Life-Changing Korean Beauty Products and Where You Should Buy Them

Disclaimer: This article expresses our own personal opinions and is not sponsored in any way. 

KMASKS_GIRLSDAY

Korean face masks are extremely popular both in Korea and abroad (especially when Kpop idols endorse them! These are Girl’s Day masks!)

We LOVE, love, love Korean beauty products! It just seems that most of the products we’ve tried have been extremely beneficial to our skin and we thank our lucky stars everyday that we live near a K-beauty mecca here in Los Angeles (K-town). But, what about people who don’t? One would guess that online would be a wonderful place to start, but you should still be careful.

Recently, a Buzzfeed article was published entitled, “Life Changing Things to Try in 2016”. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the 5th “thing to try” on the list was Korean beauty products! It was great because the writer, Sabrina Majeed, basically mentioned all the positive effects that changing her beauty regime to Korean products had on her skin, but one thing that didn’t sit well with us was that she mentioned purchasing the product from Amazon. We became a little skeptical since her pick was Mizon’s Snail Intensive Repair Ampoule, and the price differed greatly between the product she purchased from Amazon (around $14), and a counterpart we found which was about $38 on Urban Outfitter’s website.

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Some of our favorite Korean beauty products just hanging out in our cabinet…

The age-old adage of “if it’s too good to be true, it usually is” started ringing in our ears, and that led us to thinking…are there a lot of Korean stores that use Amazon as a legitimate source for selling their products from Korea? We have to assume not, since we have noticed a lot of Korean beauty companies prefer to invest and either set up their own brick and mortar stores here in the US, or sell through partnerships, like the highly noticeable one between Urban Outfitters and K-Beauty giant, TonyMoly.

Now, we understand that there are a lot of cases where it’s perfectly safe to buy products on Amazon and it’s “just as good as the ones you would buy from the store”, but our question is, why tempt fate? Anyone can set up a store on Amazon, and the products could be expired, fakes, or worse. It’s true, that Korean beauty products can get really steep in price, setting consumers back upwards of $100 sometimes, but, honestly, quality products will cost more. A lot of Korean skin products contain ingredients like snail, bee venom, volcanic water and mud, aged ginseng and even gold, so, not so cheap! But, not every product is ridiculously expensive. You can still reap the benefits of legitimate Korean cosmetics without selling a kidney or your firstborn. Most face masks and cleansers contain the same ingredients of their more expensive ampoules and serum counterparts, just in lower doses. Here’s some stuff we would suggest that are not too bad on your wallet:


1. Aloe Vera Soothing Gel 92%, Nature Republic

This has to be one of our go-to products that we’ve been using consistently for years now. When we heard Nature Republic was opening a branch in LA (now there are two! >_<), we literally jumped up and down and went to the grand opening, scoring tubs of the stuff for 50% off! It’s soothing, like it states, and it keeps your face hydrated well! A great starter product for your Korean beauty collection!

2. Jeju Sparking Cleansing Tissue, Nature Republic

Makeup is a daily hassle to get rid of once your day is over, but these wipes really work! And, they are extremely soft on your skin. You can just feel the hydration as you cleanse away the impurities of the makeup and replace them with the fresh, thirsty-skin quenching water from Jeju!

3. Rice Mask Wash Off, Skin Food

We can not praise this product enough! Yes, it’s a mask, but you only need to keep it on your face for a short period of time and then, voila, baby soft, glowing skin! Would use every night if we had enough of the stuff…Sadly though, the Skin Food nearest us (Glendale Galleria) is about to close, but not before they have a killer sale! They have promised to stay open until their online retailers are up and running!

4. I’m Real Makgeolli Mask Sheet (Skin Purifying), TonyMoly

OMG, has to be the best mask on the market! And its fun to say you put makegeolli on your face as a beauty treatment!

5. Magic Cover BB Cream, The Face Shop

Our top BB Cream for coverage and protection since it boasts an SPF of 20. It doesn’t feel heavy at all, even though it basically erases all the imperfections off of your face! One downside: it doesn’t come in a wide range of skin colors, but associates at the stores we frequent assure us that they are working on it and we will see new shades soon!


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This is the Instagram pic we posted when we saw the first TonyMoly products in our local Urban Outfitters! They have ALOT of goodies, besides just the makeup! Follow our adventures on Instagram! (@nuttynomads)

We do realize that getting your hands on these products can be seriously difficult, but we’ve heard that a lot of the top K-beauty stores are preparing to open their own online stores or otherwise partner with other companies to bring their products to you! Here are some familiar online sites you can start to purchase your goods from!

Sephora

Urban Outfitters

Yesstyle

Ulta

Glow Recipe

Again, we want to reiterate that, sometimes, Amazon sellers and other online stores can work for you, but just be careful! It might be that we’re overly cautious when it comes to online deals, but we just want to look out for you guys!

What are some of your favorite Korean beauty products? Let us know in the comments!

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