People often ask me for Asian beauty secrets, while I am flattered to be asked and always happy to share my experience, I would like to first clarify some misconceptions. Do Asians rely on genetics to stay looking young? NO. It’s like saying North American women are taller on average, so they do not need to wear high heels. Or Indian and Middle Eastern women have naturally big eyes and therefore they do not need to wear eye makeup or mascara.
Beauty takes time and effort - that goes for everyone. Just like the saying “there are no ugly women, only lazy ones”.
Another classic misconception I come across all the time revolves around Asian women’s obsession of “whitening” skincare, and most non-Asians critisize us for wanting to look more Westernized and subconsciouly think being white or associate fairer skintone as higher class.
I would say perhaps a small percentage of Asians secretly or openly think that, but it’s definitely not enough to justify this common belief. The truth is, fair skin makes you look more youthful, period. No one wants dark spots and uneven skintone and you can think of it this way, Asian babies are born with pale skin, so it’s just normal to associate pale skin as youthful.
While i think honey skin can be very sexy (J Lo and Jessica Alba), most people do not tan that nicely. Most people get red spots and uneven tan and end up looking dull and weathered. Not to mention sun damage is the cause of age spots and wrinkles in the long run! We shy away from the sun so we can look younger for longer, not always because we hate darker skin necessarily.
As a beauty products guinea pig for years, i categorize my beauty regime in 3 broad categories and these apply to both men and women:
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Cleansing & Exfoliating
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Sun-protection & Brightening
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Firming & Hydrating
CLEANSING & EXFOLIATING are probably the most important part of beauty regime for all skin types. I know most people on this forum are men and probably do not wear makeup BUT it is still important to cleanse your skin very well and exfoliate reguarly. Cleansing is important to unclot pores, so bateria do not build up and cause acne, etc… i guess most people get that. Exfoliation is an important step BEFORE any other products because if dead skin cells piled up on your skin, any other products you put on are not going to penetrate. As well, these dead skin cells may also be the cause of dehydration and hyper-sensitivity of your skin.
SUN PROTECTION & BRIGHTENING go hand in hand. If you wear sun screen everyday, then you do not need to worry as much on brightening and whitening. If for men who ask “why would you need to wear sun screen EVERYDAY?” Well, there are UVA and UVB and most people until the last decade or so are only concerned with UVB, which is the cause of sun burn and skin cancer. UVA rays have longer wavelengths and penetrate deeper into the skin and lead to wrinkles (through the loss of collagen), age spots, spider veins, red bumps… AND, perhaps the scariest elemnt of UVA is that, you are prone to UVA rays not only from direct sun light but through glass, clouds and smogs. Therefore, anytime during the day light hours you are prone to UVA damage whether or not it’s sunny or cloudy (inside or outside). Most North American products only advertise UVB protection via the SPF level, but Japanese products have been using “pa” scale to indicate UVA protection. pa+ to pa+++ (the more pluses the better).
So this is where the whole whitening debate comes, if you enjoy having darker skin, you don’t need to use whitening products… or should you? I actually do not like the word whitening, i prefer brightening. I like to think of it as “revealing the true colour of your skintone” and when you have nice hydrated skin free of age spots, dark circles and acne scars, your skin looks naturally bright and glowing. To achieve that, there are depigmentation cream and serum (and of course exfoliation helps too). I must stress that, Asians are not trying to achieve the Michael Jackson result, we just want to have even-looking fair skin much like how we used to have as babies!
FIRMING & HYDRATING
I think men and women universally agree that no one looks good with wrinkly saggy skin (look at poor Brad Pitt these days). There are so many products in Asia for firming and most of them claim to boost collagen production (or retention). Collagen is a protein related to skin connective tissue and gives cells structure, it is responsible for skin strength and elasticity. Clearly, skin decreases collagen production over time, that’s why we sag and get wrinkles as we age. There are debates as to whether the skincare products actually penetrate deep enough to boost collagen production. My verdict is that, i will continue to get facials and use collagen masks, but prevention is key - sun protection is still the most important.
Skin hydration is important, needless to say, and it’s one thing people can easily see and feel on their skin. As simple as it seems, there are still a lot of misconceptions about hydration. Do oily skin types need moisturers? Yes, because most of the time your skin is producing oil is to compensate the dehydration on your skin. Do moisturers hydrate dry skin? No, most moisturers only help to retain water content on your skin, by reducing evaporation. If your skin is already dry, putting loads of vaseline on your skin is not going to make your skin more hydrated. For dry skin, you need oil-based products that actually penetrate into your skin. For everyone, a general rule of thumb is to use moisturers right after you shower or cleanse your face to retain the water content.
I think i have explained all the basics, I will return for questions and specific products later.
I hope this information helps everyone here stay looking young!
NANA