Chapter 5: From Head to Toe - Part 1

Love Shopping at Japanese Cosmetic Stores

I simply adore shopping in cosmetic/skincare stores in Japan.  They have an abundance of products worth recommending.  Every time I visited Japan, I would shop like crazy.  There is a store that specially sells products that are on the Top 10 Best list.  Products include Top 10 Best slimming, whitening, etc.  I would sweep all these treasures off the shelves and slowly try them one by one back home.  I feel Japanese skincare is formulated to better suit Asian skin, be it for hair, face or body.  However some foreign brands are suitable for Asian skin too, for example the Clarins Body Firming Cream and BIOTHERM anti-cellulite range I recommended earlier.  Also, expensive high end brands may not necessary be the best, products you can get affordably at Watsons or Cosmed may work equally well too!

Treasure your Eyelashes

In order to have eyes that electrify lies solely on the power of our eyelashes.  Whenever I apply makeup, I concentrate mostly on my lashes.  Because I often apply mascara, I must take special extra care to protect them.  Here, I’m going to reiterate the importance of basic skincare – is that whatever ‘harm’ you inflict on your body, you must put in twice as much effort to maintain them well.  This is my philosophy in maintaining my overall well-being. 

Tip 1: Remove mascara gently

Normally we would wet a cotton pad, press onto eye for a while before wiping the mascara off.  Now there’s a new type of makeup removal pad that aims to remove mascara effortlessly.  You simply press it onto your eye and remove and voila, out comes the mascara easily.  Unfortunately, this method doesn’t clean totally well and will also cause your eyelashes to fall off drastically.  My favorite makeup remover is Shu Uemura cleansing oil.  It removes all makeup from every part of my face brilliantly!  While removing eye makeup, be more generous with the cleansing oil.  Shut your eyes, press your finger on the lashes and gently sweep your finger in downward motions.  Be extremely gentle.  It may take a longer time to remove the mascara totally but at least it is better than you tugging and pulling your lashes off in your haste! 

Tip 2:  Be totally clean

If your lashes have pieces of hardened mascara left, apply cleansing oil generously on your thumb and index finger, gently remove these stubborn pieces. 

Tip 3:  Cleanse at least twice

Makeup cleansing must be done twice, be it on the body, face or eyes. Even the face must be washed twice to be totally clean and free of make up residue. 

Tip 4:  Maintain health and growth

I recommend Talika eyelash conditioning gel (睫毛增进液).  It can be brushed onto the eyebrows too, very effective.  If you experience severe lash fall and wish for quick re-growth, brush it on morning and night daily.  Its main function is to help in the growth of lashes.  You will find little hairs growing after using it.  But don’t expect miracle that your lash volume will increase tremendously though!

There is Beauty in Naturally Shaped Eyebrows

I feel that naturally shaped eyebrows are the most beautiful!  Your eyebrow is the answer to your personality.  However it is necessary to pluck off excess hairs from the top and bottom of the eyebrows.  If you’re unsure how to do it or you simply detest the shape of your eyebrows, get a professional to help trim out a nice brow for you.  Otherwise as long as your brows are not horribly shaped, it is best to leave them naturally. 

Tip 1:  Maintain health and growth

Applying eyelash conditioning gel onto brows produce effective results too, especially if your brows have a part that is quite bare, no harm trying it. 

Tip 2:  Eyebrow coloring

I normally brush my brows with an eyebrow dyeing brush similar to mascara.  Coffee color is recommended.  Asian eyebrows are naturally black in color; further dyeing it black makes it look unnatural.  As mentioned, the eyebrow brush is similar to mascara, except the content is less concentrated.  Brush it on your eyebrows gently. 

Tip 3:  Shaping your eyebrow

Don’t ever draw your brows with a black eye brow pencil!  If you have natural sparse brows or you simply want to get a certain shape, use a powder eyebrow definer instead of pencil. 

Tanned girls are not suitable to have naturally shaped brows.  They must create a personalized brow to suit their face.  Girls wearing fringe must not have thick brows else they will look ‘heavy’ on the upper part of their faces.  Also, girls with 一字眉 (shaped like the Chinese character ‘one’) must trim off surrounding excess hairs otherwise you will look manly and scare people off!

Create Natural Looking Double Eyelids

Many artistes started with inner doubles when young and grew up to possess layered doubles – all thanks to eyelid stickers.  Don’t look down on these stickers.  With them, eyes become bigger and more electrifying looking too!  Although stickers are convenient to use, I feel that they are not that suitable for Asian eyes, because they’re too curved.  But if you prefer using them, I recommend Johnson & Johnson transparent eyelid tape (娇生的双眼皮胶布).  It produces a natural look, effective results and the thickness of the tape is just right.  However it seems that J&J has stopped shipment of this product, but you may search for it on the Web.   

If you have bought an eyelid sticker that needs to be cut into shape yourself, I suggest you buy a pair of cosmetic scissors that comes with a curved blade.  It lets you cut the tape easily getting the right gradient.  Regular and long term usage of eyelid stickers can produce double eyelids permanently!  However be careful of hurting your skin when peeling off the stickers as they are adhesive.  Because the skin surrounding the eyes is thin, daily peeling can more or less have an impact on it.