6 steps and two tips for natural ‘glass skin’

The Korean beauty industry — or K-beauty — has given the world a new skincare craze: Glass Skin. Skin that is luminous, clear, dewy, and seemingly as smooth as glass.

You don’t have to go to Korea to get glass skin, you just need a natural skincare routine that goes further than the usual cleanse, tone, and moisturise routine. Results won’t happen overnight, but they will happen. Korean beauty experts say your glass skin should emerge after two or three weeks.

After reviewing all the glass skin advice we could find, we’ve distilled it down to a 7-step routine. You can repeat this routine at night by swapping the moisturiser for a night cream — and you won’t need to worry about sun protection. While that might be a few more steps than you’re used to, the results will be worth it.

Step 1: Cleanse

This first step is simple but very important. Remove any makeup and give your face a really good clean.

Use a foaming cleanser to get your face sparkling but make sure you check the ingredients. Some foaming cleansers use sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) as a foaming agent. This substance can unbalance the PH — or acidity — of your skin causing it to become dry and more easily infected.

Step 2: Cleanse again! (yes, cleansing is that important)

This second cleanse must be carried out with a hydrating cleanser, like Okana’s Radiant Skin Sorbet Cleanser. Its task is to dissolve away any remaining makeup and impurities, leaving the pores clean and clear.

It’s important to use a hydrating product for this second cleanse as it is gentler and won’t strip away important natural oils from your face.

Step 3: Polish gently

Now that your skin is nice and clean, it’s time to polish. Don’t include this step every day, just two or three times a week is enough.

Apply a natural exfoliator to your face with your fingertips then use a gentle circular motion to polish your skin. Pay special attention to open-pore areas and zones that are prone to black-heads, like your chin and jawline.

Step 4: Tone, tone, tone, and tone

Toning should be done while your face is still damp from cleansing because you’re trying to get as much hydration into your skin as possible before sealing it in with moisturiser.

Korean skincare experts suggest you tone your skin multiple times, letting the toner sit for a few seconds between each application.

A mist toner, like Okana Cucumber + Lettuce Toner, makes this easy. Mist your face, wait a few seconds, and then mist again. Repeat this four or five times and you’ll feel like you just emerged from an idyllic freshwater pool. Your skin will gratefully drink up all that moisture and reward you later.

Step 5: Apply an essence or serum

While your skin is still damp from the toning ritual, apply a hydrating essence or serum. Try a product that’s based on natural ingredients to avoid undoing all your good work with harmful chemicals.

The best way to apply these products is to rub a few drops between your palms and then press the serum or essence all over your face. Just be careful to avoid your eyes.

Step 6: Moisturise

You’ve applied a lot of moisture and nutrients to your face, and now it’s time to trap them there with a quality natural moisturiser. This will ensure your skin doesn’t dry out again, leaving you looking dewy and gorgeous

Choose a cream made with 100% natural ingredients, like Okana High Antioxidant Day Moisturiser. After so much pampering, your skin is primed to absorb nutrients and protective oils — but that can backfire if its absorbing harsh chemicals instead.

Check the ingredients of your moisturiser to make sure there is nothing harmful in there. Look out for harmful ingredients like parabens and polyethylene glycol.

Ideally, you want to see ingredients you actually recognise. Our day moisturiser’s ingredients list is simply carrot juice, tomato juice, apricot kernel oil, and olive oil — natural goodness!

A tip: Stay sun safe

Keeping your skin safe from the sun is one of the best things you can do for the health of your skin. While a small amount of UV can have beneficial effects, prolonged exposure will age and damage your skin, and can lead to cancer. The best skin care routine in the world won’t help if you are getting sunburned regularly.

To protect your skin from sun damage, you should apply some kind of sun protection every day. This could be a sunscreen or a BB cream. Look for products that use minerals to protect your skin, rather than chemical sunscreens.

A final tip: Drink lots of water!

A final step to achieving glass skin is drinking enough water each day. If you’re dehydrated on the inside, it will show on the outside. As a general guide, for every 1kg of body weight, you should drink 0.033 litres of water. If you’re 60kg, that means about 2 litres of water a day. Herbal teas and other non-caffeinated beverages count towards your total.