3 months ago I didn't give a damn about my
face.
That's not to say that I didn't get upset
when I had a spot suddenly appear right before a big occasion or that I didn't
wish to have gorgeous glowing skin. I simply didn't bother to do anything about
it. I’ll be the first one to admit that I’ve been blessed with relatively clear
skin and no real persistent problem acne. Hormonal acne was another issue. Every
month I curse my hormones as the usual pimples jump into existence across my
face like fleas on an unwashed dog. Until recently, I had figured that was just
the way things were going to be.
Then I went to Korea. It began as a
well-anticipated holiday, traipsing across Seoul with my friends, experiencing
kpop everywhere, accidentally ordering the wrong sort of coffee in broken
korean, eating food so spicy it made me tear up and yet, by the end of the trip
I was clamouring for baggage space and begging my friends to take packets of
face masks back in their luggage for me.
One day when walking through Myeongdong a
snail face mask was shoved in my face (well, not literally on my face or
anything, but close enough to it) as the shop assistant excitedly spoke Korean
at me in a cute voice. I was surprised, but welcome to try new experiences, so
I let her usher me into the store where salespeople with adorable little smocks
and perfectly applied makeup followed me around as I awkwardly browsed through
items that I had literally no idea about. Snail mask tucked under my elbow I
looked at a facial cleanser for a second too long and the salesgirl behind me
jumped in. She told me (in shy, but proficient English) about how it could help
brighten my face and fight off any troubled areas. "Awesome" I
thought "This bad-boy mega zit coming up right between my eyebrows is
going to get nuked".
I picked up a bottle, but that wasn't all.
By the time I reached the counter I'd somehow ended up with a basket full of
little samples, a spot treatment and the freebie snail mask (which, frankly,
kind of weirded me out at the time. I never thought I'd be actively looking to
put any sort of mollusc goop on my face. How times have changed!). At the
counter, even more free samples flooded into the bag and I left the store bemused,
but excited (not to mention several thousand won poorer). My interest was
piqued.
Not only does Asian skincare focus on
prevention, it’s catered towards avoiding the sun (my favourite activity) and
building a healthy, even, dewy glow. But that’s not all! I’m a total sucker for
the attention to detail that goes into the product design and the cute little
characters that go with it.
I mean, just look at how effing cute this
snail cream is… (image: amazon)
So here I am. Right at the edge of the
diving board into a world of double cleansing, ampoules and essences, snails
and starfish, donkey and camel milk, and a whole lot of terms and ingredients
that I don’t even begin to understand yet.
So why start a beauty blog?
There are tonnes of people already writing
about Asian beauty, and admittedly, most of them are probably far more knowledgeable
about it than I am. However there isn’t a lot of space for people who, like me,
are just starting out. I thought I blog would be a great way for me to share
the things that I’m figuring out as well as keeping track of my own personal
progress.
I’ll be posting reviews, routines, trials
(and errors!), weekly updates and progress photos as well as any information or
science I’ve discovered along the way. If that sounds interesting to you then
feel free to join me!
Until next time,
Puzzle
