COMBINATION SKIN RECOMMENDATIONS for the K10

Today’s blog post is dedicated to Korean product recommendations for combination skin. If you haven’t read it yet, go check out my post about the Korean 10-step routine since it will be the framework I use for my recommendations. Combination skin can be the trickiest skin type to deal with, as it has lots of different issues to treat all on the one face.

But what Is Combination Skin?

- several different skin types at once:

o Your skin might be dry or normal in some areas (like the cheeks), it may be oily in other areas

(such as the T-Zone).

- Suffering from dryness and breakouts at the same time

- if you find that the same product works perfectly on your cheeks but turns your T-zone oily

If any of these sounds like you, you probably have combination skin. Luck for you however, there are plenty of products formulated just for this skin type, plus heaps of ingredients that can help. Before we get into the Korean 10 step recommendations, I want to highlight some great ingredients that work to hydrate your skin without clogging the oily parts of your skin.

Ingredients that work well for Combination skin

Combination skin works best with ingredients from natural sources – think fruits, milk, and plant extracts. My favourites include:

Honey – a natural humectant, which means it attracts and retains moisture in the skin. It is also anti-bacterial so it will help clean impurities from the pores. And bonus it prevents the oil glands from becoming overactive and making more oil.

Centella - rich in amino acids, beta carotene, fatty acids, and numerous potent phytochemicals. It has been found to calm inflammation, speed wound healing, stimulate new cell growth, and build collagen. So great for dry skin and acne prone skin.

Green Tea – not only is it full of antioxidants that protect and hydrates, it also has anti-inflammatory properties to calms skin.

Propolis – a naturally occurring anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory made by bees, propolis is great for hydration and acne.

Korean 10-step skincare routine recommendations

1. Oil-based cleanser

I have a few recommendations for this one, because some of you will have oiler skin and some will have drier so you can choose which one benefits you more. For my oily combination skin types, I recommend Banila Co Clean It Zero Cleaning Balm. This balm features a combination of AHA, BHA and LHA to gently exfoliate dead skin and remove excess oils. Meaning less clogged pores. It also has active botanicals, hot spring-sourced water, vitamin E, vitamin C and resveratrol to promote healthy skin. No nasty ingredients either! Then I Met You Living Cleansing Balm is next, which a perfect all-rounder. Featuring Sea Buckhorn extract, which softens and protects skin as it is an antioxidant and fatty acid rich. Plus, it has brightening persimmon extract and nourishing olive oil and vitamin E. Side note; does contain fruit oils, which can be a irritating for sensitive skin. Lastly, Make P:rem Radiance Me. Cleansing Water Oil, great for drier combination skin. It has Sea Buckthorn Fruit Extract (sooths and protects), Squalane and Glycerin (hydrating), Raspberry extract and Blackberry Extract (brightening). Side note; does contain fruit oils.

2. Water-based cleanser

For this category, I tried looking at cleanser which both hydrate and have acne treating ingredients. The first recommendation is D'ALBA PIEDMONT Peptide No-Sebum Mild Gel Cleanser. It is a light and mild gel cleanser that deeply cleans pores while also providing anti-ageing and brightening. It includes BHA to clean pores, calamine powder and a blend of 20 amino acids help balance skin PH, and last but not least white truffle which works to speed up cell renewal, shedding away dead skin cells to brighten the complexion. Side note; does contain fruit oils. Another choice for oiler skin is TROIAREUKE Acsen Oil Cut Cleansing. Troiareuke is a brand focused on sensitive acne prone skin, checkout Joan Kim’s YouTube channel for a review on their products. It contains soapwort extract to cleanse without irritating the skin, papaya extract to lightly exfoliate, and portulaca extract and aloe leaf juice to soothe acne.

3. Exfoliator

For combination skin, I would opt for gentle chemical exfoliants rather than abrasive manual ones, as parts of your face might be more sensitive than others. The oiler parts need to be exfoliated to prevent the clogging of your pores, while the drier areas need exfoliation to remove dead skin to brighten and smooth. NEOGEN Bio-Peel Gauze is one of my holy grail skincare products. It is both a physical and chemical exfoliant but is still gentle on the skin. The green tea one uses camellia Leaf Extract and centella to calm the skin and green tea extract (major anti-aging/antioxidant). Side note: Does contain alcohol and a small amount of fragrance. But I have used this for years and never had a reaction.

4. Toner

Having a hydrating toner is great for combination, since they can reduce enlarged pores and excess oil and hydrate the skin too. d'Alba's No Sebum Peptide Toner is a great toner as it was created to balance combination skin by using pearl (brightening), white truffle and hyaluronic acid (hydrate and firm), BHA (exfoliate dead skin cells), and niacinamide (minimise sebum). Side note; does contain fruit oils. For normal combination skin, ISNTREE Green Tea Fresh Toner. Its star ingredients are their anti-sebum P(HD) (to control excess oil) and 80% green tea extract (protect, brighten, and balance). It also includes centella (calms), hyaluronic acid (hydrate), allantoin (soothe), and blueberry fruit extract (anti-inflammatory). No nasty ingredients either. Lastly, for my dryer combo types is one of my holy grail products: KLAIRS Supple Preparation Unscented Facial Toner. It contains amino acids, liquorice, and aloe leaf to calm, hydrate, and brighten the skin. A great simple toner, with no harsh chemicals.

5. Essence

Missha Time Revolution the First Treatment Essence RX Pro Ferment

This newly updated cult-favourite is a super concentrated treatment that will help repair the skin from any dry patches, active acne, and rid the skin of hyperpigmentation. I’m trying out this one at the moment and currently love it. It contains 90% fermented yeast extract (hydrates, improves texture, and reduces pigmentation) and niacinamide (brighten and clarify). Perfect allrounder for acne and dry skin areas. No alcohol or fragrance either.

6. Serum

With serums you could go either way, having one serum that target everything or two serums that targets acne/oiliness and the other dryness (you can head to my specific oily and dry skin post for these recommendations). For a good all-rounder, I would go with Isntree C-Niacin Toning Ampoule. 70% sea buckthorn is rich in vitamin C and antioxidants which moisturise, repair sun and acne scars, and increases collagen. Bonus 2% niacinamide as well, that works to brighten, plump and strengthen the skin. Please wear sunscreen with a Vit C serum though. Another great all-rounder is Acwell

Licorice Ph Balancing Advance Serum. It contains liquorice water & liquorice root extracts to refine texture, brighten, help pigmentation, and heal acne scars and dark spots. Also formulated with Pine bark extract (hydrates), glutathione and niacinamide (brightens and helps acne prevention).

7. Sheet mask

For sheet mask recommendations I will just recommend key ingredients which are good for both dry and acne prone skin.

- Green tea; protect and hydrates, and anti-inflammatory

- Honey and Propolis; anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory

- Centella; calms, hydrates, helps heal acne.

- Collagen; plumps the skin without being too much for oily skin.

- Hyaluronic acid and Glycerin; hydrating without being oily.

- Snail essence: hydrating, anti-aging, and heals scars.

8. Eye cream

My want to try is HANSKIN Real Complexion Hyaluron Eye Serum. Formulated with four types of hyaluronic acid to deliver ultimate hydration, sugarcane extract to brighten, Irish moss extract and centella to calm. PLUS, it has a metal ball applicator to cool and de-puff and no nasties either!

9. Moisturiser

Instead of a thick, heavy cream, try applying light layers of moisturisers and lotions instead. Korean Beauty products are perfect for this as they are specifically designed to be applied in light layers. This means that you don’t have to loading the skin up all at once, which helps to hydrate without burdening the skin. Two products which are a great two in one for day and night cream; NEOGEN Vita Duo Cream Joan Day Joan Night and THANK YOU FARMER Rice Pure Gel and Cream. The former is a collaboration with Joan Kim a Korean you-tuber, and it contains both day and night (can purchase together or separately). The day cream gives has antioxidant green tea and brightening vitamin C, while the Night Vita Cream features lavender oil and vitamin E to repair, soothe, and strengthen. Side note: Contains fruit oil. The latter includes both Gel and Cream so you can tailor to your skin: place the thicker cream on dry areas and gel on oilier areas. The gel cream calms with green tea extract and summer snowflake bulb extract, while the thick cream has mung bean, rice, and fig extract to hydrate and protect.

10. Sunscreen

I have two recommendations for this one and have taken into consideration: no white cast, no oiliness, and light in texture. So first is THANK YOU FARMER Sun Project Light Sun Essence which is a lightweight, broad-spectrum, and semi-matte sunscreen. It also uses aloe, lotus flower and soybean lipids to hydrate soothe, minimises the appearance of pores and repair the skin barrier. Second is TROIAREUKE Acsen UV Protector Essence a lightweight, semi-matte, and fast absorbing sunscreen. It was made with sensitive acne prone skin: adding ingredients like centella to the product.

I hope these recommendations help you with your combination skin or even just taught you a little about what you should be looking for. Thank you for reading this weeks post!

Have a great week guys!

From author,

Bridie Conroy