Introduction
I thought I was beauty obsessed, and then I experienced Seoul.
Seoul breathes beauty, and its air is skin care. In Korea, it seems that everywhere you look, multitudes of products sell the promise of flawless, dewy skin, and you only have to glance at the porcelain faces passing by on the sidewalks to know that this isn’t false advertising.
A California native, I was just out of college when I moved halfway around the world to live in South Korea, and as soon as I arrived, I experienced skin culture shock. Western cultures tend to think skin care is about as much fun as flossing your teeth: just another end-of-the-day chore to rush through before bed. But in Korea, taking good care of your skin is something to be enjoyed; it isn’t just beauty or vanity, but an investment in your well-being. I soon came to understand that I was now living in a country where skin care was not just about the products on your bathroom shelf, but a mindset that permeates your lifestyle, from the food you eat to the clothes you wear.
My own journey to understand Korean skin care made me a believer, and when I left Seoul, I took with me a passion to share what I had learned. This led me to start my own Korean lifestyle and beauty website and e-shop, Soko Glam, and to pursue my esthetician’s license in New York. Through Soko Glam, I’ve been able to hear personal stories from women (and men) of all ages and all cultures who decided to follow the Korean skin-care routine and have seen their skin—and confidence—change for the better.
In the United States, when we think of skin we think of problems. When a pimple rears its ugly head right before an important date, or the first time we notice fine lines appearing, we experience panic, worry, and regret. We “fight” acne, “combat” wrinkles, and “banish” blackheads. It’s us against our skin, and our only ally is an unrealistic jar of miracle cream that almost always lets us down.
Our brains are filled with marketing mumbo jumbo that’s a potent combo of myth and misconception. It’s no wonder that people still use skin products based on age and gender, or believe that drinking water will give your dry skin relief, because that’s what we’ve been told for generations.
As I learned more about skin care through my esthetician training, and the more I talked to people who were totally confused about what to buy or how to use certain products, I knew I had to put all my skin-care secrets from Seoul into a book. Because, really, they shouldn’t be secrets anymore.
Why Read a Book About Skin Care?
In this book, I’ll share with you how a California girl like myself became immersed in Korea’s beauty culture and changed the way I saw and took care of my skin. Whether you’re reading this to start your first skin-care regimen, improve the one you have, or simply learn about how another culture approaches beauty, this book will do all that and more.
Sadly, reading this book alone is not enough to improve your skin, but take heart—it’s the first step. It’ll take a bit of work on your part, but I’ll hold your well-moisturized hand along the way. I’ll guide you step-by-step through some of my best-kept Korean skin-care secrets, from night and day skin-care routines, to why your entire body, not just your face, needs exfoliation, to how to choose and then use the right moisturizer. I’ll also show you how to pull off the “no-makeup makeup” look that I’ve seen on women in the streets of Seoul (and regularly on New York and Paris runways). I’ll pair my technical esthetician knowledge with advice from Seoul beauty experts to answer your toughest questions about skin and to help provide solutions to common skin issues. Learning about Korean skin care will change the way you think about your skin and how you treat it. You’ll be excited to start a routine, and once you get going, you won’t want to neglect it.
If you’re a little doubtful, let me assure you: Yes, you can be excited about skin. It’s only the largest organ of your body. You ready?
