24 Hours of Korean Beauty: Testing 73 Products in One Day

Good morning.

I'm Natalie Walker

and this is Korean beauty in a day.

I've been hearing about all of these Korean beauty products,

Korean beauty trends.

I have never gotten to try them out for myself.

Today, I have the opportunity

to try out over 70 products.

Got a lot to learn

and I've got 24 hours in which to do it.

So let's go on this journey.

I haven't even taken my retainer out of my mouth yet.

It's gonna be a real day.

Box number one, ooh.

Oh my God, just masks galore.

This is such a dream.

Ooh, Snail Bee.

What ingredients are the snail

and what ingredients are the bee?

Oooh, this seems like a sex toy.

My parents are gonna watch this and I don't.

Okay, we are only one hour in

and I already have so many questions.

I think it's time to call in an expert.

Hi Charlotte.

Hi Natalie.

What would you say are the biggest differences

between Korean beauty and American beauty?

I feel like Korean beauty

is really accessible with price point.

With Korean beauty,

you can buy five to 10 products,

and it'll really be just under $100, $150.

And also it's all about the packaging.

The packaging is so adorable or so sophisticated.

I like heard a lot

about this 10 step Korean beauty process.

Can you walk me through that?

They are all steps

that are gonna help treat your skin

and help really hydrate your skin.

Korean women love layering products.

As you layer using lightest to thickest product,

it's really help trap the moisture.

I can't wait.

Thank you.

Good luck.

Alright, have all the stuff, ready to go.

Starting off, cleanser.

It smells like a fancy lady's perfume.

Alright, moving on, green tea cleansing stick.

This exfoliant.

This consistency is very great.

Also, it's just so nice

having an exfoliant that smells good.

I feel like most exfoliants smell very chemically.

Once I ran out of makeup wipes

and I used a Clorox disinfecting wipe.

That's a true story about me.

Toning pads.

Ooh, and it is double sided

so it's like more abrasive on one side.

The moment I have been watiign for, Snail Bee mask.

That was with the snail mucin and bee venom.

It says to wait for five to 10 minutes.

Just posing up, do lift weights.

It feels good.

Really clean and really juicy.

Royal honey essence.

I'm obsessed with this.

And now we move onto the white truffle serum.

I don't think it smells like white truffle

but I also have never had white truffle.

Eye cream.

My eyes felt so puffy this morning when I woke up.

This moistful collagen situation.

And finally, time for our SPF.

SPF 50 baby.

Not joking around.

I just went through the whole 10 step routine

and I have to say my skin is feeling good.

I think my favorite part is this essence.

Into it.

It's a beautiful day

so I'm gonna go get dressed

and then we're gonna go out into the world

for some more Korean beauty excursions.

Alright, we have nail therapy, the nail therapy treatment

and we have this green tea mask.

Here we are at beautiful Premier57 in Midtown.

This is the uniform.

I'm ready to explore.

Do I look more beautiful?

The salt moisturizes the air inside,

allowing for easier breathing

for those with respiratory issues.

I have asthma.

This room provides the ultimate meditative environment

with its hand painted walls and soothing aroma

of Korean yellow clay.

Short exposure to cold stimulation

improves the body's antioxidant capabilities.

Ooh, it's real ice.

I feel like Jack Nicholson at the end of The Shining.

We are now here at the luxurious gold room

which reminded me of one of the products that I have to try

this gold wrinkle mask.

I love gold.

I'm about to go in for my soak

and then I'm getting a body scrub.

I have heard the scrub is super intense.

She was up in every single nook and cranny.

It's like sand paper for awhile

on like all of the parts of your body

and then she douses you with a bowl of hot water,

like a big bowl of hot water

and I feel so smooth.

She comes in,

Sue came in and just

it was tapping, drumming, doing a full concert.

But she also told met hat whenever I cleanse my skin

I should start back here

to start the lymphatic drainage.

So what Sue was saying

about the differences

between Korean women and American women

in just like the way they respond to facial massages

made me really, really curious

about where a lot of Korean beauty trends come from.

So I've got this energizing rose mask.

I smell like Grace Kelly.

I'm sure I still look like a serial killer.

This is the gummy,

I figured out what it is,

it is hand cream.

I do not like that you have to decapitate him to open it.

That seems a little upsetting.

So I have been reading a ton of articles about Korean beauty

and I have decided to call in an expert,

Professor Heijin Lee from NYU.

First of all, what are your specific research interests

and how did they ducktail with Korean beauty?

So I'm really interested

in the way in which media facilitates beauty.

Pop culture and beauty tend to be thought of

in general as sort of frugalous stuff of the every day.

But in Korea, especially,

beauty is a three billion dollar export industry.

For an average American,

they might be not that into Korean politics,

they might know the day to day about

the economy-- But they've used a BB cream.

But they do know the 10 step skincare routine.

It's not lost on the Korean government.

This is representing Korea.

This is the brand of Korea.

So beauty presents a sort of non-invasive way

to achieve the Korean look.

Once you know a country or a place through culture,

through beauty, through the pleasurable,

through fun things,

it makes it easier then

to get on board with political policies.

Truly, thank you so much.

This was so fascinating.

Thanks for having me.

I was reading about this trend called jamsu.

It's a Korean beauty trend

where you coat your face with baby powder

after you've done your makeup

and you dunk your head in a bowl of cold water.

I'm gonna dunk my head under the water now.

Ooh.

And now I feel like my makeup will stay forever.

I just looked at my face

and the foundation looks so smooth

so jamsu might be nailing it.

So the first thing we have,

we've got these contour sticks.

It's the Etude House Play Stick,

Blending Pencil,

ooh, we have these cushion blushers.

And now we have the Son & Park color cube,

Proof 10 eye primer.

So we have all these Etude House drawing eyebrow pencils,

eyebrow contouring multipencils.

When your eyebrows are good,

everything seems manageable.

The Son & Park True Black Eye Pen Liner.

I feel like I'm taking a sharpie to my eye.

I would not put past myself

given my history with Clorox.

Curl Fix 24 Hours Mascara.

Ooh, it's a lash perm.

Now we have this Skinfood Honey lip pot.

Ooh, it smells very delightfully like honey.

Now we'll finish it off,

the Son & Park primed and poreless.

It's like very sleek.

I feel like this is a sports car.

I think this is about as close as it's gonna get right now

to perfection.

Read it and weep,

read it and weep.

I feel like it's time to hit up K-Town.

We are here at The Face Shop.

There appears to be a sale over here.

Let's do it.

I got a bunch of little treats.

I got two lipsticks,

one of which I'm wearing right now.

I got this foot peel,

this modeling gel patch for sharp faces.

It's a big part of Korean beauty

and so I feel like I have to go all the way with this thing.

(upbeat music)

It is 8:42 PM

and we still have so much to get through, you guys

and I have to do my 10 steps before bed.

Let's hop on the subway.

(upbeat music)

The Hydro Mist.

Tree water, great.

The smell of this is like how I imagine Blake Lively smells.

This is another love mist for my face.

Alright, and now we're gonna really hydrate.

We're gonna go for this oil stick.

The word oil stick just makes me very weary.

Comfort mittens effect hand cream.

Ooh.

So first we have

this Skinfood Apple Mango Volume Essence Mist,

Etude Houses's Strawberry Sponge Hair Curlers.

Look at these.

This is amazing.

Quinoa Rich Body Cream.

It looks like a straight up tub of oatmeal.

Acne Pimple Master Patch.

Three step blackhead care patch.

I'm supposed to put this on the fold of my smile

and then make an O shape for awhile.

Ooh.

The face lift was basically what Sue was telling me to do

at Premier57 today,

just a lot of like this stuff.

This is how this goes.

Ooh.

Now I've got the Skinfood Pomegranate Collagen Lip Mask.

Oh, and it's like a closed mouth thing

so you guys,

you're gonna miss out on me talking.

I know you haven't heard enough.

Oh my God, you guys, I want to die,

that was so hard.

This has now been on me for far too long

and it feels like a neck beard and I don't like it.

The Etude House Tint My Brows Gel.

I'm gonna go to sleep with it on my fae

and wake up and hopefully have the brows of my dreams.

The foot peeling mask.

Ooh, it like stings a little bit.

This might cure me of my incessant nail biting.

It smells like lemon but with lotion on lemon,

like an old lady's lotion.

I have to say I am not big on the scent of this one.

(upbeat music)

Basically a big thing I learned today,

Korean beauty is about trying,

it's about making an effort

and it's really hard to make that much effort all day long.

Korean beauty is all

about devouring everything about beauty.

This crash course in Korean beauty has been a real adventure

and I really enjoyed it.

I've never felt my skin so moisturized or so hydrated.

So now it's time to take this guy, my retainer,

put him in my mouth, go on to bed, okay?

It's been a day.