my skin looks different and i don't fully know how to explain it to people

i've been sitting on this post for a few days because i wasn't sure how to write it without sounding like an ad or like i've lost my mind. bear with me.

for about two years my skin has looked tired. not broken out, not irritated, just... grey and flat. no matter what i did it looked like it needed sleep. i've tried a lot of things. i went through a whole acids phase, then a minimalist phase where i stripped everything back, then back to layering again. nothing was wrong exactly, it just never looked awake.

i was in seoul a couple weeks ago visiting a friend. she has the kind of skin i've been quietly jealous of for years, like properly dewy in a way that doesn't look like highlighter. i finally just asked her what she was doing because i'd run out of products to blame myself for not trying. she told me she stopped obsessing over skincare about two years ago and started getting skin booster a few times a year instead.

i'll be honest, my first reaction was 'oh that's why i could never.' like i'd already decided it was some unattainable thing. but she broke down what it actually is and it started making more sense to me. i went and did some research when i got back to my hotel that night.

anyway i tried it while i was there. and i'm now home and it's been almost two weeks and something has genuinely shifted. my skin holds moisture differently. i wake up and it already looks like i've done something to it even when i haven't. the texture is smoother in a way i can actually feel when i touch my face. my foundation goes on differently.

the strangest part is the comments. a coworker asked me last week if i changed my moisturizer. my mum said i looked 'well' on a video call and she is not a compliments person. nobody knows what i actually did and i don't know how to bring it up without it becoming a whole thing.

i'm not saying everyone needs to do what i did. i know it's not for everybody and it's not cheap. i just wanted to put this somewhere because i feel like i spent a long time thinking topical products were the only option and they're not, and seeing someone write that might have helped me get here sooner.