If you haven’t already put thought into how you want to up your self-care game this year, we’ve put together some ideas to get you brainstorming. Start your skincare off on the right foot in 2021 with these best J-Beauty skincare practices.
1. Do your research & know your goals
Define your skincare goals and do your research when selecting brands. Whether your concern is hydration, anti-aging, or improving brightness, you’ll want to take a closer look at the ingredients in skincare products, and see if they address your concerns. J-Beauty brands tend to favor potent natural ingredients, such as proteoglycan, matcha green tea, and Japanese momo peach extract. The properties of such natural ingredients are often effective at resolving multiple skincare issues. If avoiding parabens, fragrance, mineral oils, and artificial colors is your top priority, look for products with a clean beauty seal. If you value brands who commit to sustainability, you may want to look further into brands who take steps to minimize waste, such as Kewtopia and La Vie Précieuse.
2. Commit to cleansing
Can we all finally agree to stop sleeping with our make-up on? No judgement, we’ve all been there. But we all know the repercussions as well – trapped product and oil, which can lead to breakouts and clogged pores. Even if you go au naturel (aka “suppin”), bare skin accumulates sweat, dirt and environmental toxins, so you’ll want to cleanse nightly regardless of whether you wore makeup. We also encourage you to at least gently cleanse every morning - the skin picks up a surprising amount of oil from your hair and pillow at night!
3. Don’t forget about your hands and neck!
The hands and neck are among the places we first notice signs of aging, yet they’re also often neglected in skincare routines! With the current need to wash our hands more than usual, our hands can end up stripped of moisture if we don’t hydrate them post-wash. The skin on our neck is thinner and more delicate than the skin on our face, which makes it susceptible to wrinkling and stretching. Not to mention the UV ray exposure that affects both areas! Needless to say, if you aren’t already giving your hands and neck the love they deserve, you’ll want to in 2021.
4. Keep it simple
Do you honestly mean well when it comes to skincare resolutions, but find yourself inevitably breaking them year after year? Perhaps your skincare resolutions weren’t realistic to begin with. If you have difficulty committing to multi-step skincare routines, you’re in luck this year. 2020 saw some breakthroughs, with J-Beauty brands releasing all-in-one skincare products to the U.S. market. If you’ve never tried an all-in-one skincare product, all you need to know is that it covers all your bases from A to Z after you wash your face. For example, with the Perfect One Moisture Gel, you get the benefits of an essence toner, emulsion, cream, serum, face mask, and primer with just one product. Pretty sweet, right?
5. Be passionate, not perfectionist!
On the other hand, if you’re a perfectionist when it comes to your self-care ritual, maybe it’s time to go easier on yourself. As we all learned in 2020, sometimes life brings happenings that simply aren’t in our control. Everyone has off days - so don’t beat yourself up if you’ve missed a step (or an entire day or two) of your ritual here or there. Long-term consistency is key. Remember, skincare shouldn’t feel like a chore – it should be fun!