All the Tips I Learned From Binge Watching Korean Beauty Videos All Weekend

What happens when you spend a couple days binge watching Korean beauty videos? Amazing skin and base makeup apparently. How contributing editor Sheryll Donerson upped her beauty game by being a couch potato all weekend.

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You know how it goes — you watch one YouTube makeup tutorial, then it’s three, then all of a sudden you look up from your iPad and it’s been like six hours. Or maybe that’s just what I did one weekend when I fell into the K-beauty YouTube rabbit hole.

It all started when I got on Instagram and started following the amazing @sobong_official and realized she had a YouTube channel for all of her iconic makeup looks. And then I didn’t move for the whole day?!?!

But not all was lost, you see. I gained a crap ton of knowledge watching Korean beauty videos that I’ve implemented into my routine — knowledge that I’m going to share with all of you lovely people.

Tip 1: Tailor your morning routine to create a perfect base for your makeup

This tip honestly blew my mind. Instead of using whatever products they want for their AM routine, SO many of the Korean YouTubers I watched would choose specifically what type of skincare to use based on what foundation they were wearing or how they wanted the foundation to look. I don’t know why I never thought of this before.

For example, instead of doing your regular morning routine and then applying a primer to try to mattify, a lot of the women would just use a mattifying moisturizer, something like the Swanicoco Bitamin E Extra Matt Emulsion. Or if they wanted a more dewy/honey/glass skin look, they’d use a hydrating moisturizer with a hint of luminosity. Even more so, a lot of the women I watched would do a very, very basic morning/pre-makeup routine — literally just cleanse, tone, serum/essence, and a hydrating cream.

I tried this tip for myself, and I was SHOOK. My makeup went on smoother and I noticed that it didn’t cake up like it can sometimes. What a blessing.

Tip 2: Really, actually, take your time and pat your skincare into your skin

I saw this tip on like four separate videos before I was like, OK, there must be something to this. I know that the K-beauty thing to do is to pat your skincare in, but I’m going to be honest with you — I never did that sh—t. I would just lightly rub it on like I always have because old habits are hard to break.

But in so many of the videos I watched, there was at least like 3 to 5 minutes dedicated strictly to skincare (which is not the norm in Western beauty vids, so that was cool), and all of them stressed the importance of really taking your time and letting the skincare fully absorb into the skin by pat-pat-patting it in. It takes longer, yes, but it seems to be the general consensus that if your skincare isn’t fully absorbed before you apply your base makeup, it will go on streaky/cakey/gross/not natural. And if you have dry skin, there’s a chance that your makeup can get flaky throughout the day because you didn’t give your skincare time to really absorb into the skin.

Tip 3: Apply your foundation in light layers, then go back and cover where necessary for a natural, skin-like finish

I’m not the biggest fan of the super, overly matte, ultra high coverage foundation look (nothing wrong with this though!) so when I watched this tutorial from hello_subin, I was like GASP. If you want to have that really natural, pretty, “oh yeah my skin just always looks this way” look, follow these steps.

Using your fingers, apply a very light layer of your foundation or base makeup. Then go in with extra foundation to the areas that need more coverage. For me, that’s my chin, around my jawline, and around my mouth. After that, dot concealer on any places or spots that are peaking through, and that’s it! This tip results in a much more natural look so your skin looks like skin and not skin that’s covered with makeup.

Do you love to watch Korean beauty videos? I’m always looking for channels to subscribe to, so let me know who you love in the comments!