If your skin is as dry as mine during winter and yearns for hydration and care, BOY do I have the recs for you. Other than my own experience, I have also done ample research on different skin types to ensure that your skin doesn’t #struggle during the cold depths of winter.
Start With a Gentle Cleanser That Protects Your Skin Barrier
A common mistake during winter is using a cleanser that leaves skin feeling squeaky clean. While it may feel satisfying, that tight feeling in your face is usually not a good sign, that stripped, tight sensation often means essential oils have been removed, making skin even more vulnerable to dryness and cracking. You want a cleanser that removes dirt and oil WITHOUT completely destroying your skin barrier.
Amazing things have been said about The Beauty of Joseon Green Plum Cleanser, it’s suitable for daily use, gently exfoliates, and is pH-balanced for sensitive skin.
I personally love the Round Lab Dokodo cleanser, it has won many awards for a reason. It removes makeup and impurities and is infused with deep sea water and hyaluronic acid to protect your skin barrier, which is ultra important in winter. Other ingredients like panthenol, allantoin and ceramide NP form a protective barrier over the skin to seal everything in for lasting comfort and moisture.
Why Double Cleansing Can Help Dry Winter Skin
At night, a K-beauty-known hack is to double cleanse with both oil and water based cleansers. Unlike harsh cleansing methods that can strip the skin of essential moisture, double cleansing works by targeting different types of impurities with products formulated for each purpose. Oil naturally attracts oil, allowing the first cleanse to lift stubborn products without excessive rubbing, while the second water based cleanse leaves the skin feeling fresh and clean without that tight feeling.
A couple of oil based K-beauty cleansers that are great during winter include the SKIN1004 Madagascar Centella Light Cleansing Oil, as it’s great for sensitive skin. Featuring centella asiatica, a botanical ingredient celebrated for its soothing and barrier-supporting properties, this cleanser removes waterproof makeup and sunscreen while helping to reduce redness and irritation.
Or if you’re worried about skin congestion, the Anua Heartleaf Pore Control Cleansing Oil is ideal for those prone to congestion while still needing hydration during winter. Formulated with heartleaf extract, it helps calm irritation while lifting away impurities and excess oil. Despite its effectiveness, the formula remains lightweight and rinses away cleanly without leaving a greasy residue.
Add a Hydrating Toner for Extra Moisture
While toner is a debated part of skincare, I personally find they really help layer hydration in my skin. For those experiencing dryness or sensitivity, the Round Lab Birch Juice Moisturizing Toner provides deep hydration through birch sap, helping to replenish moisture without feeling heavy.
Meanwhile, the COSRX Full Fit Propolis Synergy Toner is ideal for achieving a healthy, dewy finish, with propolis extract helping to nourish and soothe tired skin. Applied immediately after cleansing, toner creates the perfect base for serums and moisturisers, allowing the rest of your skincare routine to absorb more effectively.
Unlike traditional Western toners that were often associated with harsh, alcohol-based formulas designed to remove excess oil, Korean toners focus on hydration, nourishment and preparing the skin for the products that follow.
The Best K-Beauty Serums for Dry and Dehydrated Skin
Now, I LOVE serums. I really feel like they make or break your skincare routine. One of the biggest benefits of Korean serums is their ability to provide intense hydration without feeling heavy. Ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, centella asiatica, snail mucin, ginseng, niacinamide and ceramides are commonly used in K-beauty formulas to attract moisture, soothe sensitivity and improve the appearance of the skin barrier.
If you’re really struggling with dehydrated skin, I can’t recommend the Torriden Dive In Hyaluronic Acid Serum ENOUGH. Formulated with multiple types of hyaluronic acid, it helps attract and retain water within the skin, creating a plumper and smoother appearance without leaving a sticky finish, which is a bonus for me.
The COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence is often used as a serum step due to its concentrated hydrating benefits. Snail mucin helps support moisture retention, improve the appearance of skin texture and create a plump, glassskin finish. It is particularly popular during winter when skin feels rough or dehydrated.
Lock In Hydration With a Barrier-Supporting Moisturiser
Now that we've spent all this time layering hydration onto our face, we need to actually keep it there. This is where moisturiser comes in. Winter is brutal on your skin barrier, especially when you're going between freezing outdoor temperatures and aggressively heated indoor spaces, so this is NOT the time to be skipping moisturiser because you're scared of looking a little greasy. We are embracing the glow.
One of the biggest K-beauty trends right now is barrier-focused skincare, with ceramides, peptides and soothing ingredients becoming just as important as the traditional “glass skin” obsession that western brands have now jumped on.
My personal winter GOAT is the Dr. Althea 147 Barrier Cream, which I've already sworn by for keeping my skin happy without making me feel like I've smeared Vaseline all over my face.
If your skin is REALLY struggling, the Aestura Atobarrier 365 Cream is another cult favourite, packed with ceramides to help support a damaged skin barrier.
For something lighter, the Purito Oat-in Calming Gel Cream gives you that hydration without the heavy winter cream feeling, which is perfect if you're somewhere cold but still prone to breakouts like me.
And then we have the current K-beauty obsession: PDRN. If you've spent more than five minutes on Korean skincare TikTok lately, you've probably seen it everywhere. Products like Dr. Althea Pore Refrain Oil Control Cream and PDRN-focused creams from brands such as Medicube and Mixsoon are leaning into the current obsession with plump, bouncy, baby skin textures.
Whether or not you want to jump onto every skincare trend is entirely up to you, but I will absolutely be participating because apparently I have no self control when something promises to make me look like a freshly moisturised little dumpling hehe. The important thing is that your moisturiser should work with your skin rather than against it. If your face feels tight after applying it, you're probably not getting enough hydration.
If you're shiny enough to signal aircraft from your bedroom window, you've probably gone a little too far (typical in my daily life). Apply your moisturiser after your serum while your skin still has a little bit of that juicy hydration underneath, and let it do its job.
Sheet Masks, Eye Patches and Other Winter Skincare Extras
Now for the fun stuff. Are sheet masks, eye patches and little skincare gadgets absolutely essential? No. Do I want to spend 20 minutes looking like a damp piece of ham while a sheet mask slowly slides down my face? Sometimes. Winter is the perfect excuse to add a few extra steps to your routine when your skin needs a little more love after a rough night.
Hydrating sheet masks are an easy way to give dry skin a serious moisture boost, while overnight masks can be slapped on before bed when your face is feeling particularly icky or if you have an event the next day.
Abib Gummy Sheet Masks, Mediheal Essential Masks and Anua Rice 70 Glow Milky Toner are all worth having just in case. Then there are eye patches, which may not magically erase the consequences of staying up until 3 am doomscrolling or concrunching, but they can temporarily plump and hydrate the under eye area and make you feel like you're doing something about it.
Petitfee Gold & Snail Hydrogel Eye Patches and Abib Glutathiosome Dark Spot Serum Eye Patches are easy little additions to throw on while you're doing your hair or getting ready. And don't underestimate the boring little things either, a good lip mask, a facial mist for dry afternoons, and keeping your skincare somewhere you’ll actually remember to use it can make a surprisingly big difference (victim of forgetting to take my makeup off at the end of the day.
None of these steps are going to single handedly save your skin, but skincare is supposed to be fun and relaxing. Sometimes putting on a ridiculous number of tiny patches and pretending you're at a Korean spa is cheaper than therapy.
Your Simple K-Beauty Winter Skincare Routine
At the end of the day, winter skincare doesn't need to be a 14 step bomboclaat ritual that takes longer than getting dressed. The whole point of K-beauty is layering products that work together, and when the weather gets colder, that means putting hydration and your skin barrier first. A gentle double cleanse, a hydrating toner, a serum that actually targets what your skin needs and a good moisturiser will get you most of the way there. Everything else, like the sheet masks, eye patches, sleeping masks and whatever slightly ridiculous skincare trend influencers have convinced us we desperately need, is just a bonus really.
So, as the temperature drops, resist the urge to attack your skin with every exfoliating acid in your bathroom and instead give it some love. Keep things hydrated, don't abandon your SPF just because it's cloudy, and embrace looking slightly dewy. Because if I'm going to be freezing, pale and emotionally devastated by the weather, the least I can do is have ridiculously glowy skin while I'm doing it.
Written by Bella Mavridis
