Beauty of Joseon Apricot Blossom Peeling Gel review: ‘This £11 smoothing Korean peel is the only one that doesn’t irritate my sensitive skin’

If, like me, you have sensitive skin and usually find scrubs and exfoliators too harsh, you might want to try this unique formula by a K-beauty skincare brand currently trending

Occasionally using an exfoliating skincare product – whether you favour a physical (aka a scrub) or a chemical (aka acids) – is an excellent way to improve the skin’s texture, tone and radiance, but if you have sensitive skin, you might find that these irritate rather than improve your complexion. However, I’ve found a formula that’s gentle yet effective on delicate skin.

Popular Korean brand Beauty of Joseon has just launched in the UK in Boots, as well as retailers Lookfantastic and Beauty Bay, and its lightweight, ‘glass skin’ formulas have quickly proven popular with shoppers – and us (check out our review of the brand’s SPF here). Intrigued by the name, I put the Beauty of Joseon Apricot Blossom Peeling Gel, which costs £11, to the test to see how it fared on my sensitive skin – and I was amazed by the result.

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Designed to be used once or twice a week, this exfoliator contains a blend of alpha hydroxy acids plus brightening rice and apricot blossom waters, and is a ‘gommage’ type of formula, meaning the exfoliating actives ball up when rubbed, giving both an chemical and a physical exfoliating action – but in a more gentle way that a lot of rough scrubs or strong peels.

Although not too reactive, my skin can react badly to strong active ingredients such as acids. I’ve also definitely been guilty of overusing them in the past in an attempt to get the smoothest, glowiest skin possible, so I’m a little wary of exfoliating now and, to be honest, rarely do it. But I was too intrigued by this product to pass up giving it a go.

You apply the gel onto clean, dry skin, and gentle rub it in. After a few seconds, something weird starts happening – the formula pills into little clumps, which then act as a light scrub (some on social media are saying that this is the skin lifting off, but it’s not – it’s the product). Stand over a sink as it’s a little bit messy, but otherwise very quick and easy.

Afterwards, it all washes off really easily with a splash of water – and I was so impressed with how my skin looked and felt:

smoother, softer and brighter, but without feeling overly dry or shiny-smooth. Even better, I experienced no redness or irritation at all, and my make-up sat much better.

It’s a sentiment that’s shared with Lookfantastic shoppers too, who also report how good it is for skin that’s easily irritated.

“Best Korean brand is a fan favourite for sensitive skin,” wrote one person. “So far I am finding this exfoliator to work like a charm. Very pleased with my sensitive skin.”

“The most perfect skin peel,” wrote another. “Leaves skin feeling so soft and glowing with no irritation. I can have sensitive skin to peels, especially round my mouth and chin area, but that was not a problem with this product.”

If you like this gommage style of exfoliator then another one to check out is the Gatineau Radiance Enhancing Gommage, available in 15ml or 150ml tubes.

If you prefer an acid exfoliator, on the other hand, Skin Rocks has two excellent ones: The Gentle Acid, £49, to help with signs of ageing, and The Control Acid, £49, for oily or blemish-prone skin.