#NudieTalks With Angelina Wu: On Why You Should Treat Your Skin Like a Best Friend

Hello babes! We are starting a new #NudieTalks series in which we will talk to different people about the important role of skincare in their lives. You can look forward to learning about different personal approaches to keeping skin healthy and glowing, inspiring personal skincare philosophies, beauty tips, techniques, and so much more! These stories can be funny, inspiring, educative, bizarre or maybe even a little bit of everything.

Our hope is that through these candid interviews, you can feel encouraged and empowered to take care of your skin better, and make your own skincare rituals something to look forward to.

Well, without further ado, I’ll go first!

How did you first get into skincare and Korean beauty?

As a kid, I watched a lot of Korean dramas with my mom and I’ve always wondered why all the women on screen have the most flawless complexion, even without makeup. Curiosity got the best of me and the next thing I know, I was furiously Googling Song Hye Kyo’s beauty secrets! My passion for K-beauty was further strengthened when I dove into beauty writing and had to learn about the many different products there are on the market, whereby Korean products are, time and time again, proving that they’re always ahead of the game.

What do you think makes Korean beauty so different?

Having experienced both Western and Korean beauty while growing up, I think what sets them apart most is this mindset in Korean beauty of respecting and listening to your skin, which is why there is a huge focus on hydrating, moisturizing and pampering. I used to have acne-prone skin and treated my pimples by piling up lots of powerful acne-medications from the drugstore. For the old Angelina, the more acne-targeting products I have on my skin, the better. As a result, my skin became really dry and even more susceptible to acne.

After I was introduced to the K-Beauty way of approaching skincare (aka KEEP IT SIMPLE!) and shifted my focus on building my skin's moisture barrier instead, my skin looked immediately better, even without having to use any acne medications. I found that the cute packagings and unique “chok chok” skincare application method also makes me think of skincare less like a chore, but a more enjoyable “me” time.

What is your personal beauty philosophy?

It may sound a little bit strange, but my personal beauty philosophy is to treat your flaws like your best friends. Growing up, I had to deal with insecurity issues a lot. I hated my skin for its pimples, hated my own body cause it wasn’t thin, hated my hair cause they always looks flat, hated my eyes cause they are chinky. It’s all just hate, hate hate and it’s a really destructive cycle that wasn’t doing my skin any good. The turning point for me was when I slowly learned how to change this mindset, and treat my skin more like a best friend instead — definitely flawed, but I still can’t live without them. So instead of trying to furiously get rid of pimples overnight, my approach nowadays is like trying to calm down an angry friend, which is to spoil them with the things they like (for my best friend, it’s a tiramisu cake, and for my skin, it’s moisturisers and sheet masks)!

What is one of the biggest skincare mistakes you’ve ever made?

I think it’s one of the biggest mistake almost everyone makes: Not wearing sunscreen. It’s not just the freckles, I’d even gone through terrible sunburns that caused my skin to peel for a week! I think I used to dread wearing sunscreens cause they leave this really greasy and sticky residue on my face. That is, until I found Japanese/ Korean sunscreens!

What is the one skincare product you can’t live without?

It changes all the time! But currently, I can’t live without my Heimish All-Clean Balm. It removes the most stubborn of all makeup, even waterproof mascara. It’s practically magic.

What is the best skincare advice you’ve ever gotten?

It's old but it's gold: Wear sunscreen!