Before making travel plans, I took a moment to reflect on reality by looking in the mirror.

It's almost 10 p.m., and I'm sitting in the living room, feeling a cold breeze coming through the window. The cold weather has me yearning to get away, so I've been searching for a plane ticket for hours. The reality is, I'm so exhausted after work that I can't even make it to the gym, so I'm just a charity angel. Thinking about the plane ticket and the unpaid gym bill makes me sick, but when I look at my face, I realize those aren't the problem. My skin is irritated and red, whether from the boiler heat or the biting wind. It's truly a sight. I used to believe that my skin would improve if I just spent a little money on expensive treatments. I was so naive. Looking back, how I spend the remaining 23 hours is far more important than spending an hour at the dermatologist. It's only now, after developing sensitive skin, that I've come to realize that lying in bed without removing my makeup or slathering on moisturizer because my skin is dry isn't the answer. So these days, I've put aside all the extravagant things and just focus on the very basics: washing my face thoroughly as soon as I get home from work, then dipping a cotton pad in a cooling toner to help reduce the heat. I've noticed a definite difference in my skin since I've been diligently putting in the effort, even though I used to do things halfheartedly because they were bothersome. When your skin barrier is compromised, no matter how expensive an ampoule you apply, it just goes away. I've decided to face reality and dedicate just 10 more minutes to my skin every night. Traveling is great, but my priority right now is to somehow make this dull face look more human. Everyone, on these dry winter nights, make sure to turn on a humidifier before you go to sleep.