Before I was born my grandmother and two older brothers (toddler and grade schooler) were in an accident on the BxM1. The driver stopped short and my grandmother hit her head on the pole while my brother was thrown into the aisle (he sprained his arm but was ok). Her forehead split open; she was rushed to the ER, and a resident was about to perform surgery on her face before my mom showed up, insisted on a specialized and very experienced doctor considering it’s her face and everything, and ultimately she got a face lift, funded by the city.
I don’t think it’s a stereotype to say many Asian women have beautiful skin and age very gracefully. Facelift aside I think the greatest contributing factor to Datchan’s skin is that she didn’t really mess with it.
I remember she had few beauty rituals, including smacking moisturizer onto her face instead of rubbing and washing her face with rice water every night. She would rinse the rice we’d eat for dinner before cooking it and save the water in a silver kitchen bowl by the tub. When I see some of the highest end skincare brands at Sephora like Tatcha (founded by Taiwanese-American Vicky Tsai) market “rituals of the geisha” and sell rice powder cleanser for $68, I cringe.
She also wore sunscreen obsessively. Even on a 10 minute walk to the grocery store, she would slather it on and wear her sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat. When I think of her I smell sunscreen.
I learned my lesson about sunscreen when I went to Goa, India in college and got so tan over the course of a week that I burned my melanin off, leaving spots on my stomach and back that will never tan again — they just stay bright white, increasing in contrast with the rest of my skin turning bronze (if I don’t apply sunscreen, which I now do, obsessively). I never thought it’d be the case but I am becoming like my grandmother (and mother) in that I am perfectly happy to avoid extended stays on the beach and direct sun exposure whenever possible.
I filmed a half-hearted makeup routine in Búzios because I am just trying things out and what is YouTube without a GRWM or two? If I do another it’ll be of me rinsing (and eating) rice for a week to save the water and wash my face with it just like Datchan did.