9 Best Korean Whitening Creams of 2023 for a Better Skin

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If you’re in the process of choosing the best Korean whitening cream for your skin, this guide will help you navigate among the many different options and brands. In fact, when it comes to whitening creams there are a lot of misconceptions that have to be debunked. That’s the purpose of this shopping guide: giving you information on the whitening creams and recommending you the best Korean whitening creams.

Keep reading to find what are the best Korean whitening creams. If you want to jump over to the list of the creams we’ve chosen, use the table of contents below.

What is a whitening cream?

Despite being called “whitening”, these creams are nothing more than products that fight and remove hyperpigmentation: in fact due to age, sun exposure, stress, a certain lifestyle our skin can start to look a bit dull. Whitening creams help in getting a radiant and bright color, reducing the effect of the damage on our skin. So, it’s not about changing the color of our skin but making it brighter and luminescent.

What are the ingredient of a Korean whitening cream?

There’s no just one unique answer to this question but we can say for sure that the most common ingredients in whitening products are berry extracts, licorice extract, vitamin C, and every ingredient that
contains the same active principles of these three. Niacinamide and lemon are also common ingredients for whitening creams produced in South Korea.

Bear in mind: these products generally do not contain bleaching agents or ingredients. They may contain chemical ingredients that your skin couldn’t tolerate, but no bleaching ingredients because whitening creams are meant to reinvigorate the skin and not to change its color.

How do Korean skin whitening products work?

The purpose of a Korean skin whitening product is to break down the concentration of melanin that causes the skin to appear damaged or stained. These products also help the skin in renewing itself by allowing the dead skin cells to be removed.

Are whitening creams safe?

Whitening creams are lightening products so they don’t bleach the skin but help improve it by making it lighter and healthier-looking.
Just remember that melanin is a fundamental part of our skin so use these creams carefully, select the best and avoid the ones with a lot of chemical ingredients: you want lighter skin, not a damaged one.

The Best Korean Whitening Creams To Brighten Up Your Skin

We’ve selected 9 Best Korean Whitening Creams to incorporate into your beauty routine. For each product, a brief review and a link to check it on different stores to find the best price.

1. Tonymoly – Panda’s Dream

Panda Cream has been around for years and it’s one of the most loved products from Tonymoly. Aside from the cute packaging, this whitening cream contains niacinamide, lavender, rosemary, bamboo shoot extract, and berry extracts to brighten dark spots and help even out your skin tone. It has a very heavy texture and this may result in being hard to spread accurately. It’s free of parabens, phenoxyethanol, GMO, and triethanolamine and it has to be used in the evening after your routine.

2. Chica Y Chico – Nude Fantasy Whitening Cream

This lightweight cream features a unique white flower-based complex made with 8 different kinds of flowers. It also contains niacinamide, rice extracts, and titanium dioxide to give skin a radiant glow. Apply after toner. This is one of the lightest Korean whitening creams ever, it’s easy to spread and absorb rapidly.

3. Secret Key – Snow White

Snow White Cream is almost unanimously considered one of the best Korean whitening creams: it’s light and it’s perfect for sensitive skin. Not only it brightens the skin, but it also acts as a primer and helps in controlling oil production. It can be too drying for people with dry skin. It can be paired with a lot of other products from the same beauty line.

4. CoringCo – Snow Shining Milky Skin Whitening Cream

The Snow Shining Milky Skin Whitening Cream may not be one of the most famous whitening creams, but it’s definitely one of the best and one of the most affordable. It has a much liquid texture compared to a proper cream and for this reason, can be used as a daily lotion but also blended with the foundation for a tone-up effect. It can also be used as a body cream.

5. Elizavecca – Moisture Skin Liar Whitening Cream

This product from Elizavecca contains hydrolyzed collagen, allantoin, and shea butter: these three ingredients, together with niacinamide, keep skin moisturized, smooth, and brighter. The Moisture Skin Liar Whitening Cream can also be used as a primer or BB Cream.

6. Mizon Snail Repair Cream

Even if it’s not officially called “whitening cream”, Snail Repair Cream from Mizon is, by all means, a whitening cream. In fact, with 92% snail mucus extract, it provides outstanding skin regeneration and recovery and solves multiple skin concerns such as blemishes and hyperpigmentation.

7. Yuja Niacin Brightening Moisture Gel Cream

A cream-gel that contains Yuja extract, ten types of vitamins, glacial water, and niacinamide to revitalize and brighten skin while fading freckles and blemishes.

8. SKIN&LAB – C Plus Brightening Vitamin Cream

This brightening cream contains Vitamin C, manganese, Alpha-Bisabolol, and acerola extracts to moisturize, refine, and smoothen skin. It’s perfect for sensitive skin while also preventing free-radical damage from UV exposure. Apply as the last step of skincare day and night. To reinforce its action, always apply a sunscreen.

9. Nacific – Phyto Niacin Whitening Tone-Up Cream

The Phyto Niacin Whitening Tone-Up Cream contains bamboo extract, adenosine and peptide and can be used on the face and body to fade hyperpigmentation. This product can be used as a makeup base.

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