I love Korean make-up brands. After using its tricks, I noticed that I appeared a little younger than I was which at the time was 39-years old. Below is two Korean beauty make-up styles. The left photo is straight brows, a soft shadow used as eyeliner pulled out straight to extend the eyes, pink lips; the right photo is fuller thick straight brows, heavier extended eyeliner and the two-tone Korean gradient lip. The key in both photos is proper skincare so you can use less foundation and allow the skin to breathe.
Asian women look strikingly gorgeous when they have soft natural make-up on where they are light on the foundation, have thick straight brows, and long black hair that contrasts with bright pink lips.
I went to San Francisco today in search of Korean make-up brands that are rare and hard to come by. You can find Korea’s Laneige water-based skincare line at Walmart; a few other Korean beauty products at Urban Outfitters as well as at Sephora which includes Belif’s True Cream Moisturizing Bomb and Dr.Jart+ masks. Today, I visited three stores that sold Korean cosmetics in San Francisco that were walking distance of each other located in Japantown.
The first store was called Zen Aesthetic. It looked like a liquor store on the corner of Post Street and Laguna, but it had an entire row of skincare and cosmetics. I was happy to see that the popular Korean brand Tony Moly was there as well as Peripera and Clio’s Kill Black liner. I looked at the colors and Melissa who worked there was kind enough to help me. I was glad there were available testers for the products because it really is important to try the make up on to see if it’s a match. I selected Enprani’s Delicate Defining Eyebrow pencil in 02 Black-Brown. Melissa applied the pencil with a gentle touch and I had instantly softer and lighter color eyebrows. I also got Iaso’s Lip Crayon Natural Sheer Tint / Color Lip Balm in Pretty Peach. It’s the perfect shade and the best thing about it is that it’s so moisturizing and a great remedy for dry lips. Before my items were rang up at the register, I remembered something about Korean women putting snail slime on their face as part of their beauty regimen because it gives intensive moisture to the skin. I was a bit grossed out but wanted to see if they carried this wicked snail mask and they in fact did. Melissa showed me how to use it. There were 2-3 steps on how to use the mask. But it was better than doing the entire 10-step beauty regimen that Korean women are rumored to follow to keep their skin youthful and glowing into old age. I ended up including the snail mask in my final purchase.
My next stop was inside Japantown’s Mall where I visited Candy Doll. The place was packed. I was happy to see a lot of familiar Korean brands like Holika Holika’s Magic Pole Mascara and also the Pig-Collagen Jelly; Tony Moly’s Egg Pore Blackhead Steam Balm; and the Etude House brand but I wasn’t able to really look at anything because it was so crowded.
The last visit was the K-Pop Beauty store (also in the Japantown Mall). (Quick Vocab lesson: The ‘K’ in K-Pop means ‘Korean’–finally figured it out; the ‘SoKo’ in Soko Glam means ‘South Korea’.) It had a modern and hip sort of vibe with its cement floor, mirrors, and soft glowing walls. I was interested in their skincare line (they also had skincare for men) and eyebrow mascaras but didn’t purchase anything because what I had bought earlier at Zen Aesthetic was enough.
Overall, I’m pleased with my experience at Zen Aesthetic because Melissa explained the products and applied it on me. I liked that she tested the colors on my face to make sure it matched me and that I liked it. I’m going to try that Mediental Snail Aquaring SOS Solution Mask in a couple of hours. Since the directions on the mask were mostly in Korean, Melissa instructed me to first apply the serum ampoule that comes with it on my face (avoiding the eyes), then put the snail mask on top of it and leave it on for 20 minutes, then afterwards pat whatever’s left on my face (no rinsing) and I’m good to go to sleep with it on.
Additional: Youtube videos
Wengie easily explains American make-up versus Korean make-up
Lisa Eldridge’s tutorial on Korean makeup
Elle Peyarre - The Magazine 