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With Jorge, aka the Bearded Skin

With Jorge, aka the Bearded Skin

4th Oct 2019

We love to hear and share the stories of our partners, supporters and customers. These stories are unique the same way as every person who shares their journey with K-Beauty is unique and different. We are extremely happy to share the story of Jorge, aka The Bearded Skin. We hope you enjoy it!

Jorge, aka The Bearded Skin

Hello, all Skinsider friends. My name is Jorge, and I’m a skincare content creator on Instagram, also known as @thebeardedskin, where I love mixing my passion for ingredients and new products with a bit of humour and a touch of pop culture. Since I started my skincare journey, K-Beauty trends and techniques have been the biggest influences in the way I approach my routines or decide which ingredients are working for me. So I’m really excited about this opportunity that Karolina is giving to me to share my experience with all of you. I hope you feel inspired to hop on the K-Beauty train with me!

Jorge, aka The Bearded skin and his K-Beauty story
Jorge, aka The Bearded skin and his K-Beauty story

The early days

I started my skincare journey quite late. Until my 35s, skincare was washing my face every day with a charcoal scrub followed by a moisturiser with plenty of alcohol to fill a whiskey bottle. You know, those companies that tell you that you’re worth it, but it almost feels that they are sabotaging your skin. But before we were all ready to attend my skin’s funeral, I realised something was not working, as I still felt my skin was congested and in an unhealthy place. From that moment, I began investigating and experimenting with different products and, most interestingly, ingredients and actives.

[K-Beauty Discovered>: Jorge, aka The Bearded Skin[K-Beauty Discovered]: Jorge, aka The Bearded Skin

Although I’m a designer these days, I studied Physics at University, and I’m kind of familiarised with the chemistry too. The moment skincare became that side of chemistry that I could apply to my everyday life, it suddenly became a very fun game to play. I loved reading about active ingredients, molecules, enzymes… Call me weird, but if I was going to start a serious skincare routine, I wanted to know, as much as I could, what I was putting on my face.

Jorge’s Inspirations

That’s when Youtube made an appearance in my life, through wonderful people that made the bumpy and long road to find the right products way more manageable. From Renée[ editor’s note: check our interview with Renee here] Liah Yoo, Charlotte Cho, Dr. Sam Bunting to Nadine Baggott. Women from different backgrounds but all of them incredibly knowledgeable and approachable. They made curiosity and necessity an actual passion of mine.

Cleansing Oil Texture
Cleansing Oil Texture

And I guess it was through Renée and Liah that I started to be more interested in K-Beauty. Quite overwhelming with, what it seemed to be at that time, the 20-step routines and the 40-skin methods, but all of it with an interesting point of view. And most importantly, how could those products, with plenty of ingredients I liked and great formulations, could be so affordable?

Jorge’s simplistic approach to skincare

There are two key factors that, for me, make K-Beauty so interesting. First, it’s not about tackling an issue, it’s about healing. While Western cosmetics go straight into the “problem” –acneoily skin, rosacea, etc- Asian skincare is about giving the time for your skin to heal, being more gentle and putting hydration and sun damage protection at the front. And second, the price point is unbeatable, and the formulations are like a thousand miles away from what I find in Western brands, even the expensive ones.

Texture of cosmetics
Texture of cosmetics

K-Beauty takeaway

K-Beauty taught me how to make hydration an important part of my routines and how layering it properly could balance my oiliness. At the end of the day, dry or dehydrated skin needs plenty of hydration, but an oily skin not hydrated enough will adjust by producing more oil, which can cause clogged pores and breakouts. My face went from the greasy frying pan to plumped and healthy by just adding the right amount of hydration. And that was one of the reasons my skin started to look much better.

And don’t make me talk about Korean sunscreens because once you try them, there’s no turning back. I don’t want to see those western tacky and greasy products every again! Thank you, next.

Jorge, aka The Bearded skin and his K-Beauty discoveries
Jorge, aka The Bearded skin and his K-Beauty discoveries

Jorge’s experience with Instagram?

The moment I started creating daily routines for my friends and their dogs, I realised I needed to put all that experience somewhere for people like me, who at some point felt lost but wanted to look better and age in a healthier way. And the fact that I was a man, I guess, made the decision much easier. I wanted to be a voice too for all the men who don’t necessarily talk about their skin and the need to look good and feel good, but also giving my point of view from a different perspective.

As a feminist and fighter against toxic masculinity and criticism of behaviours that are considered not manly enough, it was important to openly break those barriers. And helping my male friends to comfortably find a place to talk about those things that society believes are unimportant to us. I’ve seen a lot of guys around me asking me questions about their skin and that’s something that makes me very proud.

Sioris My Soft Grain Scrub texture
Sioris My Soft Grain Scrub texture

Jorge and his future plans

During the event that Karolina from Skinsider organised with Renée, aka Gothamista last March, I realised I was the only man in the room. Did it bother me or made me feel uncomfortable? Absolutely not. If any, it made me realise I had a job to do, to make sure next time more guys like me, or anyone who doesn’t identify by gender, are there, because it’s an open space for everyone to talk freely about their skincare concerns too.

At the same time, meeting people with a similar passion has been not only incredibly helpful but a beautiful experience too. People who are there every single day, people who I might never be able to meet in person, but who I feel very close to me now. Since I started my Instagram I’ve found so many incredible individuals from so many different countries and background I feel quite privileged.

Check also Jorge’s latest skincare tips and discoveries