#korean-skincare

#korean-skincare

Remember that viral TikTok showing someone's $500 skincare routine? I watched it three times, mentally calculating how many months of rent that collection represented. Then I looked at my own bathroom shelf, packed with Korean beauty products that cost me less than a nice dinner out, and realized something: My skin had never looked better, and I'd spent a fraction of what my luxury-brand-devoted friends had.

I wouldn't say it was rare that the beauty industry invents a whole new product category, but my own willingness to adopt another step certainly is. Ten years ago, I'd have told you not to bother with toner unless you particularly enjoyed using it, which is as good a reason as any in a world on fire. And yet over the past couple of years, the new milky toners have, to me at least, become so functional as to be indispensable.

Dr. Christine Hall grew up in the UK but spent most of her summers in South Korea, which gave her an appreciation of both Western and Korean skincare cultures. The qualified physician and pharmacist-turned "glass skin" specialist told Business Insider that she combines West and Korean skincare products and techniques to keep her skin looking radiant and aging healthily. "Ideally, I would want that kind of flawless, dewy, glowy skin," she said, but is also realistic, adding: "If you had poreless skin, your skin wouldn't be healthy. Your pores are normal anatomy, they're there for a reason."

When the tariffs hit, it obviously was such an emotional piece of news for me. I had just invested all my savings in inventory.