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Beauty around the world
Japanese woman have a belief that skin is the key to true beauty. One of Japan’s famous beauty experts, Miki Okae, says that the ideal for skin is to be fair and smooth. “Everyone demands that,” Miki Okae says.
While most Canadians and Americans believe that applying collagen to the skin and getting Botox injections to help erase wrinkles, Japanese women believe in something different – they take in collagen unfused foods. Miki Okae states that eating collagen-rich beef tendons is a part of her daily beauty routine. “I sneak out of the office when the supermarket opens to buy this,” Miki Okae confesses. Many restaurants even serve collagen-infused foods, "Collagen-infused food is everywhere in Japan," Mara says.
Perfect Skin and Straight hair etc. may be what classifies a women as being beautiful in Japan, however in around the globe, women are being judged by a different criteria. On the National Geographic Channel’s show Taboo, cameras had documented some of the most extreme beauty practices in the world. On the border of Burma and Thailand, members within the Kayan tribe started their beauty rituals at a very young age. Beginning at the age of 5, girls begin wearing brass rings around their necks, this being a ritual that is centuries old. The older they get, the more rings are added on in order to elongate their necks, giving the women a giraffe like appearance. For the women within this tribe, the shiny brass rings are an ultimate sign of female elegance and status. Some neck pieces can even weigh up to 22 pounds. "If I take the rings off now, I won't look nice anymore," one woman says. "They really are a part of my life."
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