Soompi x Soko Glam: Introducing Charlotte Cho

Charlotte Cho is the esthetician and curator behind the site Soko Glam, an e-shop offering the very best selection of Korean beauty products. She’s also the author of, The Little Book of Skin Care: Korean Beauty Secrets of Healthy, Glowing Skin. She has been featured on Korea’s top beauty show, “Get it Beauty,” and has collaborated with KCON as their K-beauty expert.

Hey there! My name is Charlotte Cho and I’m a Korean-American, born and raised in California. I was 22 and fresh out of college when I had the opportunity to live and work in Seoul! I had no idea what I was in for and truth be told, I think initially I was more in it for the Korean BBQ and the karaoke than anything else. I would have never guessed that my time in Korea would get me to change the way I took care of my skin.

As an official beauty contributor for Soompi, I’m excited to walk you through the world of Korean beauty culture. You’re going to love learning about it because it’s completely intertwined with other aspects of Korean pop culture (which I also am obsessed with), and yes, you might even get clear, glowing skin in the process! To get you started, let me share a few basic Korean skin care tips that come from some of my favorite K-drama stars!

“Removing makeup thoroughly is the key to keeping your skin young. Make it part of your daily life.”

First off we have Song Ji Hyo, a familiar face we see often on “Running Man” with her fresh, no makeup face. For those of you who are too lazy to cleanse, or don’t wear makeup so don’t think it’s all that necessary — think again! Impurities such as dead skin cells, excess sebum (aka, oil) and bacteria cause acne.  And that’s not all! If you’re not cleansing your skin thoroughly every morning and night, the impurities do cause free radicals to form, which accelerate aging (eeek!). I recommend the double cleanse, cleansing with an oil cleanser from Banila Co.

Then follow the oil cleanser with a water-based cleanser from Neogen.

For a full tutorial on the double cleanse, click here!

“Exfoliating regularly makes my pores smaller and my skin softer and brighter.”

Oh Yeon Seo from the dramas “Please Come Back, Mister” and “Shine or Go Crazy” has previously mentioned the importance of exfoliating.

Truth! Every day your skin cells shed, but if you don’t help the process of removing them, it can cause roughness in the skin and enlarged pores. Sloughing off dead skin cells with an exfoliator that helps soften the skin, increase circulation, and helps your skin care products absorb better. I recommend the Skinfood Black Sugar Strawberry Mask Wash Off.

It’s affordable and smells and looks like strawberry jam!

“I usually put on one pack/mask per day.”

Park Min Young also simply recommends getting a lot of sleep! She’s right. Your skin is connected to your body more than you know and stress, unhealthy diet does contribute to a sallow, dull complexion—not to mention breakouts!

The biggest takeaway from K-beauty is that you shouldn’t think of skin care as a chore. I’m here to show you that Korean women love skin care because it’s an enjoyable part of their day. Ultimately it’s also about prevention rather than treatment— so it’s never too early to start! Check out the sheet mask challenge if you want to try Park Min Young’s mask routine!

Check back in the next few weeks for my next beauty column on Soompi! I would love to hear your comments below about what K-beauty topics you’d like to read about! From makeup to skin care tips, I’m happy to share all my secrets!

We’re also holding a special celebration to mark the Soompi  x Soko Glam collaboration, details below: 

.@charlottejcho, #KBeauty Guru of @sokoglam is our new Beauty Contributor! 😍 Time to celebrate!! 🎉 RT to win by 4/7. pic.twitter.com/iG1VhFxMAq

— Soompi (@soompi) April 1, 2016