Six great Korean beauty buys for dry, sensitive, or acne-prone skin

The 'Land of the Morning Calm' has plenty great products to offer Irish beauty shoppers

K-beauty faves: Yoon Young Bae is one of South Korea's most internationally successful models. Image: Getty

K-beauty first made waves with BB creams a decade ago and remains appealing. South Korea ranked third in global cosmetics exports in 2020.

While Britain, France and Germany are its most engaged European partners, the 'Land of the Morning Calm' has plenty to offer the Irish. The cosmetics are typically good value, high quality, and minimally packaged. Korean beauty culture favours porcelain skin, which is ethically obscene but encourages the production of broad-spectrum UV protection (needed by skin of every colour for cancer prevention and overall health), and formulas that improve hyperpigmentation. Ingredients that fight free-radical damage and calm rosacea — such as liquorice, soy, and centella asiatica — are widely used.