Written by NZINGHA for TheGlamSquadFiles
If you know anything about me you will know I love to travel and am always learning about various cultures. I’m interested in the beauty rituals of various cultures and today was a day spent in Korea Town in NYC. I felt just like I was in Korea. Funny how you can do the escapism travel to other countries right here in New York City! New York is totally multicultural! Truly the only place in the world where this occurs and occurs successfully. 

I met some lovely new friends along the way at a Korean restaurant I stopped to have lunch at called Miss Korea BBQ. My new friends are visiting from Ohio!!! I took them to a few of my Korean makeup spots! We went into two of my fave haunts The Face Shop and Nature Republic (which I absolutely ❤️💛💚). Now as I’m shopping I’m keeping in mind as we are dining we are listening to the best of Korean Pop music. I’m entrigued! Seems the focus is on all the current boy bands singing their latest tunes and looking hot in their music videos.

There’s my friend Erin there on the side on her phone!! Just look at this spread on the table…there’s beef and pork ribs, kimchi, seaweed soup, marinated cucumber, ginger eggplant, baby white new potatoes, on the grill is zucchini and white sweet potato. The food is being prepared on our hibachi’s!! And boy is it smelling good! Hibachi’s really aren’t a Korean or Japanese tradition but it’s for excitement for foreigners tastes….and it works every time!!!

So after we eat we’ve gotta walk off all that sumptuous food and get our metabolism going. Well talk about shop till you drop…my ladies made a killing today! Not only did they get items for themselves but for their young daughters who LOVE MAKEUP AND COLORS!!! Me…mmmm I was a bit conservative. I was focusing in on all of the products whose main ingredient is ALOE VERA.

I’ve been seriously vibing on three ingredients this season…ROSE, COCONUT OIL and ALOE VERA. At home we’ve got gigantic Aloe Vera bushes everywhere! And as we all know the ancient Egyptians taught us through their early medicine ,Aloe Vera has numerous properties but the main one is healing. When used as a beauty treatment you will find it heals burns, cuts, scrapes, dark spots and a myriad of other skin ailments in a flash.

This product I didn’t purchase at Nature Republic but at a small sidewalk shop. I’m loving it! It’s got a super light fresh herbal scent not overpowering at all. And doesn’t leave you with that sticky feeling you get with most lotions! It’s light and moisturizing and really has a soothing effect…you will hear more about this product from me soon.

Now I’m going to have to be honest about this product…I’m sure it kills germs but it leaves my hands SUPA DRY!!! The fragrance is amazing!! And the petit size is perfect for your travel size purse. I’ve been using it on the regular now because I will not do the germ thing! I have opted to use it along with my Aloe Vera Soothing Gel (which also comes in a convenient travels size as well). So I’m okay to use this hand sanitizer. Buy 1 for $1.50 and 3 for $3.50

The Hand & Nature Clean Hand Wash OLIVE is amazing! Most times I have really dry hands because they are always in water. I can always feel the drying agent in hand soaps and this one I don’t feel it at all! Just like soft water and moisturizing and you get a full size bottle 8.45oz for $4.40!!!

While on my spree of course there’s a soundtrack happening the whole time. The music of course is Korean Pop and there are literally numerous groups out there. I’ll share a few with you. Here’s a K-Pop group I like by the name of Super Junior. The group is a 13 member Boy Band!!!! 13???? Yep 13 group members and they are all talented in their own right. 

This Skin Smoothing Body Peeling Mist is AMAZING!! It’s not a hoax about the peeling effect. It does work. The more you use in succession you will see that the peeling on our first go round is a lot of peeling. Then the second you will have a bit more peeling and by the third time you may have very little peeling. One WARNING…do not use this if you have hairy arms and legs!!! Why? Because you will have pulling of the the hair in trying to use this product. Now I use this product in the shower (to wash away the peelings and dead skin) and I use it with my sugar body scrub…skin soooooooooo soft even my problematic super dry elbows.

The samples of this Collagen Cream I got at the check-out at Nature Republic is also AMAZING!!! I have used it as an overnight moisturizer and can I tell you my skin is even more flawless! I have been using it 3 nights in a row. The Cream is light and transparent like an Aloe Vera Gel. I’m definitely going to go for the large sized bottle upon my next visit. I’ve not tried the mask as yet and this was also a free sample item I get at check-out. 

These lashes I got from The Face Shop for $4.00. I will be using in my next shoot. I think I’m going to stack them for maximum effect. They come with a small vial of glue.

F.T. Island, short for Five Treasure Island, is a South Korean pop-rock band consists of five members,

All I can say is my hair smells divine! Just a little spritz as I’m breaking out the front door or turning in in for the night! I’m smelling lovely hair!  

I’m loving this cleansing puff/eponge!! My skin for the last 3 days has been truly flawless! I’ve been using this with my Boscia Detox Charcol facial cleanser, talk about major lather factor…YES INDEED! Go out and get one for yourself and you’ll see what I mean.

JJCC is the first K-pop idol group to be formed and reared by Jackie Chan.The name of the band is derived from the name of Jackie Chan and the group’s aim

Well as I bring this post to a close I have one thing that I have noticed in my jaunt about Korea Town is that Korea has a serious handle on skincare! Skincare reigns supreme in this cultures beauty regimen. I’ve never seen such smooth skin as I have seen on display today. Even the men have flawless skin! And I noticed that the men really stood out in the advertising mmmmm….all of them look sooooo incredibly…dare I say it pretty!!! Pretty flawless bump free skin! I mean just look at the young men in the featured videos (I see a strong African American influence in the music and male fashion styling) and in the advertising. 

As I was shopping I saw just as many men as I did women wanting to take care of their skin! One man I saw was really in the mirror fixing his hair and had a basket full of products!! And can I say he was really handsome! WOW! Well…after all your skin is the largest major organ! So, in closing…take this season join me in getting a hold on your skincare regimen. Xoxo from Korea Town NYC!