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Are asian beauty products overrated or underrated?

  • melissalouie
  • Jul 12, 2020
  • 4 min read

Image Credits to Buzz Feed
Banila Co Clean It Zero

In the recent years, I have been very lucky to have travelled to different asian countries, such as Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong. Through these journeys I have discovered the asian beauty industry, J-beauty and K-beauty. Their makeup tends to have more of the natural, cutesy look, rather than the American heavy contour, caked on look. I looked further into the asian beauty products, as the rave for this industry grew.

When I travelled to Japan, we purchased so many different face masks and different skin care essentials to try (this was before I was of the age to start caring deeply about skincare). I found that the face masks molded better to the shape of my face (since I am asian). As for the benefits of the face masks, I didn't know any better, nor had I tried American face masks as they weren't popular at the time. The skin care, I fell in love with because it was very light, the creams were not that sticky, and felt very moisturizing. I think my favourite skin care product to this day is their aqua sunscreen, which is a water based, light sunscreen with SPF 60. Sadly, I don't remember any of the Japanese brand names that I loved, but I'm sure you can walk into an asian beauty store, and they will have some of the lovely products there.

A couple years later, I had the opportunity to travel to Korea. My love for skincare grew exponentially over the years, as I dealt with my hormonal acne and combination skin. I also started wearing makeup at this point. Before arriving in Korea, I did a lot of research to look for the right products and brands that people recommended. I ended up buying a bag full of face masks, and another bag filled with skincare. Let's just say that I went on a crazy shopping spree in Korea. It was like a beauty heaven for me. Before travelling to Korea, I had still suffered with controlling my hormonal acne and finding skincare that would not be too thick for my skin, not have chemicals that would irritate my skin, and give my skin all the properties it needed to look hydrated and smooth from all the acne and acne scars. Some of my favourite skin care products, besides the good quality face masks, were the light weight creams and pad exfoliators that did not irritate my skin. I fell in love with the Nature Republic Sun Gel infused with aloe. It is so lightweight that it doesn't feel like those typical sticky and thick American sunscreens. I use this daily on my face before applying any makeup. If the skin care is so great, the makeup has got to be great too, right? Yes! I had to purchase a BB cushion, as these are the Korean beauty essential in achieving the flawless natural skin look. The Laneige BB cushions are one of the most popular ones, but I purchased 2 inisfree BB cushions. One has an aqua base, but they are both very light and achieve a more smooth look than my it CC cream and foundation brush. Overall, both the makeup and skin care products that I bought, were very pleasing and suited all of my needs. I definitely understand the rave about the asian beauty industry. After all, if these beauty products can help Koreans achieve flawless, acne free skin, I'm all in!

Fast forward a year, I had noticed that I needed to purchase a new morning face cream, as my 100% almond oil made my face too oily for my makeup. This affected how long my makeup would last throughout the day, as it helped with my makeup creasing around my pimples. I did some research online for some products, but I've always found American face creams to thick to my liking. In the summer, I tend to get really oily, really quickly, so having a thick cream definatley would not feel as breathable a light, like how I would want it. I looked at some of my samples that I have received. I found a belif sample pack of the Aqua Bomb gel cream. I loved the lightness feel, so I looked at sephora and luckily they had it in stock, with the aloe vera version. So far, I have loved this cream as it doens't feel heavy or thick, so when I put on all my makeup, the total amount of layers don't feel overwhelmingly thick, uncomforatable, unbreathable, and pore-clogging.

Overall, my experience with asian beauty products has far outweighed my experience with American beuaty products. However, I will still used some American beauty products, such as my CeraVe facial cleanser and Olehenriksen Toner.



a few asian beauty products I would recommend:


 
 
 

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