Common knowledge is such an unreliable thing. Not sure if "unreliable" is the best word to describe it, but it really is, because your common knowledge can be senseless in other places. But it's always good to know what is common in other countries, isn't it? Especially when the "country" is Japan, where women give so much attention to beauty!
Skincare
- Don't rub your skin with a towel, nor with a cotton pad.
It's surprising to see how girls in Europe and the US rub their skin when they wash their face or pat it dry. Whenever I'm watching "skincare routine" video, and see a girl rubbing her eyes with a cotton pad with Bioderma, then with a muslin cloth, then with a towel, and then again with a cotton pad soaked with toner, it makes me want to scream "NOOOOOO!". That's a huge NO-NO in Japan because it does irritate your skin obviously, and ruin your skin texture. Do not ever rub your skin, even when you wipe your face with a towel, gently pat dry rather than scrubbing.
- Moisturise with lotion before applying a moisturiser.
In Japan, we all use moisturising lotion before moisturiser. Moisturiser replenishes your skin with oil and other ingredients, whilst lotion gives moisture back to the skin. You can either apply with a cotton pad or your hands. I choose depending on the texture of the lotion, but when I use a cotton pad I make sure not to rub, and I gently press my skin with my hands in the end to help the lotion sink in completely.
- Always wear SPF, even on a cloudy day or indoor.
UV rays are always attacking your skin. Even when you stay indoors. Make sure to apply sunscreen in the morning after washing your face. This is why I love Clinique Superdefence SPF20, as it works as a moisturiser and sunscreen in one!
Hair care
- Blow dry your hair with a hair dryer.
You need to blow dry your hair unless you have super short hair to maintain both your hair and scalp healthy. When your hair is wet, the cuticle is open which makes your hair in a very fragile state. It causes hair breakage, split ends and dry hair. Also it's easy to imagine your scalp is also wet when your hair is wet. It encourages bacterial growth which can lead to skin diseases and odour.
If you don't blow dry your hair with a hair dryer only because you are worried it would damage your hair, use a heat protecting spray. Ideally ones with an effective ingredient Erucalactone that seals up the cuticles by the heat. We are aware that the heat damages the hair, but maintaining healthy scalp is much more important as you can cut your hair but your scalp is a part of your body skin, like your face.
- Wash your hair every day or at least every other day.
I was shocked when I learnt there were countries where people didn't wash their hair every day. That's how it's common sense to wash hair daily. We don't care if it damages our hair (just invest on a good hair mask!), we need to be clean!! I am sorry if I sound harsh, but it is quite disgusting for Japanese people to imagine not washing hair for days, and you sleep with it.
- Silicone is bad for your hair. Wait, it's not too bad actually.
It's crazy how people went "anti-silicone" a few years ago and brands started bringing loads of silicone-free shampoo and conditioner. But then some brands started claiming that silicone wasn't always bad, there were some kinds that would clog pores, but not all of them. Silicone-free hair care products are still popular in Japan, but consumers are not as particular as they were. One thing you need to watch out is that the products especially hair treatment or conditioner, that don't contain silicone tend to contain more oils, which get oxidised on your scalp which smell bad. Trust me, it happened to me and I wondered why. I much prefer silicone!
- Avoid any friction when your hair is wet.
My hair used to get tangled and dry so bad during winter. I asked my hair dresser why, and he asked "You don't go out with wet hair, do you?". I looked back, and realised that I would wash my hair in the morning and blow dry, but as I didn't have much time I would just dry 70% and wrap a scarf around my neck and went out. Again, your hair is very fragile when it's wet. Any frictions would cause a damage to it. Dry your hair completely before you leave your house, or go to bed.
Body care
- Apply moisturiser on the butt.
I cannot believe how people are unconcerned about their butt! You are sitting down like 10 hours a day (or more?) and your butt always rubs against chairs. This area tends to get dry as well, and the combination of frictions and dryness can cause pigmentation and rough skin. I scrub and moisturise my butt daily, to keep it like a baby's (TMI).
Makeup
- Leave the top part of your eyebrows as natural as possible.
I know you can go crazy pulling out your eyebrows. But do not touch the top part of your eyebrows, that way they look more natural. In other words, when the baby hairs on top of your eyebrows are completely gone, they look fake and old fashioned.
- Make your eyebrows a little brighter than your hair colour.
This is common in Japan too, but apparently not so much in other countries. Blonde hair + dark eyebrows look very strange to me, but it might depend on each person. I personally don't like dark eyebrows with my bright hair colour, so I dye them every other week at home, and use an eyebrow mascara to colour them daily.
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Blot before applying foundation
Apply a moisturiser, then blot with a tissue. Apply a primer, then blot again. You don't need any excess oil before applying foundation. Make sure your skin is completely oil-free, and then apply it. It prevents your makeup to slip off during the day, and make it last much longer.
There are the ones just came up in my head! Let me know what the beauty habits in your country are, on Twitter or Instagram!
P.S. I'm getting many responses saying "I don't agree" or "That's wrong", but there are just common things in Japan and obviously you have different habits in other countries. I am not claiming that you all should follow them, I'm just sharing how Japanese girls take care of ourselves, as Japan is tend to be one step ahead when it comes to beauty.
Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream £10.99
I thought I was over this "BB or CC or DD cream craze" that has been going on. But when I saw this CC cream in a sale back in July when Bourjois sadly left Japan, I couldn't resist only because I had heard loads of British beauty bloggers raving about it. I wanted the shade ivory but it was sold out, so I picked up light beige, one shade darker.
Despite mismatch of the shade (it's a tad too dark for my skin, but doesn't make me look like Oompa Loompa so it's all good), I must say I love this CC cream. I thought CC cream is more like a primer than foundation, but this is definitely like foundation with a very sheer and natural coverage. I have no problem going to a coffee shop or supermarket near my house without foundation on my day off, as my skin is in a very good condition lately, but it's good to have a light coverage CC cream in hand.
It doesn't cover my dark circles, but does cover everything else. Pigmentation around my nose and tiny dark spots are gone in a second once it's applied. And what I love the most about this CC cream is that it makes my skin look super healthy, moisturised, plumped and flawless. I think my husband would believe me if I apply this and say I'm not wearing any makeup. It's that natural, yet it does even out the skin tone perfectly.
It's so sad Bourjois left Japan, as they have amazing products such as Healthy Mix, the CC eye cream concealer, Chocolate bronzer, nail polishes, lipsticks...basically everything they make is good quality yet affordable. I am glad feelunique annd ASOS carry their products at least. Now all I need to do is to wish Yen gets stronger as it used to be, so that I can shop.
I am back, finally! The reason why I was gone was 1) I was on holiday at the beginning of September 2) I came back, being busy with work 3) Then I lost my internet connection at home and I couldn't bring my big old heavy laptop to the Starbucks which is a few stations away to blog. But today my internet is back on and I am so happy that I can blog again because I have some ideas in my head ;)
I am so sorry that I'm not a reliable and stable blogger, I blog and stop consistently which I need to stop doing. I want to make my blog a stable one (like my Japanese one, that at least one post would go up per day) and I will work on it. Another thing I want to apologise about is that I haven't been able to get back to all the comments you left here. I decided to close down the comment section for a while, because I feel too bad not to be able to reply to all of them. Instead, you can email me through the mail form, or tweet me or leave a comment on my Instagram!
Let me write a little bit about my holiday. We went to Okinawa this year, and chose to stay at Marriott as we found a very good deal.
The top floor hotel suite was very nice. My favourite was definitely the bathroom, but it doesn't look as good in photos but I took a bath every morning to relax and I couldn't stop wishing to have a big bathroom like that in my own house. But the reality is, the bathroom must be much bigger than my own room.
They had THANN body care and hair care minis in their bathroom! The scent was absolutely divine and we were hooked. Now I know what I will get for Christmas for my husband.
The hotel has this huge pool divided in 4 sections. Kids' pool, normal pool, deeper pool and water-slide pool. The sunset from the jacuzzi was amazing. Though there was a cockroach sneaking around.
The beaches in Okinawa were not as good as the ones in Ishigaki island (which belongs to Okinawa but much smaller) but still we went to some wicked beaches! The last day was pretty sunny and hot as I like it ;)
Though it wasn't a relaxing nor refreshing holiday (don't ask), when I think back, I enjoyed it and appreciate the fact I was taken to such beautiful places. I realised that I liked the sound of ocean more than I thought I did, and I kind of had enough of my life in Tokyo, one of the most busiest and stressful cities in the world. For the first time in my life, I considered living in the countryside in the future when I have kids and dogs. My life has been on pending kind of, but I can dream whatever I want!
So, that's how I said goodbye to the summer.
Now, hello winter, I hate you!
