This coming from that girl who once upon a time never bothered to care for her skin amd grew up after last year’s trip.

It’s not that I’m not bothered..I just felt like it’s cumbersome to carry so many things and do it all the time.

So after 1.5 weeks trotting around Europe last year, I realised I had red streaks across my cheeks. Make that a few streaks.

Thinking I prolly overdid on my Posie Tint blusher, I opted without it after that until I met a Beauty Assistant who stopped me at Westfield. See, I choose to not care as much about my face but I’m a big fan when it comes to body shower and lotion. Then he pointed out my red streaks and explained how it happened. In medical term, it’s called Telangiectasia Rosacea.

Those red streaks were a result of broken capillaries, which is what happened when exposed under the sun or in extreme weather without proper skincare to protect the skin. Which also constitute to me having very dry skin on my legs in the process.

I think that was the point, the point when I realised I could do something about it or walk away and continue being ignorant about my body.

That’s when I knew the need to exfoliate and moisturise.

The Beauty Assistance was from Ukraine and spoke pretty good Malay (I guess there must be a lot of Malaysians around that area) which got us to talk a lot more after that 🙂

One of the biggest things I’ve learned from my recent travel (and there were many life changing ones) is the importance of having good skin. Before, I may think it takes too much effort to keep up but it’s a whole lot more inconvenient when your skin acts up when you’re away. It’s great if you don’t feel any pain but if and when it does get worst, by then it’ll be almost too late to get it back to normal. You could but it won’t be as flawless as before or at least not anytime soon.

I was lucky to be in a continent that produces a whole lot of skin products in the world so it was relatively easy for me to find what I needed. Plus, I got it cured before it got worst.

What if you’re in a place that isn’t? Then what?

These are my essentials for my Australia trip in 2 days time. Had a lot of thought about these..not because I want to have the most flawless skin any human can have but because I remember 18 years ago when I was in Australia, the weather was so dry and considering the ozone layer is thinnest down under, skin get exposed to UV even more.

That was 18 years ago when I came back with sunburn and such. Today it might be just as intense or slightly more.

Like our body, our skin too needs to be constantly hydrated. Water plays a big role so does the food we take.

And it’s so important to listen to your body, inside and out. Because I know my skin is (hyper) sensitive and dry, (unfortunately) only selected products are acceptable for my skin.

Before I go scatter around looking for a cure, these are my happiness – SKII Facial Treatment Milk, Obey Your Body Facial Scrub, Closet Mixologist Cleansing Oil (made of apricot kernel and lavender oil), L’ocittane Shea Butter Lip Balm, Shiseido Perfect UV Protector SPF50 & Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Creme (hand and feet).

Indeed, my collection of skincare and makeup has grown tenfolds since Europe. Maybe because I’ve grown up, grown to understand why I need to take care and listen to my body. I’m girly-fied! *gasp*

Oh well..

In a way, I prefer to roam around without worrying that I’ll be in pain.

Do remember to at least have your sunscreen with you when you go out. At the very least.