Acne-prone skin? Unwanted pimple? Trust that K-beauty or Korean skincare will help combat your troubles *literally*!
Today we invite again our Picky expert Mina – a licensed cosmetologist from Poland, to help us better understand our pimples. She also shares her Korean skincare product recommendations for blemishes, categorized by different main ingredients. So don’t pop that zit, and let’s see which treatments will work for you and help clear your skin!
Hey Mina!
Let’s talk about pimples that pop up out of nowhere. I guess some of you would like to pick and pop them up, but it’ll leave a dark spot that will take months to heal. What should you do instead? Treat them the right way!
We’re all guilty of when new acne pops up on the skin, and we want to fight it with our fingers. The urge is real, but there are spot treatments that can help us instead!
Pimples are nothing other than inflammation, so how do we treat inflammation? With substances that provide anti-inflammatory properties. Instead of using home/DIY methods like baking soda, toothpaste, etc. – invest in products that help pimples without destroying your skin barrier or even causing chemical burns.
Calamine
Calamine looks like a pink powder. It’s a mixture of zinc oxide and ferric oxide. Calamine has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties and can be useful after depilation or sunbathes.
It’s used in products to calm the skin after bite relief products and acne treatments. The most popular solutions are double-phase solutions with calamine powders and the fluid part that contains tea tree oil, salicylic acid, or other ingredients to calm the skin.
Neogen Dermalogy A-Clear Soothing Pink Eraser
Dewytree The Clean Lab AC Dew Calamine Blemish Spot
These products are great examples of double-phase treatments with calamine. Also, make sure is to not mix them before using double-phase products!
Other K-beauty products with calamine that might help with acne include:
Toun28 T5 Calamine Serum
Axis-y Calamine Pore Control Capsule Serum
Both are focused on the anti-inflammatory effect.
Licorice
I’m not a fan of licorice candy, but licorice in skincare? Yummy!
Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract – or licorice, is hiding under the ingredients that help treat acne-prone skin. There are other types of licorice used in skincare, but Glycyrrhiza Glabra is the most common.
It’s an antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties and a source of Dipotassium Glycyrrhizinate – another ingredient that you can find in your products with anti-inflammatory properties. Licorice can be used on sensitive skin.
Axis-y Spot The Difference Blemish Treatment
This product mixes licorice with tea tree extract, camphor, and 4-Terpineol (an active substance derived from Tea Tree Oil).
I’m From Licorice Calming Cream
This is one of the most recent products released from the brand, but this cream is a good choice for oily and acne-prone skin, especially if you need to balance sebum production.
Acwell Licorice Ph Balancing Cleansing Toner
This is one of the products including licorice you probably already know!
Tea Tree Oil
Tea Tree Oil is an essential oil with antiseptic properties. I might not be a fan of essential oils but this one has a special place on my list of favourite ingredients. The magical secret of this ingredient is in 4-Terpineol – an active component of this oil.
Please remember that Tea Tree Oil has to be diluted, and you shouldn’t put it straight onto your skin! Although this ingredient is common in products for acne-prone skin from Australian brands, you can see Korean skincare brands like Some By Mi and Aromatica releasing their own Tea Tree Oils. These solutions are great to add to your clay mask or moisturizer.
Mediheal Teatree Calming Essence Pad
These pads are a great solution to put on your skin if you want to relax a bit but you are not a fan of sheet masks. You can use these pads instead of a toner.
Zinc
We mostly see Zinc Oxide in sunscreens, but there’s another type of Zinc you might want to try. Zinc PCA is usually mixed with Niacinamide to provide great results on acne-prone skin. However, not everyone enjoys this duo (in my case it causes my acne to get even worse), but if your skin reacts well to this ingredient then the product below will be a great solution for you.
Papa Recipe Niacinamide Zinc Serum
A’Pieu Cicative Zinc Cream
These products are recommended for sensitive skin, but this soothing solution helps with inflammation – you can use it as a spot treatment.
Centella
Centella Asiatica is definitely a very popular ingredient used in many Korean skincare products lately. Centella boosts the wound healing process and is a source of madecassoside, asiaticoside, and asiatic acid.
Tosowoong SOS Repair Cica Clinic Spot Shield Gel Patch
This patch is surprising but a great innovative solution. If you’re not a fan of pimple patches, this solution is perfect for you! It leaves a thin film that looks like a gel structure to protect your pimples. You can easily apply makeup on the top of the film and then just remove it like a pimple patch. Additionally, Tosowoong SOS Repair Cica Clinic Spot Shield Gel Patch is rich in ingredients that help with inflammation to calm the spot during the day (or night).
COSRX Centella Blemish Cream
The product is loved by many people with acne-prone skin, this cream speeds up the healing process after breakouts.
These are only a few of the ingredients you can find in spot treatment. There are other ingredients like azulenes, TECA, tamanu oil, and more, but the five ingredients mentioned above are the easiest ones to find at stores.
Thank you Mina, for all the helpful tips and tricks to better understand the ingredients in our skincare and how to use them for troubled skin!
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