I’ve been digging into the Korean Skincare craze recently, and I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised.

Now, if you’re not familiar with the different steps, here is one version of them, which I follow (sort of):

One — oil cleanser

I don’t double cleanse because I never have a full face of makeup on that requires it. I would like to add an oil cleanser eventually, just to try it out, but I haven’t found one quite yet.

Two — water-based cleanser

I’m using up my Pacifica Sea Foam cleanser, which is a bit too drying for me so I’ll be keeping my eye out for a replacement as I near the bottom of the bottle.

Three — exfoliator

I’ve just been using coffee grounds or baking soda.

Four — toner

I’m using the Son & Park Beauty Water.

Five — essence

I got the Missha Time Revolution to use for this step.

Six — serum

I ran out of serum but have my eyes set on the Klairs vitamin C serum.

Seven — mask

I’ve been using two masks from Lush, Rosy Cheeks and Oatfix, which I love. But this is the particular step I want to talk about today, so once you’ve finished reading the next three steps we can continue with my tale.

Eight — Eye Cream

I’m at the end of my Kiehls eye cream, and I’m maybe thinking an Innisfree eye cream next. I want to look into ingredients and such before getting my next one.

Nine — moisturizer

Working my way through my Alaffia day cream (yup, I use it in the morning and before bed).

Ten — SPF or overnight mask

SPF is something I try to wear, especially since I’ve been going to warmer, sunnier places (I’ll fry like a lobster without it). But I’m really interested in finding an overnight mask that checks off all my requirements.

Ok, now that you’ve gotten that all in your head, let’s go back to step seven, masks.

Now, this is what I want to talk about today. What’s even more popular then the 10-step skincare process is Korean sheet masks themselves. But I take issue with how much waste they create.

Think about it. Some women use a sheet mask a day, which creates a lot of trash, and even just three a week adds up!

I was tinkering with the idea of creating my own zero waste sheet masks, but I didn’t want to waste a bunch of precious liquid by soaking it into a self-made muslin mask.

And I didn’t want to blow through a bunch of money going out and buying all the supplies. So, what to do?

I decided to take a look at recipes I liked, and to see if I couldn’t just alter them to fit the ingredients I already had at home.

One recipe that I found was for a hydrating mask on Rookie. Here’s the original ingredients:

+ 4 ounces coconut water

+ 1/4 tsp melted coconut oil

+ 1 tsp grapeseed oil

+ 1/2 tsp olive oil

Instead of using grape seed oil, which is great for acne-prone skin for it’s astringent qualities, I’m going to use my evening primrose oil, which is not only moisturizing, but has fatty acids great for soothing itchy, inflamed skin.

I borrowed some coconut oil from my mom because your girl is currently out. And I decided instead of coconut water I was going to go with good old fashion water that I've distilled first.

My mom had some fabric that should've could've worked, but it just didn't. It was a hilarious process making the fabric mask. (I was alone in my bathroom, cracking myself up as I made it). But it wasn't going to stay on my face unless I attached a few straps and tied it to my head.

So, instead of using a sheet mask I just slapped the ingredients on my face and let them soak in. Well, I left out the water and just put the oils on instead.

I’ve discovered that DIY homemade masks are awesome, when I want to go that route I just look at what I have and whip something up. And my other go to lately has been Lush masks. Like I said I have two that I’m currently using. They have a recycling program where if you bring in five of their pots your get a free mask. Win, win!

I wasn’t too gung-ho on the 10-step skincare routine at first because it seemed like a lot of steps, and it seemed wasteful buying tiny things of products, but I’ve found a good middle ground with using products I already have as well products that fall within my skincare guidelines and I’m quite happy with where it’s at.

And my skin has be ever grateful for the extra TLC and moisture this winter.