For insight into what's fueling skincare trends in Korea, we hit up Charlotte Cho, the founder of South Korean ecommerce website Soko Glam.
"I've been noticing a huge derma-cosmetic trend in Korea, and I think it has a lot to do with the severe pollution they're dealing with right now," Cho said. She said that micro-dust and yellow dust have gotten worse in recent years and that's really affected the beauty industry's objectives.
"People are really interested in calming irritated skin and treating redness. So basically they're looking for sensitive-skin-friendly ingredients. What I've noticed is that madecassoside and asiatica extract — two really calming, anti-inflammatory ingredients — are really trending."
Enter Neogen's Dermalogy Real Cica Pads ($20). They contains the centella asiatica (also known as Cica) that Cho mentions, which smooths and soothes at the same time. The product is also nonfragranced and is formulated with chemical exfoliants to gently resurface the skin.