Tasha James discovered Korean skincare in 2016 after stumbling across r/AsianBeauty, a Reddit forum about cosmetics and skincare from Asia. Back then, the only products she had in her rotation were drugstore finds that left her skin irritated – she was intrigued by the rise of sheet masks, snail mucin serums, and skin-enriching BB creams, totally foreign concepts at the time. After scrolling through the Subreddit for hours, James found a community of similarly curious skincare enthusiasts. “I felt like a kid in the candy store,” the 36-year-old lifestyle creator tells Highsnobiety. “In my teenage years, I never really had a routine down. If something didn’t come in a prepackaged three-step kit, I most likely didn’t know about it.”
Seven years after James’ introduction to r/AsianBeauty, Korean skincare is a staple of many people’s daily routines — and it’s guaranteed to stay in the beauty zeitgeist for good. Much like the rise of K-pop in America, K-beauty has gone from niche to mainstream: According to Google Trends, interest in Korean beauty began to rise in 2014 and has increased over 1,370 percent in the last decade. In the United States alone, Google searches for “Korean beauty” have doubled over the past five years and are currently at an all-time high. On TikTok, the hashtag #KoreanSkincare boasts over 3 billion views. As appetite for the category continues to grow, there’s one demographic in particular leading the charge: More and more, Black women are turning to K-beauty as a solution for their unique skincare concerns.
Western skincare tends to emphasize retinols, skin-tearing scrubs, and acidic toners. These harsh products can exacerbate skin conditions like hyperpigmentation and eczema, common concerns among Black people. Korean beauty, on the other hand, prioritizes ingredients like rice, snail mucin, and ginseng, known for their moisturizing and calming properties.
Sabrina Farmer, a 26-year-old audio producer, adopted Korean…
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