An Introduction

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