UrbanUpdate

I'm an expert if you need to know, say, which pair of Air Jordans were released in 1988. (That'd be the Air Jordan 3.) But I've long been a novice at taking care of my skin. Outside of a daily moisturizer—one I often forget to use—I barely do anything to take care of my face to ensure I'll have the healthy, youthful skin that skincare-minded folks have well into their 30s. (I'm currently 26.) I've always known I should do more, and have heard time and time again that preventative care is infinitely more important than corrective treatment later. But frankly, the idea of moisturizing, exfoliating, and cleansing day in and day out always seemed daunting. Living with my girlfriend, whose own skincare routine takes what feels like hours every night, only scared me away from the prospect even further.

Then I met Charlotte Cho of Soko Glam, an NYC-based skincare company targeted mostly at women. After a brief survey about my skin type and routine, Charlotte came to GQHQ with an entire arsenal of products she said would change my skincare routine forever. Spoiler alert: she was right. For three weeks I did what's dubbed a "10-step routine" because—as you may have guessed—it features ten products that I was instructed to use twice a day. It has the nickname "Korean skincare routine" because the products that make up the ten steps—things like the two-part cleanser, "essence," and sheet masks—became popular in Seoul before making their way stateside. Also, apparently, going HAM on some beauty products isn't just a trend in Korea, but a lifestyle built into the culture.

When I told my skincare-product-obsessed girlfriend that I'd be doing a ten-step routine, she was equal parts skeptical and jealous. Doing a complete 180 on one's skincare regimen does seem like a tall task. But frankly, if it weren't so extensive, so time consuming, and so intriguing complex, any other solution to my lackluster current routine might have fallen by the wayside after a few days or weeks. But starting in the deep end of the skincare game is exactly what I needed to kick my ass into gear and get on the path to skincare salvation. Here are five things I learned from my three weeks of 10-step Korean skincare.

10 Steps Sounds Like More Than It Is

Don't get me wrong: This is billed as a 10-step routine, and that's not a lie. I got 10 unique products from Soko Glam—and I used all of them. Here's how it broke down:

Step 1: Oil Cleanser (Oil on your skin is good I guess!)Step 2: Foam Cleanser (Basically fancy soap!)Step 3: Exfoliating pads (In delicious lemon scent!)Step 4: Toner (Something to do with PH balance!)Step 5: Essence (Which you have to pat into your skin, not rub, or else, I guess!)Step 6: Serum (Gooey gel that feels great!)Step 7: Sheet mask (Made from real, actual snail stuff!)Step 8: Eye Cream (Burns if applied to actual eyes!)Step 9: Moisturizer with SPF (The sun is evil!)Step 10: Moisturizer (To be lathered on before the dry-as-hell period of sleep!)

Now, to be clear: I didn't use all 10 every day. For example, of the two moisturizers in the set, one—Neo Gen Day-Light Sun Protection—has SPF 50 in it and the other doesn't, which means using the SPF version in the morning, and the other at night. Additionally, one step is a serum and another is a face mask that is full of a more concentrated version of the same serum, and which you have to leave on for 20 minutes. So over the course of two weeks I only used the masks about 4 times—and only when I had the time. Otherwise I was just using the bottled serum by rubbing it on my skin and moving onto the next step. And the last only sometimes step was the exfoliating pads, which smell like Limoncello and really shouldn't be used every day because they'd irritate my skin. So all in all, on most days I was only doing about 7 steps, each of which took about a minute to complete. It's a lot to remember, but after a few days the process was second nature.

You Can Never Have Enough Moisture

In the mornings, I'd do the whole process after a shower in my tiny, steamy NYC bathroom, and by the end of the process I'd struggle to work the SPF moisturizer into my skin after applying layer after layer of gooey solutions and liquid "essences." (More on that in a minute.) But even then, after stepping outside into the cool autumn air, my skin would dry quickly (though it still felt healthy and hydrated). I quickly learned that when it comes to skincare, moisture is the name of the game. If you're like me and your skin dries up faster than a snail in the Sahara, know this: you can never apply too much serum or moisturizer. Lather that shit on and you'll be fine.

Face Masks Are Fun

The Korean skincare market's marquee products are its face masks. Their main draw is snail mucin—a slime that comes from actual snails—that has been linked to improved elastin and collagen in some tests. Some snail mucin serums can run you $300, but the ones I used ran $30 for a pack of 10 by a company called My Skin Mentor Dr. G. And shout out to Dr. G for creating a mask that not only is easy to unfold and get on your face, but which comes in a plain white sheet. (I'm not a fan of the kind that print animal faces on them, but make you look like Hannibal Lecter decided to swap out people for pandas.) But even without the creepy animal prints, face masks are probably the most fun and rewarding part of a ten step routine because they cool your skin while hydrating the living hell out of it. After 20 minutes you feel like your face has been reinvigorated, re-hydrated, and reborn.

I Am Still Not Sold On Exfoliating

I started this whole process with dry skin, and the exfoliating pads in my 10-step routine—those lemon-y acidic ones—felt like they weren't doing me any favors in that department. The Neo-Gen Bio Peel pads I used were of course gentler than the coarse, sand-like exfoliators of yesteryear, but they also didn't feel like they were doing anything except making me feel like my face had been doused with juice, which instantly dried it out and made me eager to move onto other, more moisturizing steps. I imagine that for someone with oilier skin, exfoliating would be more valuable, but it's one step I'm happy to leave behind.

The Essence of Skincare Is...Well I'm Still Not Sure

One product that I am still unclear about is what's billed as an "essence." And its actual ingredients are as confusing as its branding. According to Soko Glam's website, Neo Gen's Real Ferment Micro Essence "contains more than 93% naturally fermented ingredients, including bifida ferment lysate and 28% saccharomyces ferment filtrate, to deliver instant moisture and skin-plumping benefits." To me, it felt, smelled, and acted like putting tap water on my face. This could be impatience on my part—and Charlotte of Soko Glam says the point of the essence is in its subtlety, because it penetrates deep into your skin—but I like to feel like a product is doing something to my skin when I'm applying. In contrast, "essence" just didn't, well, essential.

My New Routine

I still have every product in the 10-step process, and as long as I have them in my bathroom it'll be hard not to use most of them from time to time—and that's kind of the point and genius of selling all of these products as a package. I don't say that to be cynical about Soko Glam's business model, because building a solid routine is what these 10-step processes are all about. And in that department, I've completely re-thought about how I should treat my skin.

The products I know I'll keep using—and re-fill when they're gone—are the oil-based cleanser, foam cleanser, toner, serum, and moisturizer. And though I like the eye cream I was recommended, my fragile masculinity makes it hard for me to keep using a product that gives off serious Disney princess vibes. But like I said, knowing that I should use an eye cream day in and day out is what this wake-up call was all about—and it's the sort of lesson guys need to learn if they want to look younger, healthier, and more handsome longer.

Plus, it really does work if you're willing to put in the effort. Over the course of this process, my skin felt softer, healthier, and people really did notice. And I can now say confidently that the feeling of someone telling you your skin looks amazing is 100 times more enjoyable than being complimented on your Jordans.

Jake Woolf is a writer who has covered men’s style for over ten years and has contributed to GQ since 2014. A graduate of Parsons The New School for Design (good school, long name), he also has bylines at Robb Report, HighSnobiety, Pitchfork, and the defunct #menswear website Four Pins... Read moreWriterXRelated Stories for GQMoisturizerSkincare