Kahime and Snow’s Guide to Shopping for Hard-to-Find Korean Products When You Don’t Know Korean

This week’s post is is brought to you by the combined efforts of two Asian beauty bloggers, Lin Lin Hime and Snow White and the Asian Pear, who have joined forces to bring our readers this very special how-to guide on where and how to find Korean beauty products- when you don’t know a lick of Korean but you’re starry-eyed at the amazing selection and prices of products available within Korea, and gloomy over how expensive/limited the selection is from international vendors.

In this post:

• Details on the buying service that will send you your products 
• How to locate the products you want 
• Key search terms, ingredients, and brand names - in Korean 
• How to collect the data the buying service needs 
• A pre-made spreadsheet that does all the hard work for you 
• Bloggers cheerfully sassing one another

Etude House Real Art Moisture Cleansing Oil Review

Cleansing oils are fabulous inventions; they have all the benefits of the Oil Cleansing Method but unlike traditional OCM blends, they are formulated with extra ingredients so they emulsify with water and can be rinsed off cleanly.  With water.  How crazy is that?

They are a staple in the Korean double cleansing technique, which I discuss in more depth in my  Skincare Discovery: Cleansing Part I megapost if you are unfamiliar with either double cleansing or oil cleansers.  As I mention in the breakdown of double cleansing, the first cleanse is really meant as makeup and sunscreen removal, not actual skin cleansing.  Sunscreen is serious business to remove, I have discovered, and oil cleansers do a wonderful job of it.

The challenge I have found is trying to find an oil cleanser that works for me, as the Holika Holika one I have used is too stripping for daily double cleansing and also broke me out a bit.  After seeing Etude House's Real Art Moisture cleansing oil recommended on Get It Beauty, I figured I'd give it a try.

I love the Mona Lisa 'art' on the packaging, such a cute touch.

Etude House makes several Real Art oils meant for various skin types and troubles, and this one is for dry skin; although I do not have dry skin, my logic was that since I needed an oil cleanser that was less stripping for my double cleanse, a formulation for dry skins should be ultra gentle, right?

I received this oil back at the beginning of August and am only reviewing it now due to the fact that I don't wear makeup often and thus rarely need to double cleanse, that I wanted to confirm the results, and that I wanted to combine it with several other products to verify that it wasn't just a perfect storm triggering my skin's reaction.