Taiwanese sales clerks and coconut oil

Taiwanese sales clerks are frequently aggressively helpful, which is distressing.  What they don’t realize is they drive me right out of the store; I wonder how many other people are this way?  I wonder how much revenue Taiwanese shops lose driving the introverted out of their stores due to intense sales clerk scrutiny. Shopping for me can be a fun, almost meditative experience where I gaze upon products and ruminate about a future reality in which they are a part of my life.  But because I rarely have much more money than I need, I don’t part with it that easily, and sales clerks make me feel embarrassingly cheap.  I went into a store called Sasa to look at girly foo-foo water and I did get a chance to buy a sample size of a conditioner I was curious about that I saw at Carrefour for half the price.  But Jimmy, my dedicated assistant, ruined my perfume browsing by insisting on spraying the little cards with any scent I expressed interest in.  I wanted to be left alone for 40 minutes to smell each one, but instead I declared the tuberose lovely but did not buy any because it’s $60 a bottle and I don’t make $60 impulse buys very often.

Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Tainan

What I want to tell the overly zealous shop clerks is to clear out.  I did tell Jimmy I just wanted to look, but that didn’t scrape him off my ass for more than about 45 seconds.  I don’t know how to communicate “please go away; you’re giving me a panic attack” politely.  I went to Uniqlo, a Japanese clothing store I’d never encountered and was blissfully ignored.  I went on to spend the princely sum of $30 US on an accordian pleat grey chiffon skirt and sea foam green top that will undoubtedly make my life more meaningful and love-filled.

Me in my new grey pleated skirt.

Coconut oil update.  If your hair is dry and damaged, get some right now.  Leave it in as long as you can.  But know this– it will leave grease stains on fabric (including what you slept in and your pillow case if you leave it in overnight) so cover your head or just have a designated coconut oil t-shirt.  I’ve been reading about hair because I’m shallow and I like to do research, and if you use silicone products or argan oil, they will coat your hair and prevent the acids and fats of the coconut oil from penetrating.  I do use silicone products, so I washed my hair with one of the shampoos with lauryl sufate that everyone tells you not to use.  But it does get out the silicone.  Then I drenched my hair in coconut oil for about 36 hours (I just put it up in a bun when I went out) and washed it out this morning.  This stuff is amazing.  I will definitely be using it as a deep conditioner a couple of times a month.

Don’t, however, put it on your face in any large quantity.  After an oily, pimply teenhood, I am now blessed with clear, not too dry skin.  But after putting coconut oil on my face, I got like 3 zits.  It will clog your pores.  I’d dab it on to places that get dry to the point of flakiness, but it’s just too heavy for your face.  Even for your body, I would go more lightly next time than I did this.  I took 10 hours to sink into my skin fully and I felt like I was leaving a (admittedly lovely smelling) snail trail behind me.  Now that it has soaked in, my skin is soft and smooth.  I think what I’ll do in the future is have a designated set of coconut oil pjs and just do my coconut oil routine as an over night thing.

I got 2 Chic by Giovanni conditioner with keratin and argan oil and Giovanni’s leave-in conditioner, which promises to be weightless and Giovanni Root 66 volume shampoo.  I will let you know how those work out for me.

The dark side of the hair wash

Don’t do this more than a couple of times a month unless you have oily, resilient hair.  While I still adore a good xie tou fa, I was crashing in a place with a grotty bathroom, so I didn’t want to shower or wash my hair.  Now I can mop off with a towel and some soap in a basin to keep myself from getting stinky, but the hair needs seeing to.  Three washes in a week later, my hair is trashed.

They don’t put conditioner in it, and they don’t take the greatest care in not breaking it when it’s wet.  So now I’m going to experiment with cold-press coconut oil, which I hear is amazing, and leave the blow dryer on the shelf until it’s all healthy again.  The coconut oil is awesome on skin, and I even dab some on my face, which is controversial.  It really gets rid of dry spots.  Unlike the miraculous Argan oil, the coconut oil molecules are actually small enough to penetrate the hair’s shaft.

I ordered some Keratase Elixir Ultime and waited for it to come from Momo with the eagerness of a child waiting for Christmas morning.  I’m not sure if it lived up to my expectations, but it does smell good and I can’t get Frizz Ease here.

Beauty mistake and discovery– using conditioner as shampoo

Skin is squared away, but hair… the shallow saga continues.  I put a lot of random Taiwanese smoothing product on my hair after a spate of extreme dryness.  Big mistake– greaseball city.  So here’s a fun discovery.  I didn’t want to wash my hair from scratch because I’m really lazy and I do want some moisture/silicone in there to keep it smooth.  So I tried something I’ve read online– I “washed” it with conditioner.  It worked pretty well; it cut the greasiness down, but there aren’t the same detergents in conditioner, so it didn’t wash out all of the moisture or silicone.  If you overdo the smoothing/moisturizing products, give washing your hair with conditioner a try.

Hair wash and style

I gush over getting my hair washed and styled– here were the results. Now I’ve revealed what I look like, so I have to be circumspect about my human trafficking side business.

Oil cleanser

I will review Taiwanese beauty products as I use them.  I have started using the oil cleansers, and I’m a convert.  The one I’m using now is called… something guozi that I can’t spell.  I’ll take a picture.  I’m 35 and have mildly oily skin, but using Cetaphil or other cleansers is still too drying.  Oil cleansers are amazing.  They really get all the dirt off, while leaving your skin soft and smooth.  You wet your face, put a few drops into your hand, and rub it all around.  What’s new for me is you need a wash cloth to get the oil off– it doesn’t just rinse off with water.  But it really is wonderful stuff; my skin hasn’t looked better.  Now if only I could figure out a similar miracle or my fine, curly, frizz prone hair.

Getting your hair washed– Something I love about Taiwan

Here in Yunlin county, it costs $180 NT to get your hair washed and styled.  That’s a little under $6 U.S.  This is heavenly because they don’t just wash your hair– the massage your scalp, give you a neck and shoulder rub, and it’s just a luxurious experience all around.  I love this about Taiwan.  Not all things are less expensive than they would be at home, but this one definitely is.  It’s a nice little treat that is affordable to the expat teacher and it really gives me a boost.