The Tamesis
A running joke in my circle of friends is that whenever I have people over, I force them to take a shower—partly because I’m mysophobic and partly so they can help me test beauty products. I like to think of myself as generous (My home is your home etc.), but there are a few products I keep closely guarded—one of them is Lilis Instant Body Peel Treatment, a Gommage-style exfoliating gel rooted in Korean skin care practices.
In K-beauty, body care and facial care have equal care. Lilis founder Helen Shin said the Korean beauty philosophy is that skin health is cumulative. “You layer, you prepare, you sequence,” she explains. “What’s rarely talked about in the West is how this same philosophy extends to the body.” In South Korea, exfoliation is actually a cultural expectation. “There’s even a phrase to describe it,” Shin said: “때밀었어?” which roughly translates to “Have you exfoliated?”
Shin founded Lilis in 2024 after watching her mother battle for years with a rare form of atopic dermatitis. Another influence was Korean bathhouse culture, where she saw firsthand the importance of exfoliation rituals in body care. “Traditional scrubbing can be harsh,” she says. “I wanted to respect the ritual but create something gentler and more refined.”
The result was Lilis, a body care brand that aims to integrate this philosophy into modern daily life, currently centered around two products: an instant exfoliating body treatment and a firming serum.
Lilis Instant Exfoliating Body Treatment
- Why we love it: This Korean-inspired exfoliant is clinically tested to work wonders for improving skin texture, tone and smoothness. Apply the gel to dry skin and watch it activate on contact, with visible pilling as it binds to dead skin cells. Before you think the worst, it contains no harsh acids or abrasives. The formula is gentle enough for sensitive skin types and conditions like keratosis pilaris and dermatitis, leaving skin softer, brighter and more even-toned in just two minutes.
- Main ingredients: Arbutin, bakuchiol, mugwort extract, asiaticoside
- Best for: Dry skin, keratosis pilaris
- size: 320ml
About Lilis Instant Peel Body Care
Amity Murray, head esthetician at Chelsea Hotel Spa, who includes Lilis in select treatments, describes the Instant Peel as a lightweight chemical peeling gel that exfoliates to remove dead skin cells. When you massage it into dry skin in a circular motion, the cellulose binds to dead cells and sweeps them away without grit, abrasion or friction. The result, she says, is more even-looking, brighter skin with fewer ingrown hairs.
These ingredients don’t just exfoliate, either. Shin explains that bakuchiol is a plant-based alternative to retinol that supports skin tone and texture without irritation. Arbutin brightens skin; Mugwort, a plant deeply rooted in Korean skincare traditions, is calming and protective; Centella Asiatica keeps skin soothed throughout the exfoliation process; and Cholesterol, a natural component of the skin’s lipid barrier, strengthens it so skin feels nourished rather than damaged.
