And between the oat-baths and endless supply of E-45 and Aveeno, there just didn’t seem to be anything which actually helped beyond temporary relief.
So, when a colleague of mine at my new job suggested I try Korean skincare, I was intrigued.
I had never heard about it before! They specifically mentioned the Innisfree Green Tea Cream, which had helped them with their own dry skin issues.
This led to a rabbit-hole like research / discovery online and I was sold! Bear in mind I was seventeen with very little disposable income. This of course didn’t stop me from buying at least one from a little bit of a dodgy source (hello eBay anyone?).
I remember three things from my experience. One, how flipping expensive it was. Two, how long it took to finally arrive (on top of paying for customs!). Three, how it actually worked miracles for my sorely dehydrated skin.
The feeling it left me with was, in a word, relief. It smelt divine (still does), and the rich yet lightweight texture kept my skin happy, even all night long, which was my biggest difficulty at the time. I was one very happy-chappy.
That is until the tub ran out! There was no way I could keep affording the stuff at my young age. Which brings me to the present, in which a large portion of my salary is set aside for a slightly (gulp) obsessive purchasing situation I have with Korean skincare.
Since then, I have tried basically everything, and when it comes to the aforementioned Innisfree, I love everything and I mean everything, even the fragrance k-beauty products.
Now, Innisfree doesn’t always get the rep it deserves here in the UK. Some Youtubers such as – and beauty reviewers have knocked Innisfree’s use of essential oils and natural fragrances. Personally, I don’t really understand this as I use essential oils in my day-to-day life and they have enormous physical and mental health benefits. Read more about this from experts here.
One of my best antiseptic solutions if I cut myself or have an angry spot / breakout is straight up pure organic lavender oil! It. Always. Works.
So, when I use products in which I know for a fact they’re using naturally derived fragrances and essential oils, that is certainly not a turn-off for me. I was all up for k-beauty with fragrance!
I feel like we’ve alienated ourselves from things that ‘smell nice’ because of the entourage of cheap products with fake perfumes and sickly scents which, to be frank, aren’t good for you at all. We’ve lumped all the bad with the good and essentially lost touch with what ‘good smells’ can do for us.
Suffering from rather severe eczema in which my skin barrier was basically non-existent, I could be described as someone with sensitive skin. Yet properly sourced fragrance in k-beauty products never affect me negatively.
People who love scented products like candles, room mists, perfumes often ask whether fragrance is bad for your skin. This makes sense. After all, when you are applying a product to your body, or using it in your home, you want to know it’s not going to cause you skin issues (the very opposite of what you’re trying to achieve!).
The short answer to the question ‘is fragrance in k-beauty bad for your skin’ is that it depends on the type of oil in question.
There are different kinds of fragrance oils on the market. And whether it’s safe for use on your skin depends on how it’s been manufactured. There are other variables to take into consideration such as the sensitivity level of your skin.
There are essentially two type of fragrances that can be found in your skincare.
The first we will look at are Essential Oils. Essential oils are natural concentrated hydrophobic liquids that are obtained by distillation. In addition, they have the characteristic odour of the plant or other source from which it is extracted.
Good examples are lavender oil (mentioned before), which is taken from the flowers of the lavender bush. Another example is sweet orange oil, which is extracted from orange peels.
On the other hand, fragrance oils are created in a laboratory. There are different ways to do so. Some of these manufactured scents recreate fragrances found in nature, while others are more conceptual and lean towards an idea, e.g. ‘Christmas morning’, or ‘rainy forest’. Some contain a combination of natural and synthetic compounds, while others are completely artificial (i.e. it is wholly comprised of chemically designed oils). Read more about it here.
In a nutshell, fragrance oils are not found in nature, but can also contain compounds that do.
The manufactured scents are the ones you definitely need to look into a figure out whether they’re naturally derived or not. Natural = good (unless you’re allergic, don’t sue me!), and synthetic = bad (aka your body is like ‘what is this, I’ve never seen this before?).
Generally, the guidelines of South Korean k-beauty and skincare are very strict when it comes to adding ingredients, fragrance, manufacturing and selling products. I would be far more likely to trust an unknown South Korean skincare brand with scented products than a western brand which can be listed on import duty on the same line as ‘dishwasher detergent’. Yugh, no thanks!
So, before you knock a product off your ‘to-try’ list because it contains scent, think again. Ask yourself, what am I actually avoiding and why? What source is this fragrance from?
Some people can very happily and safely use a body product that contains fragrance oils without having a reaction, while others have skin that is so sensitive that it could even react adversely to naturally-derived oils when it’s too concentrated.
In conclusion, fragrance / essential oils in k-beauty are not bad for your skin when you use the products that contain it according to the manufacturer’s instructions. However, if irritation occurs when you use a product that contains these oils, discontinue use and learn more about your skin’s sensitivities.
By doing this, you might discover, like me, that you too can enjoy an incredible formula which also happens to send you to a happy zen space with divine scents.