Korean beauty is the source of some of the best skincare tips and most beautiful makeup looks, and ‘Glass skin’ continues to be the most desirable and popular K-beauty trend. Glass skin is all about luminous, dewy and poreless skin that appears almost transparent – But what does it take to get glass skin? Makeup artist and beauty expert Nigel Stanislaus of the RescuMe Academy Be Your Own Makeup Artist course shares what glass skin really is and how we can best achieve it with some simple beauty and skincare tips.
Image Via Vertereskincare
Popularised by the Korean beauty scene, the trend arose from the growing obsession in Asia with protecting and enhancing skin using good quality skin care.
“The average Korean girl puts a minimum of 17 products on their face before they leave the house,” says Nigel. “They put skincare first, and prioritise glowing skin over anything else, over beautiful lips, eyes or brows.”
According to Nigel, the key to achieving the glass skin look is to build layer upon layer of good quality skin care before even thinking about makeup.
“You need to use lots of serums and creams to keep your skin super hydrated, they then put the colour on top on this to make the skin look even,” he said. “You’re talking about around ten layers of serums absorbed into the skin.”
He warns that you need not use a lot of each serum, but rather to build thin layers in order to ensure makeup longevity.
When it does come to applying their foundation base, the Koreans have a tendency to opt for makeup and colour that is already in skin care to create even more of a glow.
“When they do makeup, there’s this trend of makeup in skincare, rather than skincare in makeup, so they develop the skin care first and then put colour in it to create a skincare-makeup hybrid,” he says.
The best example of such a product is the cushion foundation, which had a major trending moment in Australia over the last two years. However, cushion foundations are a mainstay rather than fickle trend in Asian beauty, making up approximately 70 percent of the foundation sales.
“Inside the cushion formula there is hyaluronic acid, ginseng, vitamin C among other ingredients which give the skin a beautiful, supple finish, creating that ‘glass skin’ look.” In short, revisiting your cushion bases will give you the glass skin look you’re after.
Nigel’s biggest tip to nailing the look is to adopt the wider Asian approach to foundation, whether you use a cushion product or not.
“The Korean approach to applying foundation is to think of it as sheer stockings, so you have smooth skin underneath and then put the ‘stocking’ over the top so it gives you a veil of evenness,” he said.
“In Western cultures there can be a tendency to see foundation as you would opaque stockings, if you will – why would you want to waste all that product to create beautiful, radiant skin and then cover it up?”
While there’s no doubt that healthy, glass-looking skin would look beautiful all year round, Nigel says to opt for more serums if you’re in winter or a cold climate, as in humid climates it does not provide great longevity for your makeup.
“Glass skin pretty much only works in practicality if you’re in a cold country, or during winter,” he said. “In Japan and Korea for example, it gets very cold, so you need to use lots of serums and creams to keep your skin super hydrated.”
And while applying more than a handful of serums, masks and moisturisers may seem tedious to some, Nigel believes that the incredible radiance the glass skin routine achieves makes it more than worth the time.
“When Asian girls sporting the glass skin look walk down the street they really glow,” he said. “I’ve never seen anyone glow so much in my 20 years of makeup, and for the first time in a long time I had learnt something new and exciting that I’d never seen before.”
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