#1 Trip to Korea Mask

This 12-pack of masks is perfect for everyone and has vibrant souvenir pictures of some of the most iconic tourist spots in Korea like Seoul Namsan Tower, Jeju Island, and Gyeongbokgung Palace. These are easy to mail home and the ingredients are as diverse as the skin concerns they address. One nourishes skin with peptides, another moisturizes skin with collagen, the next hydrates with hyaluronic acid, and the final one rejuvenates with vitamin C. Each mask has a light non-sticky texture that absorbs well into the skin. The retail price for the kit is about $18. I plan to put 1 face mask inside every holiday card I send out this year. 

#2 Collagen Water Full Moist Treatment Hair Filler

One of the biggest complaints I hear from Americans here in Korea is how hard water is detrimental to their hair. If you have dry hair, thin or damaged hair that breaks easily, color-treated hair, or if you use heat styling tools, this is the product for you. Collagen Water Full Moist Treatment Hair Filler helps nourish your hair and repair rough and damaged strands. It contains a highly concentrated hydrolyzed collagen which provides amino acids that can quickly replenish nutrients in damaged hair. This rebuilds hair strength and restores hair’s natural shine because it is formulated with keratin and collagen. It comes as a clear liquid in 10 individual vials that when mixed with equal parts of water turns into a thick cream. You apply it to clean wet hair, let it sit for 10-15 minutes, and then rinse it out. It has a light perfumy fragrance and retails for about $23. 

#3 Farmstay Cica Facial Wash Bubble Mask

This revolutionary new product has micro-foaming bubbles that cleanse impurities out of your pores. It has a transformative texture that goes on as a gel and within minutes turns into bubbles that gently massage the skin before getting rinsed off. It works as an exfoliator to perfectly cleanse away dead skin cells and clean pores without damaging your skin barrier. It has a cooling sensation and provides moisture to your skin. You can use it daily as a daily cleansing foam or as a cleansing mask 2-3 times a week. I love that this exfoliates your skin without the use of microplastic beads that can cause microdermabrasions. It comes packed in 20 individual cleansing pouches, so it makes it easy to take when you travel, and retails for about $25.

#4 Revitalizing Rolling Eye Serums - Cica Farm & Collagen

Thin skin is prone to wrinkles, so we typically see them around the eyes, mouth, and neck where skin is the most delicate. Farmstay has multiple eye serums and I tried two of them, the Circa Farm and Collagen. The Cica Farm serum is formulated with centella asiatica extract to take care of thin skin prone to wrinkles and to repair damaged skin, boost elasticity, and help hydrate tired skin. It can be used as a preventative or a repair agent. It comes packaged in a tube with three roller balls allowing for easy targeted application.  It has a light spa-like revitalizing fragrance and retails for about $18 

The Collagen Water Full Moist Rolling Eye Serum is about the same price, but it hydrates and brightens your skin, improves skin elasticity, reduces wrinkles and fine lines, and reduces puffiness around the eyes because it’s formulated with marine collagen. The metal applicator provides a gentle massage that’s great for puffy morning eyes.

#5 Rice & Bifida - Glowing Perfect Serum & Nourishing Perfect Emulsion

There are several products in this line, so there is something for everyone. I tried the Serum and Emulsion. It has a pleasant, light fragrance, and the products retail for about $20-$23 each. The serum is thick and absorbs nicely leaving your skin with a healthy glow.  The emulsion is thicker than a lotion but a touch thinner than a cream. It’s made with fermented rice extract and bifida so it’s loaded with probiotics and peptides that should improve your skin barrier, enhance hydration, reduce inflammation, and improve wrinkles. It may even be effective in reducing acne because the strong antioxidants and prebiotics should help maintain healthy microflora of the skin. It’s made from the highest quality locally sourced rice from Incheon that undergoes a complex 5-stage fermentation process. The formula boasts 8 types of hyaluronic acids of various sizes and structures so it’s a perfect moisturizer for everyone.

#6 Black Snail & Peptide 9

If you’ve read any of my previous articles you know that I love snail mucin and believe in its regenerative properties to skin. Farmstay’s Black Snail & Peptide 9 line combats signs of aging to help you have younger-looking skin. It improves skin elasticity, brightens skin, and evens out skin tone while reducing wrinkles and fine lines. They have an entire line, but I tried the toner and cream. Toner is an important step of skin care because it is the first product that touches your skin after washing your face. It helps smooth out the skin texture that has been irritated during washing and quickly replenishes moisture, helping minimize dead skin cells and tightness. This line contains acetyl hexapeptide-8 to help create perfect skin full of elasticity. This formula does have a very strong fragrance but it is rich and creamy and makes your skin feel super soft. retail price is between $23-$32 per product. 

#7 Collagen & Hyaluronic Acid All-in-One Ampoule

This is one of Farmstays best sellers, they’ve sold over 1.8 million jars and I can see why. It’s a great value, it retails for $23 but you can get it on Amazon for closer to $17. The product comes in a ginormous 250ml jar. It’s the size of a small jar of honey, 5 times the size of most other products. You can enjoy it as it’s designed or even soak cotton pads in it and use it like a face mask. It claims to be unscented, but I think it has a nice light sea breeze fragrance. It’s designed as an all-in-one ampoule with a toner + emulsion + essence function that claims to brighten skin with vitamin capsules and natural extracts. It also moisturizes and energizes skin with hyaluronic acid to improve the appearance of fine lines. It’s made with Marine collagen that is well absorbed, forming a moisture-protective film that is supposed to be 4 times better than other types of collagens. The formula also includes other extracts that are good for the skin like jojoba seed and green tea. It’s not sticky and goes on the skin with a feel very reminiscent of aloe vera.

#8 Tea Tree Biome Calming Cleansing Oil

This product is brand new and if you wear make-up, it’s a must-have. It’s a mild, moisturizing cleanser that can get into pores that aren’t visible to the naked eye. It has clinical testing behind it for an 83% reduction in blackheads. The product even boasts a 99% removal of sunscreen making it the perfect cleansing oil to try.  Don’t let the name Tea Tree scare you. It is very gentle having a subtle, herbal fragrance, not the strong overpowering peppermint/eucalyptus-y fragrance that I was expecting. I won’t be surprised to see this product go viral very soon.

#9 Collagen Eyelash Serum

Eyelashes get damaged easily from daily mascara use, curlers, perms, extensions, and artificial lashes. Taking care of our lashes like our skin just makes sense. This is a highly concentrated water-based serum that will nourish your lashes. It has the same PH level as tears so it shouldn’t irritate your eyes, but should make your lashes glossy and healthy. It should be used twice a day over a 4-week period and can be used on eyebrows too. The serum retails for about $12.

#10 Citrus Yuja Vitalizing Ampoule

This time of year I love Yuja Tea. If you’re new to Korea, Yuja is a sour citrus fruit with a very unique flavor. It falls between a lime, mandarin, and grapefruit. It’s known to fight the common cold as it has 2.5 times the vitamin C of a lemon. Yuja boasts anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and collagen-boosting properties. It’s loaded with antioxidants that help protect skin from environmental factors like UV exposure and pollution. My dermatologist always recommends vitamin C for skin so what could be better than products made from Yuja. Farmstay has an entire line of Yuja products, but I tried the vitalizing ampoule.  The ampoule has an invigorating citrus smell that disappears quickly when applied to the skin. It absorbs rapidly and glides on lightly with a smooth nonsticky jelly-like texture. Application of the ampoule is said to reduce fine lines, even out skin tone, and increase natural collagen production. With a retail price tag of $23, this is a steal.

About the Author

Alison Rock is a graduate of the University of Southern California. She lives in Korea with her husband and youngest son. She enjoys cooking, painting, and jewelry design and recently started a YouTube channel reviewing K-beauty products.

Follow Alison on YouTube!  www.youtube.com/@AlisonRockUSA