With 2025, there has been a big rise in creating healthier, glowy and flawless skin through the use of skincare, rather than cosmetics. All the makeup pros have been using soothing, nourishing serums and treatments to create a shiny, healthy glow of skin, without using heavy pigments and covering up. This was the big trend of ‘glass skin’ - but it has now evolved (as fashions shift back to a smoother look) to butter skin.

The goal is essentially 3-steps: 
(1) Achieve the natural glow with serums 
(2) Achieve a creamy look with nourishing moisturizers 
(3) Achieve a poreless, blurry look with a soft foundation 

This is all to achieve skin that is warm, glowy and incredibly rich – like butter. It takes root from Korean routines – with multiple steps to cleanse, treat and hydrate – to create plump and healthy skin. This health forms the base – which then only requires a light makeup topping to create the look.  

The most important place to start your butter skin journey is with your evening skincare. If you are looking to achieve poreless, flawless skin with a soft inner glow, you need to ensure you are cleansing well, using good serums and finishing your evening with a good night cream/moisturizer. 

If you want clearer pores and smoother skin, it’s time to start a double cleansing duo. You can read more in-depth in our K-beauty guide here. 
It essentially involves using an oil-based cleanser first, followed by a soft, foamy cleanser – with the oil extracting build-up from deep within pores (allowing them to relax and shrink) and then the foam cleanser carefully washing away the excess without stripping and drying skin. Always finish with a soothing, enriching toner – that helps cool skin, balance pH and relax pores.

A favourite double cleansing duo that is suitable for almost all skin types (combination, sensitive, dry, oily) is the Beauty of Joseon set with Ginseng Cleansing Oil and Green Plum Refreshing Cleanser (which provides the perfect cleanse every time). 

You need to activate your natural glow and plump up your skin. There’s a few ways to do this, but if you find something that suits your skin type, hold it close! You are looking for brightening, hydrating and soothing serums: 

Niacinamide Serums (Brightening): 
This brightening ingredient has taken beauty products by storm and is found in almost every new serum/skincare treatment. It’s a key ingredient in revitalizing cell energy systems, reducing age-related stress, calming inflammation and bringing a soothing glow to skin. This glow forms the healthy base to our butter skin – so choosing a serum that matches your skin with niacinamide is a great start. 

Acne-Prone Best Serum – Anua Niacinamide 10% + TXA 4% Serum 30ml 
This has been a consistent favourite amongst beauty fans (especially with acne-prone skin or redness). With strong niacinamide, it helps bring a sheer glow to skin, whilst tranexamic acid (TXA) reduces redness and helps cool inflammation. 

Combination Skin Best Serum – Beauty of Joseon Glow Serum: Propolis + Niacinamide 30ml 
Similarly, this serum has brightening niacinamide to help skin glow – but it also contains healing and nourishing propolis. This helps protect and hydrate skin, whilst also creating a protective seal for the skin barrier to prevent irritation. Propolis also provides antioxidants that helps reverse signs of aging. 

Dry Skin Best Serum – Anua Peach 70% Niacinamide Serum 30ml 
With 70% peach extract (and as always, glowy niacinamide) this extract provides a strong, nourishing boost and natural glow to skin. Safe for sensitive skin, this serum is soft, peachy and light weight without being overpowering. If you need a serum to hydrate and bring out your inner glow – this is a favourite.

Collagen/PDRN Serums (Hydrating): 
If you’re looking to turn back time and revive dull skin, you need to boost your skin with collagen or PDRN. Producing healthy, glowing skin is easier with hydrolyzed collagen. It absorbs into skin cells and improves skin natural elasticity, reduces damaging particles to protect against aging and improves skin matrix and connection to create bouncier, youthful skin.  

PDRN contains natural extracts of fragmented DNA, which absorb into cells to repair and rejuvenate damaged cells. You can read our deep dive about it here. It provides deep repair of skin cells and protection of skin barrier. 

Acne-Prone Best Serum – Medicube PDRN Pink Exosome Shot 2000 30ml 
With piercing exosomes mixed with both PDRN and collagen, this serum works hard to deeply penetrate between cells and deliver collagen and PDRN directly replenish skin cells. Mixed with a background of hyaluronic acid and niacinamide – this is the ultimate plumping and brightening skin serum. 

Combination Skin Best Serum – Mary & May Marine Collagen Serum 30ml 
A hyper lightweight serum made of low molecular collagen extracted from ocean sources to create a natural, replenishing serum that absorbs deeply and produces a soft bounce to skin.  

Dry Skin Best Serum – Etude House Moistfull Collagen Emulsion 180ml 
With 20% low molecular collagen water, mixed with nourishing amino acids and glycerin, this emulsion mix provides the ultimate plumping and hydrating mix to bring a glow to skin. It’s non-irritating, inexpensive and can be layered well with other products due to its light-weight texture. 

This step is crucial to dampen the ‘shininess’ that stops this from being glassy skin and elevates it to ‘butter skin.’ You want a moisturizer that maintains a soft glow, but will help softly matte the skin without dulling it. Using the right overnight cream here will get you waking up with whisper soft skin, smooth pores and have you ready for the day. You want to pick creams that contain ceramides, amino acids or plumping hyaluronic acid.

Acne-Prone Moisturizer – Medicube Zero Pore Cream 2.0 50ml 
If you are looking for a smoothing, blurring cream that helps clear pores with glycolic acid and brighten with camellia flower extract, this is the one. It removes the vivid shininess from serums, to give you a calm, smooth and blurry effect – that forms a perfect foundation for butter skin. 

Combination Skin Moisturizer – Madagascar Centella Tone Brightening Capsule Cream 75ml 
For the ultimate smoothing, protective effect, this centella cream is mixed with brightening niacinamide and soothing hyaluronic acid. With madecassoside extracted from the centella, which inhibits pigment and brightens skin, this cream helps bring a uniform glow to skin without being overly shiny – creating the perfect base for a creamy look. 

Dry Skin Moisturizer – Celimax Dual Barrier Skin Wearable Cream 50ml 
If you have dry skin or a damaged barrier, this cream is your treatment for radiant, healthy skin. It contains 5 types of ceramides, panthenol and olive oil extract to smooth skin. It acts so well to create a creamy base that it can even be used as a primer for your foundation. 

After you’ve cleansed and hydrated your skin, it’s ready for the makeup touch to make you feel deeply glamorous. To top off your look, add a hydrating primer (to create a very radiant base), then add a tinted light-weight foundation with a blurry effect/finish. If you are looking at what foundation to pick (or don’t know your shade) check out our foundation guide.

For a lightweight BB cream that provides a naturally, creamy finish – I recommend the Purito Seoul Wonder Releaf Centella range. With hydrating, soothing centella – it provides strong coverage without irritating skin. It also contains hydrating panthenol (to provide a soft, glowy effect) and UV-protective titanium dioxide/zinc oxide to provide SPF+30 throughout the day. This is ideal for dry/combination skin as it limits the risk of breakouts, whilst providing soothing hydration and protective coverage. There is a slight oxidation that some users have noted – making it a bit harder to color match, but if you find your perfect colour – you'll never use another foundation again. 

If you have an oily skin type, finish off with a lighter cushion – such as the TIRTIR Mask Fit Cushion series, as it provides a slight matte to dampen the shine (and any extra dewiness), but maintains a glowy and creamy finish. The TIRTIR Mask Fit Cushion also doesn’t require finishing powder, with a long-stay and long-lasting effect that can be built-up as needed. 

You can apply a bronzer (as preferred) to add to the natural contours to your face, but use lightly. Finish with highlights to the tops of your cheekbones, forehead and across your jawline and then blend well. For a perfect highlighter (and all-round beauty product), we recommend Hince Radiance Balm – which not only can highlight, act as a blush, but also works as eye shadow or lip tint. 

And there you have it – 3 steps to butter skin. It’s important to note that the primary ingredient is a good skincare routine and ensuring you pay attention to your individual skin needs. Check out our other skincare blogs for tips on managing your unique skin types and ensuring you are looking out for your best skin health. 

What products are good for butter skin? 
To get creamy, uniform skin you want to use products that are deeply hydrating and plumping, then follow it with a soothing moisturizer to create the ‘cream’ effect. In 2025, makeup looks are trending more natural, trying to blur products with natural skin to enhance natural beauty rather than creating new shapes. 

You want to use products with hydrating ceramides, hyaluronic acid, collagen, amino acids, glycerin and squalene. For a youthful glow, it's great to utilize niacinamide, retinol (use carefully!) and PDRN. 

What foundation is used for butter skin? 
You want a lightweight, creamy foundation that merges well with other beauty products, to create a uniform, blurred effect. Skin tints are in growing popularity, to create a light color without overpowering your look or diminishing your skin glow. If you have oily skin, you can reach for a lightweight cushion, which also acts as a finishing powder to brighten and smooth skin. 

How do I get more uniform skin? 
With butter skin technique, the goal is using natural skincare products to produce healthier, more uniform skin. It’s important to note your individual skin type, make sure you are hydrated (without over doing it) and covering with a light makeup cover to enhance. 

Ingredients to get more glowy, uniform skin include Vitamin C, alpha arbutin, madecassoside, rice extracts and tranexamic acid (TXA). If you look out for these products, you’ll find them able to tackle extra pigments, redness and brighten skin tone.