How to target redness the K-beauty way!

Sometimes a red and inflamed complexion is associated with sensitive and dry skin. If you find that your skin is itchy, irritated, tender and prone to having reactions from certain active ingredients, this is the page for you!

What is sensitive skin?

Simply put, it’s skin that is more prone to irritation than others. Most of the time, sensitive skin is associated with genetics, but there’s also an environmental cause. If you’ve over-exfoliated, or used abrasive and harsh skincare products, this could impact your skin barrier, resulting in skin sensitivity. 

The skin barrier is found in the stratum corneum, which are essentially the brick walls of the epidermis (the top layer of the skin). These walls consist of corneocytes that protect the skin from damage caused by UV rays and bacteria. Corneocytes are held together by lipids that work to hydrate the skin. When these layers are impaired, the skin barrier becomes compromised, leaving the rest of the skin vulnerable to impurities. 

What is dry skin?

Like sensitive skin, dry skin is caused due to a weakened skin barrier. However, dry skin occurs when the skin lacks moisture - when the lipids in the stratum corneum are worn out. Although dry skin and sensitive skin have similar symptoms (redness being a common factor), dry skin is characterised more through flaky, peeling, and dry patches of skin. 

 

How can Korean skincare help?

Korean skincare is designed to reinforce your skin barrier. This can be seen through ingredients packed with Ceramides, using products enriched with hydrating powerhouses like Hyaluronic Acid and Panthenol, and also using mild formulations. Anything too intense could irritate your skin and worsen its redness, so it’s best to stay clear from ingredients like Retinol which may prove too harsh. 

Your personal Korean skincare routine to target redness:

Step 1: Oil cleanser

Oil cleansing can be a life-line for those with irritated skin, as the soothing properties of oil helps to clarify the skin without leaving it stripped. 

Oil cleansing is the first step towards double-cleansing, which is a popular K-beauty method of clarifying the skin. Oil cleansers remove oil-based impurities like sebum, makeup, and SPF from the skin, which is important if you have sensitive and dry skin as you don’t want impurities to sit on your complexion.

DR CEURACLE’s Pro-Balance Pure Cleansing Oil is especially formulated to treat irritation on the skin. Containing the brand’s unique blend of probiotics, this oil cleanser balances the skin’s bacteria levels and calms redness on the skin. 

Step 2: Water-based cleanser

The second part to double-cleansing, water-based cleansers removes water-based impurities like dirt and sweat from the skin, as well as oil that is left on the skin from oil-cleansing. This ensures your complexion is properly clarified, leaving you feeling refreshed. 

DEAR, KLAIRS’s Rich Moist Foaming Cleanser is a gentle cleanser that flushes stubborn impurities from your complexion. While Lemon Peel Oil and Lavender Extract, it helps smooth skin texture, the Shea Butter and K-beauty’s favourite ingredient, Centella Asiatica, nourish the skin and work to restore your skin barrier for a healthier complexion. 

Step 3: Exfoliator

Western exfoliators tend to use harsh ingredients or methods to slough off dead skin cells like chemical peels, which are a common way of revealing fresh and smooth skin. However, this tends to be very irritating - even on normal skin. K-beauty exfoliators are more mild in contrast, working to slowly exfoliate the skin. 

HARUHARU WONDER’s Black Rice Soft Peeling Gel is enriched with star-ingredient, Black Rice Extract, which gently lifts dead skin cells that cling onto the skin, as well as brightening your complexion for a luminous, glass-skin look. 

Step 4: Toner

Korean skincare toners balance your skin’s pH levels, and help it to absorb active ingredients in your routine, giving you healthy-looking, hydrated skin. They also provide targeted care for whatever your skin concern is, including redness!

ABIB’s Heartleaf Calming Toner Skin Booster aims to calm the skin and balance your complexion. Formulated with 50,000ppm Heartleaf Extract, this well-beloved K-beauty ingredient contains anti-inflammatory properties which soothes redness and irritation. 

Step 5: Essences

Packed with antioxidants, essences in the K-beauty world help optimise the absorption of serums and moisturisers while also hydrating your skin. When treating acne, essences help to reinforce your skin barrier, strengthening your skin to become less irritated.

Focusing on the power of Centella, MIXSOON’s Centella Asiatica Essence works to improve your skin’s moisture levels and reduce inflammation. Its lightweight texture absorbs quickly into your skin, ensuring your left with a dewy, glossy complexion.

Step 6: Serums

Whereas essences work to quench the skin, serums ensure more targeted care - perfect for those with redness. 

D’ALBA’s White Truffle Vital Spray Serum adds a touch of luxury to your Korean skincare routine! Enriched with the antioxidant properties of White Truffle Extract paired with Lithospermi Radix Extract, this boosts skin elasticity and promotes skin cell regeneration which helps heal a damaged skin barrier. 

Step 7: Mask

K-beauty masks are a quick and easy way to pump nutrients and hydration into your skin. Especially with dry and sensitive skin, it’s essential to give relief to red and irritated skin. 

I’M FROM’s Mugwort Sheet Mask is highly concentrated with 91.45% Mugwort Extract and Essence that detoxifies the skin. Thanks to the vitamins packed into this mask, your skin will feel rejuvenated and soothed, reducing irritation. 

Step 8: Eye Cream

Eye care is an important part of any Korean skincare routine. Formulated to have anti-aging benefits and to target hyperpigmentation, eye creams and serums rejuvenate the skin around the eyes to balance your complexion. 

When you have a compromised skin barrier, sometimes eye creams can be too harsh, but with PURITO’s Centella Unscented Eye Cream, eye irritation will be a thing of the past! Lightweight with no added fragrance, this eye cream is infused with Peptides to stimulate skin repair and improve skin elasticity. This ensures you’re left with youthful-looking, plump undereyes without implicating your delicate skin.

Step 9: Moisturisers

Important at locking in essential hydration, K-beauty moisturisers are designed to give your skin long-lasting moisture. They are also designed to strengthen the skin barrier, protecting it from impurities that can harm or irritate your skin.  

Specifically designed to heal a damaged skin barrier, ONGREDIENTS’ Centella Asiatica Skin Barrier Calming Lotion employs a “triple security system” to calm redness, provide skin barrier repair, and prevent moisture loss. By combining Centella Asiatica, the brands’ NB P-Complex, and 9 types of Pepties, this moisturiser is a go-to product if your skin needs an extra bit of TLC. 

Step 10: Sunscreen

Crucial to every morning Korean skincare routine, K-beauty enthusiasts have demonstrated the importance of using sunscreen daily - even in the winter! They protect the skin from harmful UVA and UVB, which is important to all skin types, especially when your skin is already sensitive to environmental aggressors.

SOME BY MI’s Truecica Aqua Calming Sunscreen helps you leave aggravated skin behind you. Infused with the brand’s signature Truecica Complex and Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, this sunscreen works to calm and soothe skin sensitivity, so you can walk around all day without worrying about redness on your skin.