Being brought to the forefront once again, the Korean beauty industry continues to be ahead of the game. The most recent K-beauty trend has gone viral with its new setting hack. This technique is known as Jamsu, which when translated means “diving” or “submerging,” in Korean. Essentially, this is what the setting hack consists of… submerging your face in water.
Of course this was one of those things I absolutely had to try, especially being someone with a rather oily complexion. Similar to the popular beauty trend “baking,” Jamsu is supposed to fully set your foundation and leave you with an oil-free, matte finish that lasts all day and gives you a porcelain-like look. Who doesn’t want to have porcelain skin, am I right?
What you need:
Your favorite liquid foundation and concealer
Translucent powder/ baby powder
Large bowl of cold water
Hair Tie (trust me you’re going to need to pull your hair back for this one)
Step One:
One thing that I cannot stress enough is you MUST complete your usual face prep before performing this technique. Do not avoid certain products thinking that it will assist the mattifying process. If anything, your skin needs these products (especially moisturizer) more than anything because this hack causes your skin to become very dry, therefore the base is crucial.
Step Two:
Prep and prime your face as usual.
Step Three:
Apply foundation and concealer as you normally would, being sure it is even and blended perfectly.
Step Four:
Pack on the powder! This is the first of two key steps to this technique. With your dense powder brush, apply a generous layer of powder to your entire face, ensuring your face is completely covered. By using the dense brush it helps apply a heavier layer of powder.
Beware this is an extremely messy step and powder WILL get EVERYWHERE, so make sure you are wearing something other than what you are planning on wearing that day.
* If you do not already have your hair up and out of your face at this point, put it up*
Trust me.
Step Five:
This step is what’s going to seal the foundation. Dunk your face in a bowl of cold water for 15- 30 seconds. The drier your skin, the less time you should submerge your face in the water. Let your face air dry.
Step Six:
Once your face is completely dry, take your fluffy powder brush and lightly brush off the excess powder. (Make sure that this is a clean brush with no product; this is to clean off powder not add more.) Finally, you can finish up your face like normal.
End Result:
The finished product resulted in a seamless complexion perfect for a photoshoot! (This photo has absolutely no airbrushed/ blur effect on the face.)
My first time trying the Jamsu technique, I had a full day of classes from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with meetings after, so this was going to be a true test. From the time I applied my makeup until about 4:00 p.m. my face stayed completely matte. It wasn’t until around 5:00 p.m. that I noticed my nose starting to get a little shiny. The last photo was taken right before I washed my face, and I did not touch up my makeup once throughout the day. (Pretty impressive, huh?)
Overall, the Jamsu method added about 10 minutes to my makeup routine and the only complaint I have is that it’s not the most comfortable to do. With that being said, I would absolutely use this method again because the 30 seconds of discomfort is well worth the results. On a normal day my T-zone gets oily in a couple of hours, so the mattifying effect of this hack was spot on! My face felt so soft throughout the entire day, my foundation looked airbrushed and in Beyoncé terms flawless.
