Korean skincare

Korean skincare is known for plant extracts, and they show up in the ingredient lists too. Across the catalog's 1,738 Korean products, the same names keep coming up: centella in 671 products, madecassoside 380, rice 251, mugwort 217, Houttuynia cordata 114, and ginseng 96.

These numbers are counted from ingredient lists: they tell you what a product contains and where in the list it sits. We make no claims about what any of it does to skin. The largest product groups are serums (352), moisturizers (330), and face masks (317). The catalog has 91 Korean brands, and each one has its own page, where that brand's products sit side by side.

The best Korean skincare depends on your skin and your budget, so there is no favorites list on this page. Instead, every product shows its ingredient list, its flagged ingredient groups, and its price at the stores that carry it: Cocopanda and Lyko. 593 Korean products are sold at two or more of them. The lowest compared prices range from €2.70 to €67.50.

Of the products whose ingredient lists we have read, 1,283 (about 74%) are fragrance-free, and 1,605 contain no drying alcohol. Product pages also show the price per 100 ml, which is the only way to put a 30 ml serum and a 300 ml toner on the same line. The rules behind the flags are written out in full in our methodology.

The catalog has 115 Korean sunscreens, with lowest prices from €5.35 to €48.00. UV filters appear in the ingredient list like any other ingredient, so you can read the filter blend yourself before you buy. The SPF number is about UVB protection, and the PA rating about UVA protection.

Two ingredients are most often associated with aging skin: collagen and retinoids. The Korean range has both: collagen in 355 products and retinoids 121. We make no efficacy claims about either. Our fine lines page brings together the products whose ingredient list contains one of them, and explains how a product ends up there. Each ingredient page also shows where the ingredient sits in every product's list. The list is in order of concentration, so the position gives a rough idea of the amount.

The ten-step routine is a familiar marketing frame, and our guide describes the same routine with just a few product types: cleansing, hydration, and sunscreen in the morning; cleansing and hydration in the evening. Serums and acids fit in between, if you use them. You can find every one of them in the grid above by filtering by product type.