ETUDE SoonJung Moist Emulsion, Sensitive Skin Face Moisturizer, 4.39 fl oz

Why it's worth it

This emulsion is a thin, watery cream stripped of fragrance, alcohol and colorants, with panthenol and madecassoside doing the soothing. It's the step that closes a beginner routine, and it's light enough for oily skin that hates traditional creams.

This is the moisturizer for skin that's already irritated. SoonJung's pitch is subtraction: no fragrance, no drying alcohol, no artificial color, and a short list of common irritants deliberately left out. When your face is stinging from a new active or a cold, dry week, that's exactly what you want. Owners with inflamed, over-exfoliated skin keep describing it as the thing that settled everything down.

The texture is the other reason it works for beginners. It's an emulsion, not a cream — thin enough to sink in without a tacky film, but substantial enough to stop the flaking you get from a hydrating layer with nothing sealing it. If you have oily skin and every moisturizer so far has felt like a mask, start here.

From our review of 8 korean skincare products for beginners, by Isabelle Reed, Beauty & Skincare Analyst

What we like

• +This is the moisturizer for skin that's already irritated
• +The texture is the other reason it works for beginners
• +It also pairs naturally with the picks above

What to know

• –If your skin is genuinely dry — the kind that flakes all winter no matter what — this alone probably isn't enough
• –It's also the least discussed product here