23 Korean Skin-Care Products That Hydrate and Brighten Mature Complexions

After cleansing her face, Lee loves patting on a couple of pumps of Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum to jump-start her skin-care routine. Packed with nourishing Korean herbs and honey, it helps hydrate and prime so the skin can better absorb other products you layer on. The golden-tinted serum is also spiked with brightening licorice root and antioxidant-rich green tea to help smooth skin and get it glowing.

After sweeping a cotton pad with toner over your skin, Chow recommends slathering on a couple of drops of the Klairs Midnight Blue Youth Activating Drops, which she says is incredibly reparative and restorative. The concentrated peptide serum gets its gorgeous cornflower-blue hue from guaiazulene, a hydrocarbon found in chamomile that has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties to soothe and protect skin from environmental aggressors that could lead to fine lines and damage.

Located below the southern tip of Korea, you'll find Jeju Island and its lush green tea fields. Here, the hero ingredient of the AmorePacific Vintage Single Extract Essence is plucked by hand to help smooth skin and ramp up its radiance. At $145, it earns a Best of Beauty Award in the luxury category with its potent-yet-delicate formula.

(Available in the May 2019 Allure Beauty Box for just $10.)

The Art:Cell Aurora Pearl Mask is "freaking amazing," if you ask Lee. Here's why: Pearl powder not only gives the clear sheet mask its prismatic glow, it also imparts the same luminosity to skin. That means you will look like you're wearing highlighter — when you're not wearing any makeup. The niacinamide in the mask also helps maintain the radiance for days.

Inside the pretty pink vial of the Private Doctor Minus Serum, you'll find microscopic needles that painlessly pierce skin with sodium deoxycholate, an active ingredient similar to the fat-dissolving injectable Kybella. In serum form, it has the potential to sculpt your face without an in-office procedure. So if you're afraid of large needles, this might be the next best thing.

The main ingredient in the incredibly nourishing Belif Peat Miracle Revital Eye Cream hails from Finland. Peat water may sound gross, but it's chock-full of line-smoothing minerals that also help boost the elasticity of skin. Chow approves of the eye cream's luxuriously silky texture and says it's "very moisturizing without being densely heavy."

The SMD Cosmetics Inhyunjin Intensive Night Cream is certified by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety as a proven "anti-wrinkle product," so you know it's going to deliver game-changing results. Infused with several patented ingredients and more than 45 active herbal ingredients, like meadowfoam seed oil and purslane, slather the cream on as your last step before bed and come morning your skin will feel like silk.

If you're looking for a serum that does it all — smoothing, brightening, soothing, and moisturizing — one of Lee's favorites will do the trick. Inspired by the popular Korean beauty trend, the Peach & Lily Glass Skin Refining Serum helps give your complexion the smooth, poreless glow of "glass skin" that's gained global appeal. A powerhouse trio of smoothing peach extract, brightening niacinamide, and plumping yam extract give the dewiness that people crave from here to Seoul.

Because, as Lee points out, breakouts still occur after 40, stick a Cosrx Acne Pimple Master Patch on those pesky spots. The circular, hydrocolloid bandages keep you from picking at your face and help absorb fluid from the zit to flatten it and alleviate pain in just a couple of hours. The patches are also thin and transparent enough so you can wear them any time of day. For the record, we endorse public pimple patching, but they work amazingly overnight too.

Right after Soko Glam started stocking The Plant Base Time Stop Collagen Ampoule, it immediately sold out. You can easily find it now, but the hype is still real. The Plant Base has earned praise for using only plant-based ingredients and leaving out mineral oil, parabens, and artificial fragrance. This ampoule, in particular, focuses on mushroom extracts, including lion's mane (or Hericium erinaceus extract), known for promoting collagen production and reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Several Allure editors agree that the luxurious, jelly-like Laneige Water Sleeping Mask is award-winning. To prove it, we gave it the Best of Beauty Award in the overnight mask category in 2017. The lightweight, pillow-proof formula seals in your entire skin-care routine while you sleep and boosts your skin's moisture levels. When you wake up, you'll have the chok-chok skin of your dreams.

Another choice from the Allure Korea team: the AHC Essential Eye Cream for Face. Chosen as the best eye cream, the quick-absorbing product can be spread all over your face to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, as well as amp up moisture levels and help lift sagging.

Formulated with 10 percent alpha hydroxy acids, the Peach & Lily Super Reboot Resurfacing Mask is "one of the most powerful and effective AHA products" from a Korean beauty brand, according to Chow. And this is a major statement because she tends to shy away from concentrated-acid solutions — especially glycolic acid, which exfoliates skin by gently lifting away dead cells, blackheads, and other gunk that's clogging pores, while also evening tone.

The often-sold-out mask's magic comes down to the ingredients the acid is paired with. A calming mix of cica, aloe, hyaluronic acid, and chamomile keeps skin from flaring up with redness and replaces all the nastiness that was sloughed away with hydration.

The creamy, dreamy Sulwhasoo Overnight Vitalizing Mask "will rejuvenate your skin and pack it with antioxidant-rich herbs, roots, and extracts," Chow says, and you should definitely take her word for it. The sleeping mask features ginseng, a highly coveted, potent ingredient that restores skin's moisture balance, smooths fine lines, and evens hyperpigmentation.

With 12 different antioxidant-rich extracts and several oils to help improve fine lines and elasticity, the Jullai Super 12 Bounce Oil in Cream is on the top of the Allure Korea editors' list of must-have moisturizers. Slather it on day or night to give your skin a dewy, plump finish.

Consider the Laneige Eye Sleeping Mask a leave-on, overnight version of your favorite undereye patches. The Best of Beauty Award winner for best moisturizing eye cream imparts a cooling sensation that helps soothe dry, irritated eyes so, come morning, you rise hydrated and puff-free. Top your face off with the K-beauty brand's Water Sleeping Mask to give yourself a mini spa treatment overnight.

Dr. Jart Peptidin Radiance Serum with Energy Peptides (or as it's called in Korea, Dr. Jart Peptidin Pink Energy Effect Serum) won an Editor's Pick Award for Allure Korea in the best serum for fine lines and wrinkles category, not just for its aesthetically pleasing packaging, but also for its lightweight, water-like texture. The serum's formula is filled with eight different peptides and hyaluronic acid to help reenergize tired skin.

Chow's praise for the Urang Rose Ceramide Cream speaks for itself: "This cream has the density of La Mer, but is more luxurious, clean, and intensely moisturizing." By "clean" she's referring to the all-natural formula, which is free of synthetic fragrances and preservatives. The cream is made mostly with organic rose water and ceramides. Together the two ingredients thoroughly hydrate flaky, irritated skin and prevent further dehydration.