Chai asks:
Do most Koreans who have nice skin go to dermatologists? Or do they just have naturally nice skin? And how far does skin whitening go? TLDR please
Okay, I've got something to say before we start here [S] Right off the get-go.
Okay a lot of people say things, like they'll see k-pop stars in magazines and they're like, 'Oh my god~ their skin is so perfect!'
Guys, listen, celebrities around the world, they wear lots of makeup, they have photoshop
So do not be fooled.
So our focus today is not gonna be on people who have their own personal makeup artist to cover up all their pimples
We're gonna be talking about what does the average Korean person do.
And what we have noticed is that the average Korean does seem to have rather nice skin
We're not talking about people who are like really young, we're talking about people who are young and getting older,
like 40s 50s 60s.
Do you remember some of our co-teachers?
I remember your co-teacher, you had one of them who said she was like in her mid forties
and I'm like, 'You, shut your mouth, you just graduated from high school! There's no way you're in your 40s.'
I mean, her skin was amazing and she was just like,
'Oh, I didn't work at it, I didn't do anything.' and she flips her hair all the time and just floats everywhere, and, Screw you!
Okay, so in Korea a lot of people do visit the dermatologist.
My idea of the dermatologist in Canada was that you only went if you had skin issues. Like if you had major acne,
or if you had like moles or something along those lines, like major ones that you had to get fixed-
Did you have acne when you were growing up?
Oh I had terrible skin when I was growing up. [M] Did you visit a dermatologist?
Yeah. And they're like, 'I dunno, walk it off.' Jerk.
But now they have treatments for it, but back in my day I suffered.
Oh no. I've never been to a dermatologist before.
No, that's not what I'm saying!
I have a mole so I have to keep an eye on it but I don't really know people who went to a dermatologist all the time.
But in Korea, its part of your normal kind of schedule to see a dermatologist
Yeah, and going to a dermatologist here isn't only for having really bad skin issues, but just for like, regular skin treatments.
Mhm, yeah, so like even Suzy has a dermatologist. [S] Right.
And it's so funny, 'cause we asked Suzy, 'Suzy do you know anyone who has a dermatologist in Korea?'
She's like, 'Yeah. All my friends. And me.'
and I'm like, 'What?'
So she says she goes to the dermatologist to actually pop blackheads or pimples
Yeah, they'll go there and just like totally get rid of everything you have [M] They'll professionally do it for you.
She said like-[S] Professional pimple popper, that's what I wanna be when I grow up mom!
Pick me~
Martina always picks at my face.
I'm like, I'm like a monkey grooming my husband. [S] I wake up in the middle of the night with her being like, 'I can get this'
So things like getting skin peeling or new facial or popping your pimples or even doing like whitening treatments all that kind of stuff is very normal for the dermatologist.
We do want to clarify what we mean by whitening though because it has a totally different connotation here that what you might be thinking.
Okay, so a lot of skin products in Korea, and a lot of masks and stuff will say things like, 'This mask is whitening!'
or, 'This skin cream is whitening.' and people who are visiting here will misinterpret that and think that Korean people are trying to bleach their skin
or you know like-[S] They're not trying to more Caucasian with this. This isn't Caucasianifying cream.
I think the word whitening is just the wrong English word. [S] Yeah.
What they're trying to say is toning.
They're trying to even out your skin tone.
So for example, I actually have a green cream that I buy because when I have really rosy red patches underneath my skin
I use green cream on it, and then I put bb cream on top of that because it neutralizes the look on my face.
So it's not patchy. So Suzy says if you buy something with whitening
It's because like, oh maybe my eyes are maybe really kind of bright here, but then this part of my skin might be darker
and this part here. So you use it to try to even it out.
More like evenifying rather than whitening.
Evenifying right. Because every Korean person-[S] Wait. Evening. But then they think it's not afternoon.
*baby crying*
Hahahayeah
Oh Simon.
They should just call it 'Tone Evening' or something.
Well, Balancing?
Skin Balancing?
There needs to be a better word, whitening isn't the word.
Okay, Skin Tone Balancing.
There you go.
Also you go to a dermatologist here for whitening treatments but the whitening they do again isn't to make your skin whiter
but to make it brighter and glowier and popier. So there are treatments for that.
Yeah, the glowy and the dewy look in Korea is so big.
Like, I'll buy bb cream and to me, personally, it makes my skin look like it's greasy.
If you watch Korean dramas you guys might notice that the main actresses will be glistening
and to me I'm like whoa, she needs to be powdered down.
No, she's just glowing. Radiance.
They've got that like, fresh, dewy look.
Another thing that's really interesting about dermatologists is that, from what Suzy told us, a lot of guys go to dermatologists as well
for skin treatments. I don't know a single one of my guy friends that gives a rat's a$$ about what his skin looks like.
No cream, no dermatologist, no nothing.
So to hear that so many guys here do it is really surprising to me.
But I think that's really cool about Korea, because the whole concept of
'metrosexual' the term that we had to make in North America to say, 'Oh he's not gay, he's trying to take care of himself, which is something that gay guys do, and straight guys don't.'
It became this big horrible word [S] Yeah no it's like people here take care of themselves. [M] Definitely.
I'm not negligent. [M] There should be an anti-term in North America. You're not 'metrosexual' it's 'I'm not negligent.'
People aren't 'metrosexual' just the opposite people are slobs.
'And you look like a donkey's butthole.'
Haha, exactly.
So speaking of guys using skin cream and stuff.
I think the second category of people taking care of themselves in Korea is actually using creams and sunscreen.
Sunscreen in North America is so funny, or sunblock? Is there a difference there?
Spfs
SPFs? [S] Whatever has a high spf.
Yeah, people in Korea will use that, even if they're a dude, you're not gonna get made fun of.
but I remember in school we were gonna go on a feild trip and I pulled out my spfs because I did not like my skin getting burnt.
People would be like, 'Oh, what a loser, Martina's putting on sunscreen!'
I'm like, 'What a loser, my skin will look great when I'm 30!'
Look at you now!
Who is laughing now!
You haggard holes.
'Haggard holes'? I couldn't think of another word after - [M] Poor Hagrid.
Why are you bringing Hagrid into this?
No, no haggard!
Apologize to Hagrid.
I'm sorry Hagrid, you're a handsome devil.
The really interesting distinction that you have to make here in Korea is that people here understand that the sun is a death ray machine.
It is a death ray [S] It is going to ruin you and your skin and people are aware of that.
They have like sunbrellas they have hats, they cover their arms with sleeves. Here they know, the sun is out to kill you.
Yes, that's right. That's the third thing I was actually gonna say.
So you might visit a dermatologist.
You might actually use cream
to keep your face from like wrinkling and falling apart.
And the third thing is, let's say you don't care about any of that stuff
You are at least going to protect yourself from the sun [S] Right. [M] using an object
You know those arm sleeves you were talking about? [M] Yeah, yeah, everyone has those. [M] Didn't we do a WTF?
Here goes. [M] Woah, it's really tight. [S] It's a pretty snug fit. [M] I really feel like an anime character.
You know how like manga and anime characters have ridiculous costumes that have like armpit free zones?
and their like, 'I'm gonna fight for life, 'cause that's what I can do!
Shoryuken!
Like waaaay long time ago. [S] Yeah the one where it makes your arms cooler if you wave your hands like this.
Did you know that we didn't even know that was for like UV protection at the time?
Okay, so you'll see old dudes driving a truck, and if the window's open their wearing these sleeves to protect their arm from getting like sun exposure.
Fact is we rarely actually see people, now that we're driving around in Korea, with their windows rolled down.
Lot of them have it rolled up and highly tinted. [M] I was gonna say, soo tinted.
There are no tinting laws here. [M] No.
So you're looking at a bunch of old dudes who care about sun exposure.
And this is why, I really truly believe that Korean people have beautiful skin
not just Korean people, other Asian cultures that believe that the sun is a death ray
They, protect their skin!
So we're gonna talk about this more in our blog post
including mole removal which we had done here at the dermatologist. Make sure you click on the link here if you want to read more about it
and carry on the conversation there. [M] Okay, so here's my question for you guys; Growing up in North America tanning was kinda like this status symbol thing
like, 'I went on vacation, look at my tan.' but in Korea getting a tan is not cool.
I have not actually seen any tanning salons here. I'm sure they exist, I just don't know where.
So what's it like in your country? Is getting a tan something that's like acceptable and normal? Or is it the kind of thing where you try to avoid the sun at all costs?
Let me hear what it's like in your country.
A really interesting comment comment came from tokekiex, who wound up saying, well, they wrote lol, I'm not sure if you're supposed to say 'lol'
I believe you are supposed to laugh out loud. Who wound up saying, 'Hahaha
Free stuff in the U.S.? If they could they would charge you for breathing.
Yeah. [S] Umm [M] Breathing law, coming soon!
Nannonator, which I guess is someone who gives out bananas to people? Has a really cool story about living in California and getting free service at a sushi place.
Her and her friend went there after getting dumped, and they'd gone there a lot, and the sushi place already gave out free stuff,
and they were there like crying and being upset about being dumped and then the waiter came by and said, 'Poor pretty ladies, here have a free bottle of sake.'
Now here's an interesting theory about this, I'm not sure if it's the same for you as it is for us, but every single one of the sushi restaurants that we went to in Toronto
were actually run by Korean people. If it's the same for you, maybe you just got Korean service instead.
Ehh? [S] Ahhh [M] Ehhh
I don't know if maybe it's the same there, but that's how it is for us.
And the last comment we want to talk about is from autumnwind
Who, if you remember from our TLDR; I wound up talking about getting free CDs in cereal boxes, and you disagreed.
Autumnwind remembers they came from Honey Nut Cheerios, and then people started talking about the AOL CDs
You for sure know those AOL online CDs. [M] Yeah, but I had like an old school mac so I was like, 'Oh my God AOL!' [S] 'AyeeOL' [M] 'AeyO AOwL'
What kind of account does GD use?
hahahaha [M] GD @ AOL!