Korean skincare experts and co-founders of curated K-beauty destination Glow Recipe, Sarah Lee and Christine Chang, share why when it comes to curating the very best from Korean skincare brands, natural reigns supreme.

“There used to be a myth that natural skincare was not as effective as chemical skincare products, but there are different executions in Korean skincare that them just as effective - if not better. Fermentation is one of those executions. It makes skincare ingredients more concentrated and powerful, and allows skincare products to last longer - without the artificial preservatives,” explains Lee.

“Nature has all of these amazing antioxidant rich antimicrobial ingredients that you can harness for your skin without them being harsh,” adds Chang. “So we see a lot of natural brands in Korea using key concentrations of these great botanical exacts – to soothe, heal, hydrate, anti-age. We even see them replacing water in skincare formulations, so the base isn’t distilled water but a more concentrated blend of botanical ingredients which deliver that much more goodness to the skin.”

“We are really fascinated by all these new technologies. For example, we found this brand called Whamisa that really pioneered the fermentation technology for skincare in Korea. They are eco-cert and BHIH standard certified with a manufacturing facility that really blew us away. There were all these beautiful bottles of rice seeds and flowers and algae extracts being fermented in bottles, with many of the products being carefully handmade,” describes Lee. “There was no doubt we had to curate that brand for Lane Crawford.”