Beauty Tips and Tricks for East Asian Women

While these tips are aimed at East Asian women, they can be used by everyone!

Disclaimer: All women are beautiful with or without makeup, skincare routines, and conformity to societal standards of beauty. Eyelashes.

I’ve struggled with having short, straight eyelashes my whole life. Not all Asian women have short, straight eyelashes but many do have this issue. It wasn’t until I discovered Glossier’s Lash Slick mascara this year,  that I felt that my face of makeup was complete. Of course I had worn mascara before, but it always weighed my eyelashes down about 30 seconds after application. However, Glossier’s mascara lengthens my short eyelashes and is light enough that it does not weigh them down. Before applying mascara, I always curl my lashes, and have found it really effective to lightly heat my lash curler. This can be done with a lighter held close to it for a couple of seconds, but make sure to wait for it to cool down a little before you bring anything hot near your eyes. Heating a lash curler can also be done with a blow dryer. This step is basically the same concept as curling your hair with a curling iron. You heat up a curling iron before curling your hair, the heat breaks down hydrogen bonds, allowing your hair to form into whatever style your prefer. It also makes your hair stay in that particular style for a while. So by heating your lash curler a little bit, it makes curling your lashes easier and stay curled for a longer amount of time. 

Eyebrows.

Eyebrows are tricky. Plucking them is effective but time consuming. Waxing ensures a nice eyebrow shape, but can be painful if you have sensitive skin. My eyebrow tip is to get them threaded. Threading is a quick and less painful form of hair removal. While threading originates from Asia and the Middle East, the true origin location is unknown. It feels a little bit like someone is pinching your skin quickly. There are eyebrow threading places everywhere, from malls to salons. Eyebrow threading is great for people with sensitive skin around their eyes.Eye Makeup.My go-to eye makeup is a little bit of brown eyeshadow in my crease, some light shimmery eyeshadow on the inner corners of my eyes and some mascara...that’s it. A little brown eyeshadow in the crease makes it appear that you have a deeper crease. The light shimmery eyeshadow in the inner corners makes you appear more awake, your eyes more open, and brings light and attention towards your eyes. The mascara is to make your eyelashes look longer, and when applied starting near the base of your lashes can create the illusion that you are wearing eyeliner. 

Skincare.

You don’t need a 10 step skincare routine to make your skin look good. All you need is a good face wash/cleanser, toner, moisturizer, and acne cream.Face Wash.Finding a good cleanser is so important. Washing your face with a good cleanser will help strip away oil and makeup from your face after a long day. My favorite is the St.Ives fresh skin apricot scrub. It works amazing for my skin, but if your skin is more sensitive I recommend a gentler face wash like Cetaphil. Finding a good cleanser is all about determining your skin type and choosing accordingly!

Toner.

I could go on for days about the Thayer’s witch hazel aloe vera formula toner. All you need is to saturate a cotton pad with the toner and use on your face and neck to balance the pH of your skin. The aloe vera moisturizes your skin while the rest gets any excess makeup or oil on your skin. It is gentle and is great for any skin type. 

Moisturizer.

After all the cleansing and stripping the oils from your skin, it is important to reintroduce moisture to your skin. I use the Bliss Drench and Quench moisturizer. It works for all skin types and makes your skin feel super hydrated with it’s cream to water texture. 

Acne Cream.

Acne is the worst. Clean and Clear’s persa-gel 10 is my pick for minimizing the size of  pimples overnight. Tip: If you have an inflamed pimple, put some ice on it. The cold from the ice will cause the inflammation to go down. This will minimize the size of your pimple in just a few minutes.

These are all of my beauty tips, tricks, and recommendations! Remember that beauty comes from the inside and confidence is key.