10-Step Korean Skincare Routine | What It Did

Korean Beauty is known all over the world and its beauty industry is probably the biggest in the world as we see more K-Beauty brands making its way in our market almost every day. Koreans also invented popular beauty regimes that have exploded in the beauty community and one of them is their 10-Step Skincare routine for chock-chock skin. 

This regime was what most skincare addicts were talking about years ago and it's still popular until now. I've known about this while I was working in Althea as the Editorial Team was preparing a post about this, and it was a hit with so many shares. Even though I knew about it back then, I wasn't really interested to try it out until now. Thank's to my severe breakouts, I finally gave in to try a new routine. Now it has been over 2 months since I did the 10-Step regime daily so let me share what happened to my face.

Honestly, I've been eager to write this post ever since I've started my recovery journey. That's why I documented my skin's progress from time to time so I could write about it precisely. I also did simple sharings on my IG account @cikcitbeautyaddict so I could always refer back and for my followers to see my progress too. 

What is Korean 10-step Skincare Routine?

It's basically a skincare routine which started out in Korea (as Korea is the home of Beauty Products) which starts from the basic steps in skincare to more complex steps to complete the skin regime. These steps are done to complete each other steps to get the perfect skin Koreans say 'Chock Chock' Skin or 'Glass Skin'.

Here's a rough list of what 10-Step Korean Skincare Regime looks like. You may find different changes in other lists you find in google but this is mine. Yes, it's a lot of work but once you put your mind to it, you'll somehow discover you want to explore more.

1. Oil Cleanser 

2. Foam Cleanser 

3. Exfoliate (3-4 Times Weekly)

4. Toner 

5. Essence 

6. Serum /ampoules /boosters 

7. Masks 

8. Eye Cream 

9. Moisturizer 

10. Sunscreen/Sleeping Mask

I didn't have much to start with, so I just used what I had but did a little bit of study on the ingredients I put on my face and how it'll react to my skin type which is 'oily combination' and also with invasions of acne at that time. So from there, I came to understand that acne forms because of clogged pores and impurities. Oh yeah.. hydration plays an important role too. So I tried to mix and match certain types of products to compliment my skin. You'll know if you've read the previous blog post that I shared earlier.

Anyhow, I came to be obsessed with skincare once I saw results after a week, from there I started to try new products and also added them in my routine.  So below, I'll share a few additional products than my last post.

Products I Used For My 10-Step Korean Skincare Routine

1. Oil Cleanser

Before this, I used Fresh Herb Origin Cleansing Oil, but I wasn't quite satisfied with it, so I tried out Klairs Gentle Black Deep Cleansing Oil since I loved Klairs Foam Cleanser. However, I only use this for my night routine or after I have put on makeup.

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A post shared by 🇲🇾 Beauty Addict | Mira Cikcit (@cikcitbeautyaddict)

Name: Gentle Black Deep Cleansing Oil
Brand: Klairs
Price: RM103
Purchase: shopee.com.my/marshearbeauty

2. Foam Cleanser 

I'm not exactly using foam cleansers but more to cream cleansers. Each cleanser is picked for a purpose. The previous post I shared that I used Make P:Rem Safe Me Relief Moisture Cleansing Foam. Well, I'm still using it now but only at night. For my morning routine, I'll go for Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser as I find it to be very soothing after oil cleansing.

Name: Salicylic Acid Daily Gentle Cleanser 
Brand: COSRX 
Price: RM44 
Purchase: shopee.com.my/marshearbeauty
Read: Review: Make P:rem Safe Me Foam Cleanser

3. Exfoliate

This got me confused at first because I wasn't sure what this was, but after doing a bit of reading then I understood. I didn't really go into much research on this as I found that I'm already using quite a number of exfoliating products in my daily routine, so I don't need a product specifically for it. But still, I happen to still happen to exfoliate once a week, usually during the day just before I do my masking.

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A post shared by 🇲🇾 Beauty Addict | Mira Cikcit (@cikcitbeautyaddict)

Name: Skin Treats Peel & Polish 
Brand: Pixi Beauty 
Price: RM109 
Purchase: www.sephora.my 

4. Toner

So in my previous post, I shared that I used Pixi's Glow Tonic which is very famous to cure acne treatment. But now after I recovered gaining acne and only left its scars, I started to use it about 3 times a week now, depending on my skin condition. Pssttt... also because I'm running low of stock. LOL... If I see a zit about to pop out, I'll be choosing to use that. If my skin is clear, I started to use Axis-Y Daily Purifying Treatment Toner which is rich in Centella Asiatica and Tea Tree, properties to help clear acne scars. After that, I'll always add on Hada Labo's Premium Whitening Lotion.

Name: Daily Purifying Treatment Toner 

Brand: Axis-Y 

Price: RM70 

Purchase: shopee.com.my/marshearbeauty

Read Review: Axis-Y Daily Purifying Treatment Toner 

Name: Premium Whitening Lotion 

Brand: Hada Labo 

Price: RM69 

Purchase: shopee.com.my/mymentholatum

Read Review: Hada Labo Premium Whitening Lotion

5. Essence

I haven't changed to any new essence yet because I feel this is good enough already. I'm already using so many products, I'll probably just keep on using Hyaluronic Acid. 

Name: Hyaluronic Acid Hydra Power Essence 
Brand: Cosrx 
Price: RM55 
Purchase: shopee.com.my/marshearbeauty
Read: Review Cosrx Hyaluronic Acid Hydra Power Essence

6. Serum / Ampoules / Boosters 

This is where it gets a bit tricky, serums, ampoules, and boosters are almost the same things but they do function differently. Serums are mostly a mixture of boosters, while ampoules are usually focused on 1 ingredient. I had a hard time differentiating but I somehow managed to adjust these in my routine. 

My Choice Of Booster 

Name: Immortelle Reset Serum 

Brand: Loccitane 

Price: RM248 

Purchase: loccitane.com

Read: Review L'Occitane Immortelle Reset Oil-In-Serum

My Choice Of Vitamin C Serum 

Name: Galactomyces Pure Vitamin C Serum

Brand: Some By Mi 

Price: RM58 

Purchase: shopee.com.my/marshearbeauty

Read Review: Some By Mi Galactomyces Pure Vitamin C Serum

My Choice Of Ampoule

Name: Madagascar Centella Asiatica 100 

Brand: SKIN1004 

Price: RM100 

Purchase: shopee.com.my/marshearbeauty

Read review: Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Asiatica 100 Ampoule

Name: Artichoke Intensive Skin Barrier 

Brand: Axis-Y 

Price: RM72 

Purchase: shopee.com.my/marshearbeauty

Read review: Axis-Y Daily Intensive Barrier Ampoule

7. Masks 

Masking has been a part of me ever since I was working, we started with masking Monday until we somehow put on a mask every day. I still do that because I feel and noticed that my skin improves a lot if I mask every day. I own a lot of face mask, some which are sponsored for reviews and some that I buy and stock up. I love buying face masks, because I know I'll always wear them. The main place that I have been stocking up my masks for years already is from ALTHEA KOREA. They have the best deals when it comes to masks, and I only hunt for deals. I don't use only 1 certain type of mask, so I can't really list it all down here. It'll just take forever. But if you're curious in what masks do I use. Follow my Beauty Instagram @cikcit.beautyaddict. 

So how do I use my masks then? I usually wear masks in the afternoon where the sun is high up and when we're indoors we tend to get sleepy. When I was working I used that as a waking up method, and I'm still doing that too. I love wearing face masks while I'm working on my lappy. It gives a sudden boost of freshness. 

Anyhow, there is a trick to fully utilize all you're masks. Use a different type of mask with different types of property each day, depending on your skin condition as well. Let's say your skin is feeling dry, go for hydration, tomorrow go for Vitamin, then the next day goes for brightening. That way you'll get a boost for everything. But make sure if you're trying a new mask, and feel any irritation, discard it right away, no matter how expensive it is. It's not for you. 

8. Eye Cream 

I just recently added this step about last month. I didn't focus much on eye creams until I saw my close up pictures with heavy eye bags, then only did I feel to get myself one. I just picked out something randomly because I didn't do much study. What I did was read the reviews which were mostly positive, so I gave this a try. 

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Name: Centella Blemish Cream 

Brand: Cosrx 

Price: RM77 

Purchase: shopee.com.my/marshearbeauty

10. SPF / Sleeping Pack 

In my previous post, I shared my choices of sunscreens and sleeping packs. Well, I haven't changed my choices yet, but since each choice has different kinds, it's better if I do a different post for all of these as I don't want this post to get so long as it already has. 

One thing to remember is never ever complete your skincare routine with sunscreen. Sunscreen is a big help in blocking UV rays which cause ageing and worst, skin cancer. I used to be that girl, but know after I read so much about it, I have never left it out no more.

My Skin Before and After Following 10-Step Korean Skincare Routine

The picture above is a timeline of my skin condition throughout the 2 months, I started my journey in early May and now it's the middle of July. It's 2 months over and I've managed to clear out my cyst acne problems but I'm still dealing with scars. I hope I could get crystal clear skin after 3 to 4 months using this routine.

As I mentioned earlier, throughout the journey I mixed and matched products according to my preferences. I didn't start with everything from day one, I started with the basics, then added more products while I went by. Skincare could be costly and it's okay to not have everything at once, slowly aim what you want and include it in your regime.

So if you look closely to my progress, you'll see that following the timeline, my skin seems to be clearing but then the next picture shows signs of new acne again. This is because I've been adding new products in my regime so some may have not been suitable for me. But in the last picture, you could see that my skin has progressed a lot.

Here's a close up of my worst part of my face that triggered me to start this new routine. I have suddenly been attacked with cyst acne around February and I kinda left it be until it got really bad around March. It was super duper painful and I wasn't comfortable at all. It also caused me to feel very insecure with myself because I have been blessed with good skin since my younger age. Probably I'm ageing and my skin barrier has weakened, so that is why I suddenly had a bad breakout.

Thank goodness I live in the internet era where finding information and solutions are that easy. All you need is a bit of knowledge and you can solve your skin problems in no time. Well, it actually takes kinda a lot of time and patience.

Over these 2 months, I did still get new acne but the normal hormonal ones I usually get. I didn't get anymore cyst acne after I followed this routine. My skin showed major improvements in one week, but what took long was the healing of scars. I'm still haven't fully recovered all the scars yet, but I'm giving it time to heal. Besides, fast results are something to worry about too because that may show signs of too many chemicals which could result in more damage to the skin in later days.

Anyhow, to be honest, maintaining this routine is not easy. It takes a lot of effort, time and also money. I'm struggling myself to maintain this routine because there are times where I don't even have time to put on skincare. You'll understand if you're a mum and a wife, you won't have a fixed schedule because your time depends on your family too. 

Sometimes, I'll have to take extra efforts in putting on skincare because, with this regime, it may take at least half an hour to complete. There are also days where I get lazy but I still fight it and do it because my goal is to achieve glass skin. I want to be able to go out bare-faced and feel confident with myself. Besides, being a mum makes it hard to always apply makeup. Having glass skin should do the trick. Just who doesn't want great skin right?

That's all for now, I'll keep doing updates on my skin condition after this. For updates, stay tuned to my Instagram cikcit.beautyaddict.

Till then peeps!