Q: What is Clinical K-Beauty?

BEAUTY NEWS

May 31

The next level of K-beauty includes high-tech, in-office treatments that tone, tighten, and plump up skin.

Dr. Eunice Park, the first female plastic surgeon on Long Island, has been named a Super Doctor by *The New York Times Magazine*.

A: K-beauty (short for Korean Beauty) has strongly influenced the U.S. beauty market for over a decade. You may not even know that some of your beloved skincare products, such as sheet masks, cleansing balms, BB Creams, and that much-discussed snail mucin ingredient, stem from K-beauty. Even the viral “glass skin” trend (shiny, dewy, flawless skin) originated as a K-beauty term. And, of course, facial tools such as jade rollers and Gua Sha have become mainstream over the past few years.

“Korean culture values the rituals of skincare,” says Eunice Park, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon and founder of AIREM, the first clinical K-beauty medical aesthetic spa in the U.S. “Everything revolves around hydrated skin, which leads to really innovative products,” she says. Korean beauty products often include botanical ingredients that have been used topically for centuries (for example, ginseng) only paired with state-of-the-art science and technology to pinpoint and isolate the molecules within the botanical that are most effective for skin, explains Dr. Park.

South Korea is a manufacturing hub, so brands can quickly produce products, says Dr. Park. That means K-beauty often produces first-to-market formulas, technologies, and even packaging innovations and designs (created to stand out on highly competitive shelves) that eventually make their way stateside.

So Then, What is “Clinical” K-Beauty?

“Clinical K-beauty takes the innovation and skincare one step further,” says Dr. Park. “We’re really talking about aesthetic treatments.” Dr. Park says that in Korea, there are skincare clinics everywhere. “It’s not uncommon for people to get something done to their skin biweekly if not every week.”

Korea has also influenced many of the treatments offered in traditional U.S. medical spas: Think oxygen facials, microneedling, LED light therapy, and lasers such as picosecond lasers, which deliver super-short pulses of light to target skin concerns such as pigmentation. “Many pico lasers are made in Korea,” says Dr. Park.

In November 2020, Dr. Park founded AIREM, the first medical spa that combines K beauty principles such as gwallee, a centuries-old tradition of self-care, and innovations with the best Western clinical-grade ingredients and treatments. AIREM offers a full menu of surgical and non-surgical services, including facials, lasers, and injectables. Dr. Park also created AIREM Essentials, a line of K-beauty topical products for at-home use.

Cutting-Edge K-Beauty

So, what’s the latest in non-surgical clinical K-beauty treatments at AIREM? Dr. Park said there’s a big buzz over two new laser treatments utilizing the picosecond technology mentioned above:

PicoTone Laser Facial (starting at $295 per treatment): This treatment improves skin tone and texture and stimulates collagen. “It’s gentle enough not to require numbing cream,” says Dr. Park. “It takes 15 minutes, and you’re barely red,” she says. For best results, the laser facial is recommended every four to six weeks.

Brighten + Tighten Laser Advanced Protocol ($2,850 for a package of four treatments): Dr. Park developed this protocol after visiting the device headquarters in Seoul last summer. The therapy utilizes two wavelengths of picosecond technology to target pigmentation and tighten the skin, especially along the neck and jawline.

The Next Big Thing: Skin Boosters

Dr. Park says we can expect to see more of this topical trend. Skin boosters are highly concentrated active ingredients that penetrate to boost hydration, tone, texture, and the overall appearance of skin. They’re applied to the skin after laser treatments or services that create channels or openings within the skin, such as microneedling. Exosomes, for example, are nanoparticles designed to keep cells communicating with each other to regenerate. “Exosomes are powerfully reparative. I also use them for my patients with rosacea and just very inflamed skin.” They’re also used to reduce downtime after lasers.

Another post-treatment skin booster offered at AIREM is rejuran, which contains polynucleotide (PN), a DNA extract from salmon—salmon sperm, if you must know. Before you say ‘ick,’ consider this: Rejuran is deeply hydrating and stimulates collagen. It’s been a staple in Korea that’s even injected into the skin there. “It plumps and hydrates like a filler without the risk of distorting the face,” says Dr. Park. At AIREM, it’s applied topically post-treatment for intense hydration and firm and smooth skin. We’ll have the salmon, please!

To find out which clinical K-beauty treatment is right for your skin’s needs, set up a consultation at AIREM. There are three locations: Manhattan, Bridgehampton, and its flagship location in Syosset.