A 7-Step Guide to Glowing “Glass Skin” From a K-Beauty Insider

glass skin
Photographed by Alex Finch

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Glass skin? The K-beauty world has always had a flair for unique terms to describe its coveted complexions. First, there was chok chok, which translates to “moist” or “damp” and denotes a juicy, dew-saturated glow. Then, kkul-gwang, a moniker for a hyper-glossy (kkul means honey) finish on the face. And these days, there's glass skin. “It’s when your skin is so healthy, even toned, and plumped with hydration that it’s almost translucent, like a shard of glass,” explains Christine Chang, cofounder of Korean beauty brand Glow Recipe. Back in 2017, the term rose to popularity on the Internet after Los Angeles–based makeup artist Ellie Choi’s glassy-visaged selfie went viral on Instagram. Since then, skin-care obsessives haven't wavered in vying for the techniques and products that yield the preternaturally luminous glass skin glow. But as one can imagine, given the average Korean woman’s relentless dedication to her beauty regimen, it doesn’t come easy.

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ID.AZ Dermastic Essential Toner

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MAKEP:REM CICAPRO Highly Concentrated Revitalizing Cream

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Wayskin Skin Analyzer

After double cleansing—a nonnegotiable step in the K-beauty sphere—Chang suggests employing the 7 Skin Method, which consists of patting seven layers of a gentle hydrating toner, like ID.AZ’s Dermastic Essential Toner, onto the face in succession. Then she recommends massaging a deeply nourishing moisturizer, such as Make P:rem’s Cicapro Cream (its star ingredient, cica, is an herb that tigers will roll over in the wild to heal their wounds), into the face for soothing hydration. You can monitor your skin’s moisture level throughout the day by using Wayskin’s Skin Analyzer, a donut-shaped device that measures hydration levels and pairs with mobile devices via Bluetooth to showcase the data.

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Glow Recipe Watermelon + AHA Glow Sleeping Mask

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Pineapple-C Bright Serum

Smooth skin texture and clarity are essential for a glassy complexion, so regular exfoliation is also key, says Chang. She recommends doing so with alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs), which “unglue” dead skin cells and refine pores without irritation, as opposed to the more aggressive physical exfoliants you’ll find in facial scrubs. Glow Recipe’s own Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask not only contains AHAs but also deposits amino acid–rich watermelon extract and hyaluronic acid into the skin to replenish it overnight. And while a flawless bare canvas is at the heart of the trend, strobing with a light-reflecting, hydration-boosting serum—a technique employed by Korean celebrity makeup artists Son Dae Sik and Park Tae Yun—such as their Pineapple-C Bright Serum can take the glass skin effect to the next level. The overarching takeaway? When it comes to looking lit from within, there’s no such thing as too much moisture.