It didn’t happen overnight, but we’ve finally caught up to K-beauty’s superior skin-care practices—and everyone wants Korean glass skin these days. Erica Choi, licensed esthetician and founder of skin-care brand Superegg, thinks it’s a combination of the two factors. “Originating from Korea’s beauty culture, where the trend emphasizes hydration, radiance, and overall skin health, this aligns with the global shift towards skincare as a vital aspect of self-care and wellness,” she tells Vogue. “Overall, the glass-skin trend reflects a broader desire for natural-looking beauty and consumer practices prioritizing effortless beauty routines and a ‘high-maintenance to be low-maintenance’ mindset.”
Vogue’s Favorite Glass Skin Picks
With unprecedented accessibility—there’s no shortage of K-beauty-inspired skin-care products formulated to brighten, hydrate, and impart glowing skin ASAP—it’s easy for anyone to take up the approach. And while Choi points out that the glass-skin trend exploded in popularity due to social media, “ultimately becoming a global phenomenon,” the concept itself has ancient cultural ties. “South Koreans and skin care go back thousands of years to the time of the Three Kingdoms era (37–668 BC), when the ideology of beauty standards was coined young-yook-il-chi-sa-sang, meaning ‘within a beautiful body, rests a beautiful soul,’” board-certified dermatologist Christine Hall, MD explains.
In practice, Dr. Hall adds that a glass skin routine revolves around maximizing hydration in lightweight layers and soothing the skin barrier. “K-beauty revolves around nurturing barrier–optimizing the hydration within and blocking out pollutants and environmental stressors,” the practitioner previously told Vogue. “The whole regime centers around maximizing hydration of the skin or ‘skin flooding’ with product after product aimed at restoring the skin barrier and locking in hydration—no matter what your skin-type is.”
That said, Choi explains that skin type, genetics, and environmental factors play a role in achieving the look; test-driving a glass-skin routine by adopting a tailored regimen, protecting the skin from environmental stressors, and caring for one’s unique skin type will improve your complexion over time.
Ahead, Choi and Hall take us through a step-by-step, skincare regimen showing how to get the glass skin look—plus the best products to shop loved by experts and editors alike.
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Start with a Double Cleanse
Dr. Hall says that double cleansing is the foundation of a glass-skin routine. “Sebum, the majority of makeup, and SPF are lipophilic, meaning that they dissolve in oil, while sweat, pollutants, and other impurities will be water-soluble,” she says. “So the only way to get a really deep clean and completely remove all of the buildup from the day is to a double cleanse by using an oil followed by a water-based cleanser.” Plus, she notes that foams or gels are water-soluble formulas that can wipe away remaining impurities or residue following your oil cleanse. From balms to low pH gel face washes and luxurious oils, anyone of these picks will give you an effective cleanse, without irritation.