My Beauty Philosophy - Skincare Rules to Live By | The Halfie Project The Mixed Korean Experience

Keep the message simple,
I say.

Skincare does not need to be complicated, if you re-frame your relationship with your skin. There’s a basic rule and a basic philosophy I abide by when it comes to deciding what to do for my skin. The rule is keep your skin and body hydrated.

And the philosophy is as follows:

Your skin wants to be heal itself.

What does that mean?

When I was in high school, I had a huge skin disaster that brought me so much trouble for so long. The breakouts I had in school and the following university years were so terrible, I went a whole winter when I never looked in any reflective surface. Even now, the habit reappears when I’m feeling bad about my skin - it was a severe hit to my self esteem that took longer to heal than my actual skin.

During that time, I remember desperately trying everything. I had cortisol creams from a dermatologist in the US (which dried out my skin so horribly I had scarring around my nose from all the peeling), then extraction treatments from a so-called skin expert (again in the US. I’ve since lost much confidence in American skincare providers) that left my pores enlarged from her forceful methods. I burrowed into my misery and literally stayed in my room for a month until a friend came and demanded I show my face. Upon seeing me, she said, “I’m taking you to the 피부과.”

This was the first time I had ever visited a skin doctor in Korea; not a spa or 찔질방, but an actual medical skin treatment center.

I was 20 years old and should have been enjoying my young, crazy university days instead of feeling angry with my skin. I had taken out my anger on my skin by trying to forcefully pop zits, refusing to put anything else on my face anymore and letting my skin dry out - because if it was dry, that meant no more sebum which meant no more acne, right? (Note: Absolutely not true.)

When I finally was brought to a professional who understood my skin, I was told the phrase that led to my skin redemption.

“피부는 스스로 치유하고 싶어요. 당신이 해야 하는 것은 피부를 건강해질 수 있게 환경을 만들어야 한다는 것일 뿐이에요.

Your skin wants to heal itself. Your job is to make an environment for it to do that.”

This was quite literally a moment of enlightenment. Nobody in my life had ever spoken about my skin as though I should love it.

I got a few cortisol shots to help clear up my acne, medicine that I should take for two weeks and instructions to moisturize my skin and use face packs every other night.

My skin was dying for hydration and was begging me to take care of it. I had been neglecting my poor skin. I should have been making an environment for my skin to be healthy, not punishing it for suffering.

That meant drinking lots of water, eating well, sleeping proper hours (on a clean pillow case), and using simple products. I shouldn’t be afraid of using creams because my skin leans on the oily side. The excess of oil production was because of lack of moisture. My years of skin neglect took more years to recover. But that journey has also led me to learn what I am putting on my face, why I’m putting it on my face and what will happen if I do put it on my face.

This doesn’t mean I’ve got it all worked out - our skin has ups and downs, and it changes depending on the time of month, our aging, hereditary traits, and sometimes just extreme circumstances out of our hands. But we must learn to love our skin so much we want to make a safe, happy environment for it to bring itself to health.

Remember that and the rest of it will come together with patience.