Oil cleansers were my firstKorean beauty obsession. Then came sheet masks. (What did my life even look like before sheet-mask selfies?) And I won't be caught without mycushion foundation, which makes on-the-go makeup application insanely easy. So what's the next game-changing Korean beauty import going to be? A likely answer: fermentation.
In case you're not up on your chemical processes, fermentation is the breakdown of a substance using bacteria, yeast, or other microorganisms. It's commonly used in Korean cooking to make kimchi. And while we wouldn't recommend rubbing sour cabbage all over your face, fermentation does have a role in the beauty world.
Some skin-care products include ingredients that have been fermented. Common in creams oressences, the centuries-old process is said to have anti-aging benefits. "The idea is that fermentation naturally produces enzymes and amino acids that speed up skin-cell turnover," says Ranella Hirsch, a dermatologist based in Boston. Though there hasn't been much research on the subject yet, the thinking is that your skin will more readily accept these naturally derived ingredients. "It's kind of like Korea's answer to organic skin care," says Charlotte Cho, the author of皮肤护理的小书:韩国的美容秘诀s for Healthy, Glowing Skinand the founder ofsokoglam.com.
"[Fermentation] is cool because there's a cultural aspect," says Cho. "Koreans have been fermenting their food for centuries." There are a handful of fermentation-based beauty lines currently available in the U.S. (thinkLa Mer's famous Miracle Broth, which includes fermented sea kelp, or SK-II's main ingredient Pitera, which is made from fermented sake leaves). But while most of the products currently available Stateside contain one or two fermented ingredients, many of the Korean ones use up to 80 different fermented ingredients. Cho, who travels to Korea roughly four times a year to stay updated on the newest innovations, predicts that we'll be seeing a lot more fermented skin-care products soon.
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