BEAUTY

The Best New Korean Face Masks To Transform Your Skin

The experts at natural Korean beauty site Glow Recipe weigh in.


Tiffany Girls Generation

“Every time we go to Korea – and we go every couple of months – we are just blown away by all the products,” said Christine Chang, co-founder of natural Korean beauty site Glow Recipe. “There is just so much on the market there, it’s really hard to keep up.”

That’s putting it lightly. South Korea, for the uninitiated, is a full-on beauty mecca. Streets are lined with shops full of endless skincare products, and masks in particular are available in hundreds of varieties. With ingredients ranging from snake venom to horse oil, it’s positively mind-boggling to try and figure it all out.

We enlisted Chang and her Glow Recipe co-founder Sarah Lee to help us hone in on the latest and greatest Korean masks that are actually worth trying. Here, a few of their favorite new ones you should order ASAP.

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Photos: The Best New Korean Face Masks To Transform Your Skin

Tiffany of Girls Generation. Photographed by Peter Ash Lee, styled by Ye Young Kim; W Magazine March 2016.

Blithe Splash Masks

“This is a liquid treatment you just splash onto the face and then pat. It derives from this centuries-long tradition of splashing botanicals on the face. That’s been a really big bestseller for us.”

Great for: Masking on-the-go. Perfect for days when you don’t have 20-plus minutes to spare for a sheet mask. Promises “softer, smoother skin and glowing, supple appearance.”

J. One Jelly Pack

Pack is another word for mask in Korean. This is a totally unique, multi-tasking treatment that is a morning mask, lifting treatment, and a primer all in one. We were really skeptical at first because we have seen multi-taskers before and they don’t work all that well. This is essentially a makeup gripper. If you put it on the skin, it feels a little sticky at first and then you pat, pat, pat and then it provides this canvas where if you apply foundation or sunscreen on top, it becomes silky smooth, like flawless. Foundation really grabs onto your face all day, it doesn’t slip or slide. It’s buzzing in Korea, we just launched it here.”

Great for: Morning skin prep before putting your makeup. Developed by Korean actress Ha Jiwomn for her action film roles, J. One Jelly Pack was developed specifically for an on-the-go lifestyle.

Squish and Bubble Mesh Mask

“We just launched a new mask in a mesh format. It looks like a puff that goes into your compact, basically. It’s round and comes with a little satin handle. You wet it with water and it starts lathering up by itself because it is already infused with Vitamin C and you use it to buff around the face, the elbows, and any part of the body that’s rough.”

Great for: Removing dead skin cells, resulting in brighter and smoother skin.

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