It’s a running joke in my friend group that whenever someone comes over, I force them to take a shower—partly because I’m a germaphobe, and partly so they can help me test beauty products. I like to think of myself as generous (mi casa es su casa and all that), but there are a few items I keep strictly to myself—one of which being the Lilis Instant Body Peel Treatment, a gommage-style peeling gel rooted in Korean skin-care practices.
In K-beauty, body care is treated with the same level of intention as facial skincare. According to Lilis founder Helen Shin, Korean beauty is built on the idea that skin health is cumulative. “You layer, you prep, you sequence,” she explains. “What’s less talked about in the West is how that same philosophy extends to the body.” In Korea, exfoliation is practically a cultural expectation. “There’s even a phrase for it,” Shin says: “때 밀었어?” which roughly translates to “Did you exfoliate your dead skin?”
After watching her mother struggle with a rare form of atopic dermatitis for years, Shin founded Lilis in 2024. Another influence was Korean bathhouse culture, where she saw firsthand how central exfoliation rituals were to body care. “Traditional scrubbing can be harsh,” she says. “I wanted to honor that ritual but create something gentler and more sophisticated.”
The result is Lilis, a body-care brand designed to integrate that philosophy into a modern routine, currently centered around two products: the Instant Peel Body Treatment and the Firming Serum.
Lilis Instant Peel Body Treatment
- Why We Love It: Clinically-tested to improve the appearance of skin texture, tone, and smoothness, this Korean-inspired peel works like magic. Apply the gel to dry skin and watch it activate on contact, visibly pilling as it binds to dead skin cells. And before you assume 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 in under two minutes.
- Key Ingredients: Arbutin, bakuchiol, artemisia princeps extract, asiaticoside
- Best For: Dry skin, keratosis pilaris
- Size: 320 mL
About the Lilis Instant Peel Body Treatment
Amity Murray, lead aesthetician at Hotel Chelsea’s spa, where Lilis is incorporated into select treatments, describes the Instant Peel as a light chemical exfoliating gel that lifts dead skin cells through gommage action. As you massage it onto dry skin in circular motions, the cellulose bonds to dead cells and rolls them away without grit, abrasion, or friction. The result, she says, is skin that looks more even and bright, with fewer ingrown hairs.
The ingredients go beyond exfoliation, too. Shin explains that bakuchiol, a plant-based alternative to retinol, supports skin tone and texture without irritation. Arbutin brightens; artemisia princeps, a botanical deeply embedded in Korean skincare tradition, calms and protects; centella asiatica keeps skin soothed throughout the exfoliation process; and cholesterol, a native component of the skin’s lipid barrier, reinforces it, so the skin feels nourished rather than compromised after.
