Home made Korean Skin care

Korean skin care is the most popular skincare in the world.  Each of their steps is detailed and takes care of every single possible issue on the skin. Taking care of the skin in that detail would basically stop time for the skin or even better make time go backwards for the skin. Put in better words, the skin would be at it best.

But the negative part of every article and videos I read and saw was that there were a lot of chemicals and huge brand names used. I don’t basically use chemicals on me as I believe that of course those chemicals can bring in wonderful effects for the time being but would probably later on bring in other irreversible or permanent damage to the skin. So, I did my own experimentation and reading to come up with a few many things I could very well make at home and have the exact Korean skin care my way with all the love of nature on my skin.

I have tried it on my skin for the past two months and I love the result. I have hormonal imbalance due to which acne problem is an issue. This routine keeps that in check and my skin is clearer, fresher and looks younger than ever. So here’s what I do.

1. Make up removal:  The one thing all Korean skin care articles and videos recommend for makeup removing is an oil based make up remover. The best natural make up remover you can find is ‘Coconut oil’. Coconut oil not just removes the makeup but also does wonder on the skin.

v For dry to normal skin:  Apply coconut oil all over the face and rub your fingers over the area where there is tough make up to loosen it to be washed away in the later steps.

v For oily skin and combination skin: Apply minimum coconut oil to areas that has make up only and try avoiding pimple or acne prone area to the extend you can and proceed to the next step as soon as possible.

2. Cleansing: This is a very important step to remove the entire loosened make up and the impurities on the face. Natural products like organic chick pea flour or organic green gram are super best for cleaning away impurities on skin. The small coarseness in these products also acts as daily exfoliate. Even the gel based face washes found in the markets are gentle on the skin on this regard. I wouldn’t recommend a cream based face wash though.

v For dry to normal skin: You can use organic green gram powder preferably as it doesn’t dry the skin much. In case face washes; any gel based gentle face wash would be fine.

v For oily to combination skin: As coconut oil was used in the previous step, a thorough oil removing is necessary in this step. Organic chick pea flour can do wonders on this type of skin for oil absorption. Therefore after a general wash with chickpea flour, I would recommend a second round of the same but this time keeping it on face for a minute to give it time to absorb in all the excess oils. Incase using face wash, try choosing in a gel based deep cleanser to do the job for you. Washing your face wash twice on your face would also be a good step.

3. Exfoliating:  Though this isn’t recommended as a daily step it can be using ultra gentle exfoliating agents. Weekly once I would recommend a deep exfoliation once a week using sugar and honey. Sugar crystals are coarse enough to exfoliate the outer dead cells on out skin revealing live fresh cells under them. Honey is a natural moisturiser than smooths the harsh effect of the sugar on the skin. The ratio is 1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons of honey. Mix them and run it over the surface you need to exfoliate.  

                             Daily exfoliation, the chick pea flour or the green gram flour does the job and in case you are using a face wash, I would recommend a face wash that has gentle exfoliating beads in it.  And this step is for all types of skin.

4. Black head: this is again not a daily step but at least once a month this step has to be followed to remove in all the back and white heads. This method is a completely painless method that can be very well done at home. I personally has been using it for the past 6 months and are truly astonished by the results. The first step is to steam the area having black/white heads this is to open the pores there.. Then mix in 1 teaspoon of gelatin in 1 teaspoon milk. Double boil it to melt gelatin and wait till the mixture has a bearable temperature. Apply on the area which has black/ white heads. Apply three to four coats on the same area and wait for it to dry. Let me warn you the smell is truly very bad but as the results are flawless I prefer ignoring it. When it dries off, peel it off. Make sure no hair you don’t want to remain gets caught in this mixture else even that would come off. This mixture also acts like waxing but it didn’t pull out all the unwanted hair so I wouldn’t recommend this as a waxing substitute. But a majority of the hair is pulled and if used for hair removal purpose, it’s really painful.

5. Tone equaliser: This is a step I included into my Korean regime as I do have slight pigment marks left by my previous acne problem. This also helps in curing the dark circle problems in case u have any. Potato has natural bleaching properties.  Cucumber has cooling properties. Lemon also has a skin lightening property. I grate a potato & a cucumber and run it in a mixer with the juice of 1 lemon. Freeze it in an ice cube tray and use a cube of this mixture on my skin every night. In case dark circles, concentrate on that area. I apply it all over my face and neck and leave it on for 20 min before washing it off.

6. Toning: This is an important step because it actually balances the disturbed PH balance of the skin and restores the skin back to its normalcy. There are different types of toners you can make at home. Each toner has a purpose and so you can choose a toner to your choice.

•  Rose water: A rose water is the gentlest toner you can have. It has a pleasant smell and can tones you skin in the most basic manner you can expect. If you basically don’t have any skin problems, this would be the best toner recommended to you. This toner is best for kids to use after a face wash as well.
•  Apple cider vinegar: Organic Apple cider vinegar is like magic to skin having skin problems. Dilute it twice the water and its perfect to go. It stops pimples and acne problems, dry skin, oily problem and even tightens the pores. But this is a strong toner and so tingling sensation or slight pinching sensation is a common trait of this toner.
•  Lemon water: Lemon has a lot of features that can compete the modern ant-ageing products. It has properties that help in tightening the loose skin and close open pores in a long run. With double the water, diluted lemon is perfect for your anti ageing routine. And a tip, dry skin is more prone to ageing than oily skin; therefore people with dry skin would be recommended to start using this toner at the earliest.
• Cucumber and tulsi( basil) water: This is another gentle toner that fights with small pimple problem and keeps your skin cool. Running the mixer and basil/tulsi in the mixer and staining the juice is the method to prepare this toner.  Cucumber juice has cooling properties and cools your skin from the inside. Basil or tulsi has antibacterial properties that help it fight small pimple issues.

NB-> you can substitute water with rose water for better results.

7. Under eye care: Under eye is one among the most sensitive areas on our face. Sleep deprivation, tiredness, being sick, dehydration is all indicated through puffy, saggy eyes and dark circles. There are several under eye creams to help you with it but I prefer an all natural method to re-energise your eyes area. For this we need vitamin E and Rose water. A drop of vitamin E and 2 drops of rose water. Mix it well, in your hand and apply it all around the eyes (from under the eyebrows to above the cheeks). This method if done everyday dark circles will start to lighten in 3 days. Use the tone equaliser method along and the process fastens.

8. Serum: This is the healing tonic to your skin. It is of utmost importance to any type of skin. All types of skin are prone to get damaged according to the type of circumstances they are exposed to. Therefore, this serum basically seeps inside your skin and internally repairs it overnight. Serum differs from product to product depending on what your purpose of the product is. I use a complete homemade serum and it has been doing wonders to my skin since I began. The base of any homemade serum consists of 3 ingredients: Rosewater, 100% vegetarian glycerine and Vitamin E. You just need a drop or 2 of serum on your face and neck during a time of use. Therefore, I would advise you to prepare this in small quantities as 50-100 ml a time. You can preserve it in room temperature for a few months. The ratio of the ingredients would be 100 ml of rose water 10 ml of glycerine and 2 teaspoons or capsules of Vitamin E. This is the base of the serum to which you can add any or all of the following to add in the effect of the serum.

·        Organic Aloe Vera gel: Aloe Vera is a natural medicine in itself there for adding this would cool your skin from inside, moisturise it from inside and would help in the process of healing it.

·        Lemon: Lemon has anti ageing and skin lightening property so you can add in 1 lemon juice to this serum to enhance it have anti ageing properties.

·        Cucumber juice: Cucumber juice can cool your skin from inside so adding half a cucumber juice to this serum will enhance it of cooling properties.

·        Basil leaves: Basil leaves has anti bacterial properties and adding bits of basil leaves to the serum will enhance pimple and other small skin irritation curing property of the serum.

A serum visibly brings in a huge difference from the first use especially to dry skin. I have a severely oily skin and yet I did notice a big difference on the first day of use.

9. Essence: This is a little extra you give to your skin. It is completely optional and can be avoided if necessary. As an oily skinned person I wouldn’t recommend this step for oily skin as there are chances of pimple breakouts. Essences are usually oil based and therefore it can do wonders on dry skin and normal skin. Combination skin can avoid this step as well or can use it on areas which aren’t oily. The usage is one drop all over the face and neck. A few natural essences would be:

·        Saffron oil: Saffron has always have skin whitening properties. It also smooths the skin and free it off any irritation. Therefore a drop of this can bring visible difference the very next day.

·        Lavender oil: This oil can sooth any irritation and the smell calms you.

·        Tea tree oil: This oil has anti-fungal and antibacterial properties therefore it can do wonders to acne prone skin. This is recommended for oily skin type as well but it didn’t suit me so I am not sure.

·        Chamomile oil: This oil has medical values to act upon skin problems like cracked, inflammation, eczema, sensitive skin etc.

10. Moisturise: To seal the deal, moisturising is very important. The only moisturiser I have been using for years and have been doing wonders to my skin is Aloe Vera gel. I recommend everyone Aloe Vera gel as the best natural moisturiser u can find. A dab of Aloe Vera gel as the last step topped with a good night sleep and you would wake up to see yourself as a gorgeous maiden side of you.

These are the homemade products I use at home and have seen wonders worked on my skin. In case you have any doubts please do let me know in the comments below and I will get back to you. Also, please do subscribe to my blog and share this post. Take care and be beautiful.