Skin Care Routine

The 10-Step Korean Skin Care Routine—By Skin Type!

by Charlotte Cho

When I first introduced the 10-step Korean Skin Care Routine onElle and Into The Gloss, there were as many skeptics as there were believers. Totally understandable. Ten steps in a skin care routine sounds a little cray-cray and frankly something reserved only for the beauty obsessed.

Skeptics or no, I personally saw the results of using a multi-step Korean skin care routine (and Dave did too!), so I put together the official Soko Glam 10-Step Korean Skin Care Set for people to try. Slowly but surely many began to actually take a chance on this set—even those who’ve never even thought of using anything more than a moisturizer.

Since then, I’ve been tracking the reviews for the original set and I’ve got to say, I am SO thrilled about the amazing feedback we’ve gotten! In fact, I’ll share some of my favorite reviews for you here:

Renee C. 08/24/15
Best skincare products I have ever used!

These products are truly amazing. I have tried everything from high end commercial products to local organic products and nothing has produced results like these products! I do not find the process to be very time consuming and within three days people were commenting on my skin looking “dewy and smooth.” While my skin was never terrible, I did have a decent amount of wear and tear from the sun. And I had never been complimented on my skin. Now a few weeks later, my occasional cystic hormonal acne is GONE and my skin looks super smooth, soft, and even-toned—no easy feat for an active runner/hiker. I would definitely recommend these products. Don’t be afraid of the ten steps.

Christine M. 09/05/15
If you are a skeptic read me

A lil bit of background on me: I have TERRIBLE skin. Being 25 with acne is really embarrassing, and on top of that I’m oily AF. I had a skin care routine that kept me in check, but I still had massive pores, slight oil, fine lines, and the rouge, as well as a permanently-scarring hormonal breakout (it comes and then never leaves…), which was an improvement over my regular skin (imagine that). So when I heard about this mystical 10-step skin care line, I was like “No. I have MY 5 step line and it does what it does.” But something kept pushing me towards it. Fate? Destiny? Constant tracking cookies from the Soko Glam website infiltrating my Gmail? I don’t know, you can be the judge. But I bought the skin care line and just after two weeks my skin is BEAUTIFUL. I have never had nice skin. It’s basically flawless. I am so, so happy and will never look back!

Shannon W. 07/17/15
I always worry about using new stuff on my face. I have really sensitive skin and even mild stuff can leave my face red and flaky. I actually had that problem with starting all of these products at once, but it was a lot less than I’m used to and the redness stopped after two days and the flaky-roughness stopped in a week. I have never had these problems clear up so fast and this routine is amazing just for that. My skin has also cleared up a bit and it looks smoother and healthier. I’ve only been using the stuff for a week and a half and I’m really looking forward to what prolonged use of this routine does for my skin.

Sunlee C. 03/18/15

Life-changing

These products have made me rethink my whole routine including what makeup I put on. I was using some of these products along with some other old products and didn’t notice any significant changes until I used only these and other products from Soko. I have very sensitive skin and notice most US-based brands made me break out and leave a red tone on my cheeks. So thankful for these products!

Kimberly Y. 02/21/15

Awesome, awesome, awesome

I have only been using it for a week, but already my skin feels a million times smoother and softer than before. On top of that people have actually complimented me and told me my complexion looks nicer. Love it.

Joseph C. 12/27/14
Great products

The 10-Step Korean Skincare Routine Set is great. When I first found out about the Korean skincare routine, I was dying to try it. After checking out a few sites online, I decided to go with this set as overall the costs of similar individual products would have been the same cost or more. This is really a great deal for what you are getting, and I have already seen improvement since I started using it a couple of weeks ago. My face looks brighter and clearer, my pores look smaller, and even my acne is less noticeable. Hoping this improvement continues, and really hoping I see some effect on my acne scars. Nothing yet but I just started the routine a couple weeks ago and haven’t been as diligent as I should be. I have high hopes.

Colleen 09/05/15
Never going back

First of all can I just say how dangerous this site is? Like ever since this first purchase I’ve felt like I needed to try everything and anything. Onto this set then. Don’t be intimidated by all the steps or products you need to use. Washing my face is no longer a chore (a chore used to be one acne cleanser + moisturizer, then done). Now I feel like I’m giving myself my own personal spa day for my face every day and night. I’m currently an undergrad student-athlete so you can imagine how stressed I am. After cleaning my face I can actually feel the stress melting away and my energy being rejuvenated. Ever since this one purchase I’ve become obsessed with trying everything so you can imagine how stressed my wallet is, haha. Not saying that these aren’t great prices, because they are!! I highly recommend this set and this website!! I am awaiting my purchase of Beauty Water, the Klairs Vitamin C serum, the SU:M37 rose cleansing stick, and the Iope cushion. I really don’t wear makeup anymore so IDK why I got inspired to buy a compact, but let’s see how it works!! I can’t tell you how fascinated I’ve become with skin care products in the last week just because of this site. Thank you, Charlotte!! 🙂

Okay, the reviews were pretty long—but reading them gave me straight-up chills and I had to share!

However, despite all the glowing reviews I just shared with you, I’m not going to say this means you will see the same exact results. Skin care is trial and error. I think the main takeaway from all these people trying the 10-step set is that they chose to take the opportunity to treat their skin right—by cleansing, exfoliating, hydrating and providing nutrients to their skin on a daily basis—when they otherwise may not have.

Now I want to take that to the next level. Many of you have asked me to create 10-Step Korean Skin Care Sets for different skin types, and I listened! I’ve put my skin school education to use and carefully curated specific products to treat your skin the way it needs to be treated. Now, you can get sets specifically for your oily, dry, or normal/combination skin type here.

The 10-step skin care routine for “normal” skin types

You’ll notice that ingredients and formulas are carefully catered to each of these skin types. The normal/combination products will help regularly maintain your skin.

The 10 step skin care set for “combination” skin types

If you’re dry in some spots and oily in others, the combination skin set will help balance you out.

The 10-step skin care routine for oily skin types

The set for oily skin features ingredients that will help keep your oil in check…

The 10-step skin care routine for dry skin types

… And the dry set contains emollient formulas to help your skin hold in moisture.

To help you get the most out of them, I want to set the record straight on some of the most common questions I get about the 10 Step Korean Skin Care Routine:

1. Do I have to use 10 steps every day?

You can, but of course you don’t have to! 10 steps really signifies the different skin care steps you can take in total, but it’s not necessary to do each and every step morning and night. For example, unless you are Marty McFly and you have a Delorean to travel back in time (or Hermione Granger with a Time Turner), sheet masking and exfoliation are steps you likely won’t have time to do every day.

As for me, I usually do six to seven steps on the daily. When I’m rushing out of the apartment to tackle the day, sometimes that number drops to four. I add a sheet mask or exfoliate about twice a week. Also, if you don’t have concerns about fine lines or brown spots, you may not need a targeted treatment like an eye cream or serum.

2. Must I use only Korean products?

No, of course not! Even Korean women love their Lancome and their La Mer. However, I do tend to hear feedback from people that in general Korean skin care products are more gentle, hydrating than products they’ve used before. I discussed this with an AmorePacific R&D specialist and he mentioned Korean people tend to identify as having sensitive skin, so cosmetic companies in Korea seriously consider this when formulating their skin care products.

Again, it is all about YOUR skin and what YOUR skin needs. I hope these new skin type-specific sets will help you get healthy, glowing skin and you love them! Let me know what you think after you’ve had a chance to try.

What is your current skin care routine like? I’d love to hear your routine and the products you use and what has worked for you or things you’re looking to improve. Comment below!

xx Charlotte