From glass skin to snail mucin, slugging to cloud skin, the world of K-beauty has opened doors to a myriad of skincare trends, ingredients, hacks and rituals that we weren’t earlier aware of. Courtesy of these intriguing and enticing elements, K-beauty has gained immense popularity in the past few years—from being a sensation on TikTok to amassing over 63 lakh posts on Instagram. Thus, it doesn’t really come as a surprise that porcelain-like skin and Korean skincare ingredients have made their way to everybody’s wish list.
But amongst all the buzz, it is important to note that the K-beauty routine cannot simply be copied verbatim. The question arises: does it even complement the Indian skin types? Upon asking two skincare professionals, we discovered that K-beauty might not always be the most ideal skincare plan for Indians to subscribe to. Instead, it might be best to cherry pick and choose some of Seoul’s best practices and ingredients to include into our routines. Scroll down to know why.
The basics of K-beauty
K-beauty adopts a gentle approach that gradually repairs and rejuvenates skin rather than an immediate, intense one. According to Dr Kiran Sethi, a New Delhi-based celebrity dermatologist, the basics of K-beauty include a selection of acids, like salicylic acid, and a multi-step routine that includes serums, moisturisers, ampoules and toners.
"K-beauty emphasizes customization and unconventional ingredients. It introduces distinct products like essences, ampoules, and boosters. Some of its unique ingredients include bee venom, snail mucin, and fermented rice water, as well as bamboo and mugwort extracts, among others,” says Dr Madhuri Agarwal, a Mumbai-based celebrity dermatologist. “Also, the consistency and layering of products is another key basis of K-beauty,” says Dr Agarwal. K-beauty thrives on layering diverse skincare products, across categories and ingredients, in order to achieve dewy, plump, hydrated and so-called glass-like skin.
K-beauty: A misfit for Indian skin?
Both Dr Agarwal and Dr Sethi share the opinion that K-beauty isn’t always well-suited for Indian skin, due to a bunch of reasons. “"Our skin has larger pores, leading to increased oil production. Given the distinct skin tones and varying pollution, heat, and weather conditions in India, multiple product applications can be problematic and may cause acne,” says Dr Sethi. Thus, K-beauty’s more is more approach doesn’t always work for Indian skin—particularly if yours is oily or acne-prone.
Anti-ageing and prevention for Indian skin
“Anti-ageing and maintenance are good principles to follow, no matter what the country or skin type. When you follow it, there is a lot of prevention of future damage and the skin remains healthy,” begins Dr Agarwal, “and this works for Indian skin as well, provided we understand the benefit and adopt it. Fortunately, in recent years, we see Indians have become more aware and adaptive of this approach.”
Talking about the bits and pieces we could pick from K-beauty, Dr Sethi suggests, “The usage of acids is a wonderful thing; I love snail serum for epidermal renewal — I think it’s a wonderful thing when you have dry skin. The best way to approach ageing by means of prevention and maintenance [of the skin] is to gently cleanse, apply topical antioxidants and wear sunblock optimally. Lastly, eat healthy, avoid processed food and drink lots of water. The basics that your mother always told you actually hold true today.”
Cover Image: Instagram/@boakwon
