differences...

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nick
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Re: differences...

Post by nick »

Hello and Welcome!

Did you read the freeacnebook ?

This book will have all your answers.
spring
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Re: differences...

Post by spring »

Hi Zillie, sorry for the late answer! I haven't been on the boards for a while.

I was just surprised that Koreans didn't have as good skin as I expected them to have because living in Australia, people especially caucasians don't have good skin and many Asians who live there have got better skins are often complimented on it.

But in Australia, the UV light is strong and there is a high incidence of skin cancer there and the sunny climate tends to age the skin fast so I think this is one of the causes for bad skin - more of an aging of the skin issue there (Europeans from less sunny and colder climates have beautiful "English rose" type skin).

In Korea, people's skins don't look so much aged as baggy. They don't suffer from premature wrinkling as in Australia but their skins don't look great either as I expected their skin would before I went there.

The young women wear makeup in the bucket-loads - all the major cosmetic companies do all their trial market-testing in Korea apparently before they sell their stuff to the rest of the world because it's well-known among cosmetic manufacturers that Koreans are into makeup. I think that is why many women in their late twenties start showing evidence of bad skin: not fresh and translucent as it shoudl still be but kind of baggy skin - not wrinkly though.

Then it becomes quite evident when they are in their thirties with quite a few years history of makeup use behind them, with their skin looking bad - still not wrinkly though - just still baggy, and a bit stretched and maybe starting to look patchy in color in some places.

Makeup (and moisturizers and anything that increases the rate of skin cell turnover) as Wai says is bad for the skin, the oils in makeup dry out the skin and some people are sensitive to the chemicals in makeup so daily application of makeup as many people do here is not going to be good for the skin. Plus the act of applying makeup is damaging and aging to the skin - rubbing stretches the skin - and also using cleansers to remove makeup causes the cells to come off faster making the skin age more quickly.

Plus many people seem very much into applying all sorts of lotions to their skin - as well as putting on makeup - they appear every much skin and beauty obsessed here - there are makeup stores on almost every corner here - sometimes two right opposite one another - and many domestic makeup companies here, some of them even exporting to other countries, as well as beauty shops (and nail shops and the like).

Ironically, pursuing all these obsessions seems to be having the opposite effect to the one intended - making their skin older than it might otherwise ...

People in their fifties and sixties wear makeup too - the full bit - the lipstick, eyebrow liner, foundation and everything else (including nail polish).

So I think Koreans, and many Asians have naturally better skins in that they wrinkle less than caucasians but Koreans spoil their advantage with their more frequent application of makeup and all sorts of other junk to their face to keep their skin 'youthful'.

I went to the baths/sauna the other day and many of the women were scrubbing their skin madly for hours on end so that it became red and then went for a rubdown by a masseuse and then after they dried off, they rubbed lotion vigorously all over their faces and bodies ....

One 26 year old lady said she often goes to have her face massaged frequently and gets facials done every now and then and another lady 24 years old told me she wears makeup everyday and is always buying new makeup and is interested in buying lotions to moisturize her skin and spends much of her money on all this stuff. The first lady doesn't have acne but her skin is not fresh-looking at all, and the second one suffers from acne and patchy-looking skin (uneven colored complexion).

Well, of course all of this is anecdotal but the procelain skin that Asian women are famed for are few and far between in Korea, just looking at the many faces I do, catching the subway everyday.

The pollution is of no help either and the pollution is very bad - and has affected me very badly too - as I seem to have aged ten years since coming to Korea and many other foreigners I've come across have said a similar thing about themselves. And this is despite following Wai's diet - although I must say, I don't get enough sleep - six hours after midnight - and that must somehow be involved too.

Yes, the air pollution is very bad in Seoul, ten million people live here and it seems half of them drive and Seoul is in a basin which traps the pollution. The rampant cigarette smoking here and the lax policing of smoking in public enclosed places contribute a great deal too to the pollution issue.

I don't know what it's like in Thailand although I've heard with the rapid urbanization of Bangkok that it's becoming the worst polluted cities on earth - a problem if you happen to live there.

I have been to Malaysia and I've noticed a few young women have rotten skin there - full of acne, pits and scars - I'm not sure why I see many people from this area with bad skin (Malaysian migrants in Australia too) - could be the bad diet - high in heated fats perhaps?

So I was quite dismayed coming to Korea and not seeing many young women with nice skins.

The diet is also a fact as I've already mentioned I think. Koreans eat a lot of spicy foods - high in salt and chili - even from a young age and although I see an average number of people with acne, not more, not less than in Australia, this is ancedotally of course, I can imagine the water pressure in their skins is not very good - meaning it's too high much of the time and fluctuating a lot - with all the salts and spices attracting water into the skin and stretching it. But Korean food is less greasy (less fried foods and less use of oils) than Malaysian food and Chinese cuisine, though I am not sure about the comparison with Thai food (they have a lot of chili in their food also, don't they?)

But I think on the whole Koreans eat less meat than Australians.

The men in their thirties invariably all have bad skins - before that age it's so-so, but Korea is a heavy drinking and heavy smoking culture (particularly for the men) and so this catches up with the men by that age - plus eating chili with almost every meal and having the reputation for having one of the most salty foods anywhere (the Japanese rival them in this) - I read this somewhere in a media report - though I have to say I was quite surprised as I don't feel Korean food personally is that salty - adds up to BAD skin.

Again, not so much a problem of wrinkliness but baggy bad complexioned skin, a lack of tone.
CurlyGirl
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Re: differences...

Post by CurlyGirl »

Hello, everyone! I am new to the boards, but I have been aware of Wai's diet for several months now, and have only started it recently.

Back in August, nick posted on this board that he feels that on Wai's diet, his mind is much more alert and that his emotions are more deeply felt. I am noticing the same thing too - just yesterday I was in the park (I live in the UK but come from South Africa originally), watching the squirrels and the birds. I was looking at this enormous oak tree and just felt a huge urge to walk up to it and hug it, and sit on the ground next to the tree, nestling myself among its roots. I felt so emotional, I started to cry, for no apparent reason. It was such a release for me, of all the things that have been bothering me this year (I am doing a Masters degree in Environmental History and it has been stressful). This diet definitely has something to do with my tree experience.
nick
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Re: differences...

Post by nick »

Definitely! I feel as if my brain has been cleaned out, and all those mind-altering substances are gone. Everything is in such better working and feeling condition. I remember that it felt too much for me, and that maybe I wasn't ready for such a new way to feel, but once you gain control of it and listen to yourself, I don't think I'll ever go back.

How is your acne now? How long have you been on the diet?
CurlyGirl
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Re: differences...

Post by CurlyGirl »

Hi Nick,

Yes, it also felt too much for me in the beginning, as though my emotions were a well over which I'd been placing a whole load of rocks my whole life to stem the flow of water, and then all of a sudden all the rocks were removed and the water was gushing everywhere! I don't get depressed so much any more.

I didn't have severe acne to start with, only the occasional breakout around my chin and on my forehead, but it was frustrating enough for me to go on the diet. My major reason is to lose weight (I am not overweight, but want to have a much leaner look and get rid of water retention). My skin is getting better every day; no new breakouts after a week, only pigmentation marks where I used to pick at scabs on my face (a bad habit of mild self-destruction that I am learning to stop!!).
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