Be A Man...And Take Care Of Your Skin

Because as DAVID YI, editor and founder atVerygoodlight.com, says, Men need more beauty. Its transformative. Here, he pens down his own journey to masculinity that doesnt discriminate between SPF and muscle power.

- David Yi

“Before my first day of school when I should have been fussing over things like having to wear pants or who I’d eat lunch with, I was worried about something far more important: sunscreen. My mother was so obsessed with protecting me from the oppressive sun that she’d slather my skin with a physical sunscreen so thick, I ended up resembling more of the undead than a five year old human.

Imagine me, a toddler who already had a deep widow’s peak and jagged fangs, with a predilection for the colour black, waltzing into the hallways. It’s no wonder there was a rumour going around that I was a vampire. “Not a vampire,” I would correct them, extremely self-unaware. “Just Korean.”

If you were raised in a Korean household like mine, your beauty regimen was completely scrutinised. Is that a new freckle? Why are you suddenly so dark? Is that a mole?!

Washing your face twice a day was an absolute given. Your skin completely drenched with toner was second nature. And sunscreen—yes, sunscreen— was more than just an SPF. It prepared you for your impending future. Who would want to marry a man with deep wrinkles and terrible, uneven skin, I’d be reminded.

EAST MEETS WEST