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Over the years, we have seen it all when it comes to health and beauty. Matte skin, 'I'm cold makeup', and now glass-skin. The glass-skin trend takes significant inspiration from Korean skincare, overloading products to build the skin's barrier and achieve a radiant glow. Although the term ‘glass-skin’ has existed in Korean skincare for years, thanks to TikTok and trending beauty across the social media sphere, the process has moved beyond Korea and entered the Western beauty world. Now, the majority of beauty fanatics are not only aware of the routine, but actively seek to integrate it into their own beauty regimes. The result: dewy and plump skin all year-round with a youthful and overly hydrated appearance. The overly filtered makeup look is out, and the natural glow is in. Glass-skin therefore provides the perfect base for the newly trending minimum coverage, natural makeup look.
Here at CSP Times, we have collated small steps you can take to integrate into your winter skincare routine and not only maintain moisture during the colder months, but equally achieve the glass-skin flawless look.
Skincare Minimalism
With the rise of strict skincare routines, curating the perfect regime can be tough. Wanting to add as many acids and ingredients as possible to benefit the skin is an easy mistake to make as it is not only unnecessary, it can ultimately damage the skin and have the reverse effect. Yet it can be overwhelming figuring out how to compliment products with one another in order to create the best routine for your skin. With a never-ending market of new products and an array of options for the same product, it can be tricky to figure out which products to choose. Ultimately, it will require some research and trial and error before you find the perfect products. A 10-step routine is not only time-consuming, but also an unnecessary routine to add into your busy day. So how do you achieve your dream skin with all the best ingredients, without the consumption of significant time and cost?
Skin minimalism is becoming an increasingly popular method to integrate all the ingredients needed for your skin in less products. By combining products that contain a multitude of favourable ingredients for your skin, you can target specific skin issues to achieve the same effect. In doing so, you are benefiting from the same ingredients, in less products, saving significant time and money.
Double Cleansing
Like most beauty regimes, a necessary step is cleansing the skin prior to layering products over the skin. Properly removing makeup and dirt is vital to create a clean base for the products to sit and penetrate into the skin barrier. There are many benefits of regular cleansing, but significant pros include the ridding of excess oils, environmental dirt, and dead skin cells. Allowing these stressors to build up results in clogged pores, which promote spots and imperfect skin. Implementing an oil-based cleanser followed by a water-based cleanser prevents excess oils remaining on the face and ensures a complete clean prior to product use.
A popular product for this is the Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm, a bestseller on many online retail stores. Transitioning into three different textures - a balm, an oil and finally, a milk - the product ensures that skin is thoroughly cleaned and hydrated, to begin the nourishing process. Fatty acids help retain skin elasticity and hydrate the skin, essential elements to achieve the youthful glow of glass-skin. Beginning your skincare routine with an oil-based cleanser is great for removing makeup and dirt in a gentle way.
Following this with the Garnier Micellar Water, which most of us find in our cupboards as a skincare staple, ensures pores are thoroughly cleaned. Micellar Water is a fantastic option for gentle cleansing following the oil-based cleanser that removes the majority of makeup and dirt. Think of it as a safety option to remove any dirt that the oil-based cleanser might have missed.
Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm
HKD 520.00
Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water - All-in-1
HKD 29.50
Facial Flooding
In essence, facial flooding comprises of numerous serums added to the face when damp in order to flood the face with moisture and hydration. In doing so, it heightens the efficiency of the serums to lock in hydration. Serums followed by a heavily hydrating moisturisers aid this process to achieve the signature look. Finally, setting this with an oil-based product secures the moisture. The great part of skin flooding is its personalisation. Dependent on individual skin texture, you can integrate certain serums into this flood in order to achieve hydration for all aspects of the face. Say your under-eyes get extremely dry in the winter, adding more products onto the specific area can ensure it is meeting the same nourishment as the rest of the face. But remember, cleansing is a vital step prior to product placement, as it is integral that all dirts and oils are removed so they are not trapped under the products and cause more damage.
Adding Hyaluronic acid to your face whilst your face is still damp is incredibly important if you are going to use this ingredient. Hyaluronic acid pulls water from your face, so by adding water back into the routine, you are satisfying the hydrating needs of the acids added to your face in excess. In doing so, you still reap the benefits of hydrated, nourished skin. By missing this step, your skin will ultimately end up more dehydrated and dried than before.
Snail mucin is becoming increasingly popular in the Western market, following Korean beauty trends that have existed for years. Helping to repair the skin's redness and breakouts, the COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence locks in moisture and is taking the skincare world by storm. It is a great addition to add to facial flooding to complete the steps and lock in hydration prior to moisturising. Bear in mind, the ingredient will not be beneficial for everyone, so it again is an instance of trial and error.
La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Serum
HKD 475.00
COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence
HKD 272.00
SPF
This step is an obvious and integral, yet often overlooked step in the process to achieve beautiful, unblemished skin. Protecting the barrier from environmental elements as well as UV, even in the snow and fog can be invaluable for beautiful, protected skin. A constant in all the top beauty advocates is their use of sunscreen. Great for anti-aging, protection from environmental stressors, and hydration, a moisturising sunscreen has many benefits for overall complexion. Continuing the promotion of skin minimalism, we recommend integrating this through your moisturiser.
There are an array of creams on the market that contain SPF 15, SPF 30, even SPF 50. We've provided links to a couple of moisturising SPF's that we, here at CSP Times enjoy for maximum hydration and protection.
Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream SPF 30
HKD 1020.00
La Roche Posay Anthelios UVmune 400 SPF50+
HKD 267.66