Korean-Americans Ms. Lee and Ms. Chang met 10 years ago at a L’oreal skin care facility in South Korea. As they were in the facility they realized the benefits of the ingredients of Korean face serums and face masks. With this knowledge they created the first Korean-skin care company in the United States. This company is known as Glow Recipe. Lee states, “Since we launched our company and went on Shark Tank we had grown 70% each quarter and are projected to increase substantially in the future.”

Korean skin care was first introduced to the United States in 2014 from South Korea. Korean skin care is very different than standard U.S. skin care because of the rich ingredients and “odd” techniques. Before 2014, US skin care companies only were introduced to serums, toners, and creams. Ever since the launch of Korean skin care there are now LED light therapy masks and an invention known as Beauty Water.

The most popular Korean Beauty inventions are facemasks because there are so many twists and spins to them. In the past you could get facemasks from the spa, but many of them caused breakouts.

Glow Recipe blueberry cleanser and and watermelon face mask. Photo courtesy of WWD.

Many Korean Face-Masks contain avocado, rice, aloe, tomatoes and hyaluronic acid which all serve different purposes for the skin. They all help lift, hydrate, plump, and detoxify the face so that it is left fresh.

Clay masks were the first face mask introduced to Americans, but many companies evolved from the “apply-it yourself” methods and created sheet masks. Sheet masks according to Women’s Health Magazine, “… are packed full of vitamins, amino acids, and minerals—so they do come with their own set of benefits. They also won’t dry out the skin like a clay mask formula”.

Many different companies have different takes on Korean-skin care and each version is unique and beneficial in its own way. Next time you are at Sephora make sure to check out Glow Recipe because creators Ms. Lee and Ms. Chang are the ones to thank for this phenomenon.

By: Julia Marotti’21 Staff Writer