SKIN TIME
One of the most well known characteristics of Korean skincare is it’s reputation for multiple steps and products. While being thorough, this is also a bit excessive and even Korean skincare has been cutting back on the steps. This is good news because while indulging your skin can feel satisfying, ain’t nobody got time for that. (Unless you do. In which case, lucky).
So how does one find the time to care for your skin?
Before getting into a long involved routine, approach it practically. The easiest way to simplify is to plan ahead and cut down to essentials— three steps morning and night. For a morning routine you want to prime and protect your skin for going out in the world. If you tend to have sensitive or dry skin, swipe your face with micellar water, apply serum, and use a moisturizer with SPF. If you have more oily skin, cleanse, tone, and apply moisturizer with SPF. Your skin will be balanced without overdoing it.
For a nighttime routine you want to renew and repair. Now is the time to cleanse. Seriously, get all your makeup, sweat, and whatever else you’ve been walking around in off your face. Next apply a retinol or vitamin A treatment to help cell turnover while you sleep. Finally use a rich moisturizer to hydrate and soothe your skin overnight.
Three steps is simple enough for day to day, but what about when you need an extra oomph? Two bonus treatments are beneficial, exfoliating and face masks. A gentle chemical exfoliate like pads and serums two to three times a week helps remove the dead skin cells off your face. This way, all the goodness of these serums and moisturizers absorb into the skin. A great option to add this is once a week, treat your skin to a face mask to give your skin a moisture boost.
While sheet masks can be worn in the morning before SPF or at night as the moisturizer, they're ideal for those who have crammed schedules and need a night off. The top ingredients for face masks are hyaluronic acid for hydration and niacinamide to calm redness and irritation. Sheet masks provide an occlusion barrier by keeping all the skin loving ingredients in. It just so happens, Soon has some you’ll love right here. Lucky you, you just saved another step.
20 THINGS TO DO WHILE WEARING A SHEET MASK
What to do with 20 minutes to kill while wearing a sheet mask or where to find the time? You don’t want to have to “act natural” in front of others like you don’t look like Halloween (but it will be soon, so definitely wear a sheet mask while passing out candy to treat or treaters— it’s festive!). The key is mask multitasking— things you can do indoors while wearing a mask. Yes, people wear them on planes, but this is how to work it into your everyday life.
To help get the ideas flowing, here are 20 things I have done for 20 minutes while wearing a sheet mask. Some more useful than others.
- Take a shower
- Deep conditioning hair treatment (two-fer!)
- Paint nails
- Watch a dance tutorial on YouTube
- Google “Ciara workout”
- Ab isolations, hip bridges, tricep dips
- Fix kitchen sink
- Prep dinner
- Schedule week in calendar
- Pay bills online
- Register to vote
- Meditate
- Nap
- Fold laundry
- Practice the piano
- Write a blog post on sheet masks
- Listen to an episode of Spooked podcast
- Call brother back
- Scroll Instagram
- Buy more facemasks online
What’s your favorite way to mask multitask/ pass the time?
