Travel in a bottle: best of Asian beauty

Asia is certainly leading the way in terms of beauty innovation and more and more beauty aficionados are opting to travel to this side of the world to be able to sample first hand the latest beauty products and technology.

image: here

Bee venom, donkey and aloe vera may still sound exotic to most of our westerner’s ears but they in fact been widely used in Asia’s beauty products industry for a very long time indeed. While we’ve been busy opening up more and more cosmetic surgery clinics like Cynosure Ireland in the UK, the Asian beauty market has been prospering, making billions each year, on new trends that tend to be contained in a bottle. Experts predict that Asian beauty will represent more than 80% of the overall beauty business revenues in 2019. Skincare is major in Asia, taking over the world and maybe a little magic too.

• Donkey milk

Donkey milk has particularly been a Korean beauty staple for a good number of years. And while this may sound a little odd, its positive effects are well known: it hydrates and is high on vitamin C. It also tend to trigger less allergenic reactions than cow’s milk.

• Bee venom

Bee venom has been making headlines when it first came onto the British market as an ingredient in skincare ranges such as Rodial’s. With its highly efficient anti-wrinkles properties, it’s been found in Korean skincare products for many years: it essentially mimics the effects of melittin toxin and encourages the skin to produce more collagen, making it tighter and younger looking. At around £150 for a 50ml eye cream tub, it’s rather on the valuable side of things but with such properties, its popularity isn’t going to wane anytime soon.

• Maple tree sap

Maple tree sap is another obscure ingredient that no one had ever really heard of before coming onto the Korean market. Packed with antioxidants and vitamins, its molecules are very small and deliver the good stuff where it matters faster than other ingredients. It also hydrates and protect the skin. Maple tree sap isn’t the only sap worth talking about though: ginseng, bamboo and white birch also have very interesting and effective properties, depending on your skin type.

• Snail mucin

Snail extract can seem a little repulsive at first but it hasn’t stopped our Korean beauty aficionados to start enjoying their benefits. Also packed with nutrients such as hyaluronic acid and glycoprotein enzymes, it stimulates to production of collagen, repairs damaged skin (such as acne scars) and provides higher levels of hydration. It can be found in serums and moisturisers and has been an overnight success in Korea before finding its way onto the European market.