[ENG] The K-Beauty Podcast: Polluaging and Anti-Pollution Skincare – Fad or Fact?

Today’s episode of The K-Beauty is on a “buzzy” topic that keeps popping up on my social media feeds: polluaging! Find out what is behind this slightly tongue-twisty term and why polluaging is not just a silly marketing ploy meant to sell you products, but an actual, real skin concern!

I am quite excited for today’s The K-Beauty Podcast episode – it was a bit of a spontaneous decision to dedicate a whole podcast to polluaging, but the more I read about this, the more I felt it would be worth discussing in-depth. See, I actually thought that this whole “anti pollution skincare” topic was just marketing nonsense, but – well, you will have to listen to the episode to find out more!

Throughout this episode, I keep saying “particular matter”, when I actually meant to say “particulate matter” – it seems that I have that one word in every K-Beauty Podcast episode that I just cannot stop mispronouncing, hmpf.

As always, you can find links to all the relevant literature on the topic of polluaging, as well as purchase links for any products mentioned underneath the media player. You can subscribe to The K-Beauty podcast on ITunes, and it would be absolutely lovely if you could rate the podcast or even leave a review – I so very much appreciate it, thank you!

Here is episode SIX of The K-Beauty Podcast:

Listen on ITunes ¦ Listen on Anchor.fm ¦ Listen on Stitcher

The K-Beauty Podcast Episode Notes: Polluaging

• South Korea is now one of the world’s most polluted countries (and China is not the main culprit for this)
• Abstract of an academic article on Life Sciences stating that “PMs” (particular matter) in the air caused by pollution can negatively effect the skin, aggravating and triggering skin concerns such acne, excema, and lead to the breakdown of collagen, which in turn results in premature ageing of the skin
• Abstract of another academic article on Skin Pharmacology and Physiology claiming that there is a link between acne and air pollution – their evidence is kind of sketchy though, to be fair
• A very interesting (and kind of shocking) article in The Guardian sums up the dangers of air pollution for the skin and the scientific evidence that is out so far
• Article on Cult Beauty about polluaging
• Vogue Australia also has the scoop on polluaging
• A short article explaining the yellow dust phenomenon occurring in Korea
• Intro and outro music as always: “Puzzle Pieces” by Lee Rosevere

Products mentioned that can help protect from polluaging

Some great, thorough oil cleansers I can recommend:

• Banila co. Clean It Zero Purity – buy at Amazon US*, buy at Amazon DE*
• Heimish All Clean Cleansing Balm – buy at Stylekorean*
• Beauty of Joseon has a brand new cleansing balm out that looks heavenly! – buy at Yesstyle*
• Too Cool For School Black Oilo Ziuza Cleansing Oil – buy at Testerkorea

Some beautiful, gentle and yet thorough second step cleansers:

• Beyond Phytoganic Facial Foam – buy at Yesstyle*
• Nakeup Face Stress Zero Cleansing Stick – buy at Stylekorean*
• Tosowoong Enzyme Powder Wash – buy at Yesstyle*
• By Wishtrend Green Tea & Enzyme Powder Wash – read my product review, buy at Wishtrend*

Acid exfoliators, physical scrubs, Vitamin C serum:

• Cosrx BHA Blackhead Power Liquid – buy at Amazon US*, buy at Stylekorean*
• By Wishtrend Mandelic Acid 5% Skin Prep Water – read my (raving) review, buy at Wishtrend*
• Tiam Anti Pollution Salt Facial Scrub – buy at Stylekorean*, buy at Yesstyle*
• Tiam My Signature C Source Serum – buy at Stylekorean* (it’s often sold at a reduced “time deal” price so check back if the price seems high)

Bubble and clay masks for deep cleansing:

• Tiam Sebum Drying Black Bubble Mask – read my German review, buy at Stylekorean*
• Su:m37 White Award Bubble De Mask – buy at Amazon US*
• Innisfree Jeju Volcanic Pore Clay Mask – buy at Stylekorean*
• Leegeehaam Grow Matcha Clay Mask Pack – buy at Amazon US*

Facial Mists:

• Cosrx Low Ph PHA Barrier Mist – buy at Stylekorean*
• Benton Tea Tree Mist – buy at Yesstyle* (you may be able to catch a time deal if you watch out for offers!)
• SanDaWha Camellia Whitening Oil Mist – buy at Beautytap*
• Natural Friend Moisture Nanocell Mist – buy at Stylekorean* (temporarily unavailable, so link might be broken!)

Antioxidant-rich, hydrating moisturisers:

• ECLADO Respiration Ampoule – buy at Beautytap*
• Swanicoco Black Yeast Fermentation Luminous Ampoule – buy at Beautytap* (they currently have a 30% off sale for Swanicoco products, use code “SWANICOCO30”
• Leegeehaam Hyal B5 Ampoule – read my review, buy at Glow Recipe, otherwise try and search for this on Ebay
• Joseon Dynasty Beauty Cream – buy at Amazon US*, buy at Yesstyle*
• Innisfree Derma Formula Skin Barrier Cream – buy at Beautytap*

Products containing high concentrations of Niacinamide:

• Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin E Mask (5% concentration) – read my review, buy at Wishtrend*, buy at Amazon US*, buy at Amazon DE*
• Sidmool Fast Turnover Rebuilding Serum (5% concentration) – buy at Amazon US*; it’s quite hard to find this anywhere else, but some Ebay sellers seem to offer this occasionally so do check there as well!
• Holy Snails Shark Sauce (4-5% concentration) – buy at the Holy Snails online shop
• The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% serum – buy at Deciem (just be aware that it usually takes forever until products are shipped out)
• Naruko DermaLane Zero Dark Spot Brightening Moisturiser (5% concentration) – buy at Naruko US,* ships worldwide!

Korean polluaging and anti pollution skincare lines:

• Missha Near Skin Dustless product line – buy at Beautytap*, buy at Yesstyle*
• Laneige Anti Pollution product line – buy at Beautytap*, buy at Yesstyle*
• Jayjun Anti Dust masks and cream – buy at Yesstyle*
• Mizon Dust Cleanup masks and serum – buy at Yesstyle*
• Blithe Anti-Polluaging Himalayan Pink Salt Cleansing Water – buy at Glowrecipe

The weekly craves, faves and misbehaves

• Crave of the week: SanDaWha Natural Mild Cleansing Oil – ingredient breakdown from COSDNA, purchase this at Beautytap in the full version* or a sample size*
• Fave of the week: Natural Pacific Real Rose Floral Toner – I raved about this on Instagram quite a bit, you purchase the toner on Stylekorean*, where you can also find the equally pretty Calendula toner*
• Misbehave of the week: Purito Galacto Niacin 97 Power Essence – read my full review of this product, if you wish you can purchase this at Eopenmarket

That is all from today’s The K-Beauty Podcast episode on “polluaging”! Don’t forget to subscribe on ITunes to never miss a fresh episode. Leave a comment on this blog post and let me know: do you feel that pollution is negatively effecting the state of your skin, and do you actively choose products that can combat this if the answer is “yes”?

Take care, guys!
Sugarpeaches

*Affiliate Links, meaning I earn a small commission if you decide to use the link to purchase an item. This does not raise the purchase price for you, and it helps me and my blog to grow – so, thank you for supporting me in this way!