set by men face, for example, unfavorable working conditions. One notable case from November 2018 was the dismissal of a Yogerpresso employee (a popular coffee shop chain in South Korea) on her first day of work because she was not wearing makeup.

Korean cosmetics vs. Polish cosmetics

Are Korean cosmetics tested on animals?

In the European Union, there has been a ban on animal testing for cosmetics for 20 years, and since 2018, it is forbidden to use ingredients tested on animals. On the websites of companies distributing Korean skincare, we find information that animal testing is not allowed in Korea. However, this is not true. According to Cruelty Free International estimates, South Korea is one of the countries that conduct the most animal tests in the world, which may be due to the requirements of their largest consumer – China. The introduced ban on testing has many loopholes, and the vast majority use them. Korean skincare may involve animal suffering.

Although Korean companies declare themselves as cruelty-free, they very often use ingredients tested on animals.

Transparency and legal norms

Polish cosmetics are subject to strict European Union regulations regarding product safety and composition, which increases consumer trust. In Poland, it is easier to verify information about products and brands that are locally available.

When buying cosmetics from Korean stores shipping products to Europe, the full list of ingredients is often not provided. Korean websites mainly list active ingredients. Packaging often lacks English descriptions. Korean skincare can be dangerous, so buy from trusted sources.

The claims made by Korean brands regarding ingredients are not always true. Often, for example, numbers appear on labels, suggesting a percentage content of an ingredient, e.g., snail mucin 90, creating the belief among customers that the cosmetic contains 90% snail mucin, while this is not possible and such a product on the market would cause a lot of harm.

Natural cosmetics

Many Korean brands declare themselves as natural and "clean beauty," but the strength and advantage of Korean cosmetics lie in synthetic ingredients, often referred to with terms derived from nature. I once became interested in an ingredient called spider silk and was convinced it was a natural, breakthrough ingredient like snail mucin. During a meeting with the technologist of the company producing this raw material, I learned that it is a 100% synthetic ingredient.

The innovation of Korean skincare comes precisely from the development of synthetic ingredients that, when applied to the skin, yield visible results. Many Korean cosmetics contain naturally derived ingredients like green tea, ginseng, or bamboo, but these often supplement synthetic components.

Trending packaging

Although many consumers like the aesthetic of Korean cosmetics packaging, their expectations regarding biodegradability and recyclability are more important. Korean brands often declare "eco-friendly" packaging, which is unsupported by anything, and they are most often packed in ordinary plastic. Polish companies are subject to standardization regarding information about packaging and its impact on the natural environment. For example, Orientana uses either glass packaging or recycled plastic, e.g., Orientana shampoos are packed in bottles made entirely from recycled plastic.

Alternatives to Korean skincare at Orientana

Face cosmetics with snail mucin

In June 2016, Orientana was the first Polish brand to produce a snail mucin cream. The brand's intention was to create a formulation with a high degree of naturalness. After a long period of research, an effective cream with 98.1% natural ingredients was developed. The cream and its ingredients are cruelty-free, and the mucin is obtained ethically without harm to snails. The cream is packaged in a glass jar. It quickly became an Orientana bestseller. Thanks to snail mucin, the cream has a wide spectrum of action, from acne-prone to mature skin.

Following the success of the face creams, an eye cream with snail mucin was created. It is equally highly natural (98.2% natural ingredients) and very effective. It is one of the few cosmetics with such intense hydration for the skin under the eyes.

Another product inspired by Korean face care was the snail mucin essence. Natural ingredients make up 98.6% of the formula. It is a water-gel essence, and the gel is made 100% from the Japanese konjac plant. The essence moisturizes the skin and prepares it to absorb active ingredients.

Two-step cleansing

Dwuetapowe oczyszczania skóry z kosmetykami Orientana – pianka i olejek.

A year after introducing snail mucin cosmetics, Orientana launched an oil and foam for two-step cleansing on the Polish market, also as a pioneer in this type of skincare.

Golden Orange Oil, 99% made from natural ingredients, with a beautiful scent, perfectly removes even waterproof makeup.

Kantola Foam, made from 97.3% natural ingredients, thoroughly cleanses the face and effectively removes makeup residue.

Both two-step cleansing products are highly valued by Orientana customers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Korean face care?
It involves several skincare steps, such as thorough cleansing, toning, essences, serums, and creams, which collectively support the skin's hydrolipidic barrier and improve its condition.

How many steps are in Korean skincare?
Classic Korean skincare can include 7 to 10 steps, but in practice, it is flexible – it can be simplified to 4–5 steps while maintaining its key principles.

Is Korean skincare suitable for all skin types?
Yes, Korean skincare can be adapted to any skin type, including dry, oily, combination, sensitive, and acne-prone. The key is to choose the right active ingredients.

Is Korean skincare suitable for sensitive skin?
Yes, because many Korean-inspired cosmetics contain soothing, moisturizing, and regenerating ingredients, and the formulas are usually gentle and low-irritating.

Does Korean skincare help with acne?
Yes, Korean skincare focuses on rebuilding the skin barrier, regulating sebum, and reducing inflammation, which is particularly important in treating acne-prone skin.

What ingredients are characteristic of Korean skincare?
Moisturizing and regenerating ingredients such as ferments, snail mucin, trehalose, hyaluronic acid, ceramides, plant extracts, and adaptogens are often used.

Is Korean skincare based on natural ingredients?
To a large extent, yes, although it is not exclusively natural skincare. It combines plant extracts with modern biotechnological ingredients, ensuring effectiveness and safety.

Does Korean skincare require using many cosmetics?
Not always. Although known for its multi-step nature, it can be adapted to lifestyle by choosing multifunctional products and shortening the routine without losing effectiveness.

What are the effects of Korean skincare?
Regularly applied Korean skincare improves skin hydration, elasticity, and tone, strengthens the protective barrier, and gives the complexion a healthy, radiant appearance.

Is Korean skincare suitable for mature skin?
Yes, because it focuses on hydration, regeneration, and supporting skin renewal processes, which is crucial in anti-aging care.

Is Korean skincare good for winter?
Yes, thanks to its emphasis on rebuilding the hydrolipidic barrier and intensive hydration, Korean skincare works perfectly during the autumn-winter season.

How to start Korean skincare?
It's best to start with the basics: gentle cleansing, a hydrating toner or essence, and a cream tailored to your skin's needs. Further steps can be introduced gradually.

Can Korean skincare be minimalist?
Yes. The modern approach to Korean skincare involves "skinimalism" – fewer steps, but well-chosen and applied regularly.

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