From The Straits Times    |

Fresh-faced Taiwanese actress Ouyang Nana who often sports a low maintenance, natural, no-makeup look recently posted a makeup tutorial where she walked viewers through her makeup routine as she gets ready for her concert. She starts by applying a tone up cream (White Holic from W.Lab, $42.90 from Watsons) all over her face with her fingers to even out her skin tone before following up with foundation.  

 

So, what exactly are tone up creams?

 

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It can be quite challenging to navigate the range of Korean beauty offerings out there because there are just so many words and phrases that aren’t used in western beauty products. In case you didn’t know, tone up creams straddle the line between makeup and skincare and helps to brighten dull complexion ( cancelling out sallow olive undertones in the skin) to create a more even and fair skin tone. Tone up creams are a great alternative for those who want to achieve a fairer and more even complexion without piling on more concealer or foundation.

Some of these products even help to reduce the appearance of pores and hydrate the skin at the same time. Since most tone up creams contain titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, ingredients that are commonly seen in physical sunscreens, they also have the added benefit of blocking out harmful ultraviolet rays.

 

How do you use tone up creams?

 

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Tone up creams are typically found in Korean brands’ whitening and brightening skincare ranges, as the skin-illuminating effects are similar. You can apply the tone up cream as the last step of your skincare routine (before foundation or base makeup like BB or CC cream).

If you are using tone up creams that contain titanium oxide and zinc oxide, you have to make sure to remove it thoroughly with a makeup remover or a good cleanser because the combination of the two ingredients might cause acne as it can block the pores.

 

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