Beauty tips from Barbie Hsu and Dee Hsu to retain their youthful looks at 40+

Nineties kids are no stranger to Meteor Garden star Barbie Hsu and if you follow Taiwanese entertainment closely, you’d probably also be familiar with her sister Dee Hsu.

Both sisters are now over 40 and have been in the showbiz for almost 30 years.

While they appear more sophisticated and mature than when they debut, they certainly don’t look their age at all. Want to know their secrets to looking so youthful? Here are the tips they’ve shared.

Barbie Hsu’s beauty tips

Did you know that besides her splendid filmography, Barbie Hsu is a well-versed beauty guru, and has even released beauty books such as Mei Rong Da Wang (Beauty Queen: Secrets of Beauty Treatment)? This is why we thought her beauty tips are pretty legit!

Remove all your makeup

The 45-year-old is all about proper cleansing. Barbie stressed how important it is to absolutely remove every single ounce of makeup before washing your face.

Be gentle

Speaking to South China Morning Post in 2008, Barbie said that she “treats [her] skin gently, as if it were about to break”.

What this means is to be gentle with our skin when cleansing or applying any products.

Go cold

Barbie believes that cold therapy can help tighten pores. But instead of splashing ice-cold water on the face, she recommends keeping your sheet masks in the fridge before using them.

Use an essence

In a 2018 Instagram post, Barbie strongly advocated for the su:m37’s Secret Essence. She says that she depended on this essence to “save her skin” when she went back to work right after a holiday. The Secret Essence is lightweight, and helps to improve your skin’s moisture, texture, elasticity, firmness, tone, and radiance.

sum:37 Secret Essence retails for S$108 at all sum:37 counters and Watsons (there’s a promotion going on at the time of writing, so click on the link to see its latest price!)

Facial massages

Barbie expressed her love for facial massages, because they not only help to improve your circulation, but also help your products absorb into your skin better.

The Taiwanese actress has a specific way to massage her face. She begins with the Yang Bai acupoint, which is the point on the forehead and above the eyebrows, to improve blood circulation, oxygenation, and metabolism.

Next, she massages the Ying Xiang acupoint, which is located on the sides of the nostrils, with repeated circular motions in order to reduce facial swelling.

Finally, she completes the massage with the Zan Zhu acupoint located at the tip of the eyebrows, above the nose, to promote blood circulation to the eyes, reduce fine lines around the eyes, and reduce swelling of the eyes.

Rose oil benefits

Barbie uses rose oil in her facial massage to exfoliate dead skin cells; besides smelling so good it helps relax your mind, rose oil also delivers moisturisation and anti-pigmentation benefits.

Protection against the sun

Like any true-blue skincare enthusiast, Barbie is aware of the harmful effects ultraviolet rays and how they contribute to signs of ageing.  This is why she applies plenty of sunscreen. And then, in order to cancel out the white cast she gets from the sunscreen, she layers foundation above it.

For added protection, she also uses an umbrella or parasol to shield herself, and wears long-sleeved clothing and hats when she goes out.

Proper diet

“You are what you eat” is Barbie’s mantra, which is why she goes for a healthy and clean diet, which helps give her better skin.

She takes makes sure she consumes nutritious foods, and takes vitamin C, E, and D3, calcium, grape seed extract supplements, as well as Chinese herbal drinks made of angelica root, wolf berry, and red dates to boost her complexion.

She also takes bird’s nest for its radiance-boosting qualities, and drinks snow fungus soup thrice a week for its collagen-replenishing and anti-ageing qualities. Barbie also credits her lack of dark eye circles to vitamin C-rich foods, and makes sure that she has three balanced meals a day.

Get plenty of sleep

Barbie sleeps before midnight as she believes that this will give her skin time for skin rejuvenation and repair.

This is why she’ll always attempt to fall asleep before 11 pm, and even if she needs to stay up, it’ll be no later than 1am if she can help it. She swears by these sleeping habits are very effective for preventing dark eye circles.

Combine aerobic and anaerobic exercises

To maintain her physique and youthful appearance, Barbie does both aerobic (zumba) and anaerobic (weight training, pilates, and yoga) exercises thrice and once a week respectively.

Dee Hsu’s beauty tips

Barbie’s sister, Dee Hsu or otherwise known as “Little S”, has some of her own beauty tricks we want to cop too. Let’s take a look at the beauty secrets that the mother-of-three shared.

Mascara routine

For work, she prefers using false eyelashes, especially those that she can stick individually onto her lash line for a more natural look.

But when she’s off duty, she goes for mascara. To apply mascara to her eyelashes, she first curls them, before applying a coat of volumising mascara. She repeats the process to achieve even more volume.

Makeup must-dos

The Taiwanese star can’t go without makeup on her brows, particularly when they are looking rather pale or sparse. She uses concealer for any pimples or dark eye circles if she looks tired, and also cannot live without some trusty lip balm.

Fitness routine

In order to keep fit, Dee attends a dance class every Tuesday, as well as a core-strengthening class every Thursday. She also heads to the gym with her husband on days off, and runs on the treadmill for 20 minutes each time, before stretching and doing some yoga for another 20 minutes.

Facial yoga

Other than working to keep her body fit, Dee also likes to work out her face to maintain her chiselled visage and youthful appearance. This helps strengthen facial muscles so that her facial contours appear tighter and firmer.