One of the most interesting parts of the K-beauty wave is that there is quic a big difference between in Korea and other countries in terms of beauty trend.
For example, those brands all K-beauty junkies definitely know like Cosrx and dear Klair's are not really famous or well known in Korea.
On the other hand, those brands picking up really quick in Korea are not much introduced to other countries.
**I have chosen the products below by outstanding keyword ranks of beauty category on naver.com, the biggiest local-dominating portal service in Korea
- [Goodal] green tangerine vita C dark spot serum 30ml
- Price: KRW 19,200 - USD 16.16
- Manufacturer: Cosmax
It has been chosen the most popular serum in Korea for about 2 years since 2018 and I believe it's one of the bestsellers of all Kbeauty items in the world.
This contains 70% of Jeju green tangerine extract which helps firm and vitalize skin.
It also claims it cares dry and irritated skin gently, but it may sting at the beginning because of the vitamin C ingredient.
There are lovers or haters, not many in between. Personally I don't really like it as it doesn't really work on my skin.
- [d'Alba] first spray serum 100ml
- Price: KRW 26,100 - USD 21.97
- Manufacturer: BNB Korea
It has gained more and more awareness since last year in Korea known as a 'Flight attendant mist'.
It contains Avocado oil, white truffle, and 3 vegetable essential oil to provide good ratio of water and oil balance.
I found some reviews of it on Aamzon which are mostly pretty good, this may be a new try for you if you have such dry skin and use mist constantly.
I haven't used it so can't comment on the item, but personally don't like such pet name "stewardess cosmetics", this gives very weird feeling to me all the time..
- [Round Lab] 1025 Dokdo toner 200ml
- Price: KRW 13,500 - USD 11.36
- Manufacturer: Cosmax
This hypoallergenic toner has been one of the most popular cleansing toner in Korea since 2017.
The water is from deep sea with full of mineral and it contains panthenol to gently hydrate skin.
It has such a patriotic name in it (Dokdo) and this may give a better impression to Koreans.
I like it as a daily cleansing toner thanks to its very light and hypoallergenic formula and reasonable price.
- [Anua] heartleaf soothing Toner 250ml
- Price: KRW 20,000 - USD 16.77
- Manufacturer: Megacos
It contains 77% of Houttuynia extract that is known for soothing and calming skin gently.
Anua is a pretty new brand but it has been seen at many places both on/offline, the brand provides hypoallergenic products with relatively less numberes of ingredients.
I haven't used it yet so can't comment on its quality, but there are quite many organic reviews with good comments.
- [Tonymoly] ceramide mocchi toner 500ml
- Price: KRW 9,900 - USD 8.30
- Manufacturer: Megacos
Thanks to its big volume at a very good price, the makeup brand's ceramide toner has been popular especially among 10/20's.
It contains 5,000ppb ceramide that helps prevent evaporation of moisture in skin.
The color of content is white so it seems quite viscous but it is not really, it can be used as a skin mist as well.
- [CNP Laboratory] propolis energy ampoule 35ml
- Price: KRW 25,000 - USD 20.96
- Manufacturer: Skin & Skin
This very popular propolis ampoule has been ranked highly for over few years, this is one of the best selling items at O'live Young as well.
It's well known as it hydrates and nourishes skin very well while evening skin as well.
It's not sticky but not very light, so it's good for dry skin type.
- [Zeroid] soothing cream 80ml
- Price: about KRW 27,000 - USD 22.64
- Manufacturer: Neopharm
This amazing soothing cream has been the first choice of dermatologists in Korea to genly care such sensitive skin (One of my friends who are dermatologist with atopic skin has used this cream for over 5 years).
Since Zeroid is not available at normal retail shops like olive young, not that many people have used it but every person I know who tried this loves it.
I do like this cream as well, this is very light yet moisturizing very smoothly.
- [Torriden] DIVE-IN serum 50ml
- Price: KRW 18,000 - USD 15.09
- Manufacturer: Celleco
It is known as a hypoallergenic serum with many blog reviews.
This serum is not viscous, so this can be used as a moisturizing toner for those who use toner as a cleansing and evening product.
If you are not really a person who has such dry skin and needs highly moisturizing skin care routine, this may be your daily serum (despite its lower volume).
- [MIGUHARA] ultra whitening ample 20ml
- Price: KRW 9,900-31,200 - USD 8.30-26.16
- Manufacturer: Charming Cosmetics
Although it is a well known brand among 20's, the vitamin C ampoule has been widely purchased through TV shopping with massive discount.
Since I have not tried it yet and there are not that many organic reviews so can't comment much (found some good reviews on Amazon though).
- [Mealade] fermented rice brightening essence 150ml
- Price: KRW 10,000-18,000 - USD 8.39-15.09
- Manufacturer: Korea Research Institute of Bio Science (KRIBS)
This is not that much popular in Korea yet but I think this is pretty good daily hydrating essence.
It contains 95% of fermented rice extract and galactomyces filtrate, quite viscous but very lightweight.
I have used it for about 3 months and very satisfied as it hydrates very well, but it doesn't really work as a brightener to me.
Bad thing about it is how to buy: it is available on some online malls but the price varies quite much. I think this is a typical problem of some Korean beauty brands because of messy distribution structure.
Well, this takes quite long time for me to summarize the 9 products above, now I am not that confident to keep this up.. will try my best :)
