Society6 min
Honey skin: the vocabulary of Korean skin finishes
Honey skin, glass skin, cloud skin, jelly skin: what each Korean skin finish actually means, where the names come from, and how the routines differ.
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JournalKorea Korea
Korea
Korea
Korea
Korea
Korea
Japan
The Kotoba Interactive journal.
Editorial features on the cultures, history and languages of Asia. Filter by culture, by topic, or search for what inspires you.
10 articles
Society7 min
K-beauty, J-beauty, C-beauty: three schools of skincare compared
Routines, hero products, ingredients and business models: what really separates Korean, Japanese and Chinese cosmetics, without the marketing shortcuts.
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Society8 min
Skip-care: the Korean routine cut down to four steps
Skip-care versus the ten-step routine: what each camp removes, what it keeps, and how to choose according to your skin type.
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Society9 min
Snail, propolis, centella: the ingredients that built K-beauty
Snail mucin, propolis and centella asiatica: where these three Korean ingredients come from, what they actually contain, and how to read the percentages on the front.
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Society8 min
PDRN, exosomes and ferments: the actives of K-beauty in 2026
Salmon DNA, extracellular vesicles, fermentation filtrates: where the three actives shaping Korean skincare come from, and what they actually do.
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Society7 min
Glass skin: the Korean method, what it does and what it cannot
Where the term comes from, the real protocol, what Seoul clinics add and the traps to avoid: what Korean glass skin actually requires, without empty promises.
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Society9 min
Cosmetic surgery in Gangnam: the district of clinics
Hundreds of clinics in a few streets, double eyelid surgery as a graduation present, medical tourism, and the real figures of the Korean market.
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Society13 min
Asian Nail Art: The Manicure as a Fine Art
3D reliefs and jewels in Japan, minimalist jelly nails in Korea: a journey through Asian nail art, its techniques, its salons, and its global reach.
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