She's A Sabbatical Beauty: Carol Tang

Hi, thank you so much for talking to us today! Tell us a little about yourself.

Hi! I am Carol, I’m a 39 year old language teacher from Singapore and a mother of an eleven year old girl. I’m trained to teach Chinese Language and administer psychological first aid to my students if the need arises (though I hope this training never ever comes in handy). I am a foodie and I love to read!

Can you tell me about how you felt about your skin before you tried Sabbatical Beauty? How did you feel about the products you were using at the time?

Before I stumbled upon Sabbatical Beauty, I used to have extremely oily skin. Also, my pores are enlarged and clogged, so much so that I am every beauty counter/beautician’s dream come true because they have ‘just the product/treatment’ that I need. I used to buy products with claims to control oil or mattify my skin. And no matter what treatments or products that I use, nothing really worked. In fact, I’d be lucky if my skin did not react by producing even more oil! I did not like my skin. In any group photos, I will be the one shining beacon because with or without makeup, the oil will shine through that I eventually started to dislike taking photos.

What were your biggest fears and struggles about trying new skincare lines?

To be totally honest, I have already moved beyond having fear of trying new skincare lines! There is no fear anymore if you get numbed from trying right? The struggle is real though. Time and time again, I have purchased new products in the hopes that this may be The One to finally enable me to be relatively shine free or have my skin bounce back and have smaller pores because sebum production is finally controlled. But no, not a chance.

How did you discover Sabbatical Beauty?

Sabbatical Beauty popped up in my FaceBook feed one day and I was amused by the whimsical names of some of the products when I clicked on the link. Unicorn Lip Scrub? Cabin Fever? It appealed to the little girl in me and before I knew it, I was finished browsing all 7 pages of products on Sabbatical Beauty!

What made you decide to try Sabbatical Beauty?

Two things actually. First and foremost were the reviews of the products. I was really tickled by the humour and wit of some of the people who left pictures and reviews. I mean, those are written with LOVE. I certainly don’t see myself writing such glowing comments about all those products that I have tried in the past. So I was intrigued. Then, came the FaceBook community. And that sealed the deal for me. I saw that users are able to pose any query regarding the use of the products and getting help almost instantly, also, the love and support everyone shows is simply amazing and therefore I decided to give it a try!

What results did you hope to see with Sabbatical Beauty, and did you achieve those results?

As always, when I try any new product, the hope is that I will 1) have less oily skin and 2) finally say goodbye to my blackheads. With Sabbatical Beauty, I have most certainly achieved that, and MORE. With advice from the community, I was able to fumble my way through figuring out which product to get. I remember I got the Rescue Set and while it did not immediately mattify my skin, I did notice that my skin remains fresh from washing a whole lot longer than before. And yes, blackheads still return but they take a much longer time to show up and a good purging these days not only keep the blackheads away longer and even when they do return, the sizes are smaller (and I hope eventually they never return!).

Now that you have integrated Sabbatical Beauty into your regimen, how do you feel about your skin?

For the first time in my life, I have turned into a camera hogging, self loving person! When I first started incorporating Sabbatical Beauty into my so called routine of Cleanse, Tone and Moisturise, I found that oil was really regulated. And when I was lucky enough to become one of the reviews for the Spring Box, I completely switched out everything to use only Sabbatical Beauty Spring Box products. I actually dreaded the daily selfies as I knew I would look horrible but slowly, my skin changed! These days, my skin looks healthy and glowy instead of just shiny and yellow. It’s not just how I feel about my skin, my entire outlook of skincare has changed, my confidence level has changed, and definitely my propensity to feel and reciprocate love and support has also changed.

Many people tell us that they find the Sabbatical Beauty Facebook community one of the best parts of the brand. What’s been your experience in the community?

Nothing has prepared me for the experience to be had from this community! I was fully expecting it to be a fan page of a well known brand just like any other brands where users sometimes pose a question or two and administrators will jump in to say ‘PM us’. End of story. But this community? Everyone is a PERSON. We interact. We share our life stories. We share our ‘accidents’ on using Sabbatical Beauty products and anyone with questions gets all the help that is possible with people jumping on the threads to provide suggestions and solutions.

I started out being introverted, shy and has a severe lack of confidence. And then came the call for applications for Spring Box reviewers. I only took the leap to apply after several community members joined and also encouraged me to! And till this day, I still have no idea why people voted for me but here I am, through the interaction and communication with the community via the live feeds and updates of my Spring Box uses, the community helped me blossomed. This community is not just about skincare, it really is about CARE.

If you were a SB product, which one would you be?

One? I can only choose one? That is so hard! So, if I were to be a SB product, I will be Nourish Oil Mask. Why? Because it is so versatile! I am trained as a teacher but as all teachers in Singapore knows… we grade essays, we take the students out for field trips AND organise overseas immersions, we repair the copying machines when they break down, we handle mini crises on a daily basis. And Nourish? It not only nourishes the skin, as an oil, it helps to pull out grits! It can also be added to thicker masks like Dorothy’s Licorice to be blended for easier application AND it is a wonderful hair product that makes my hair soft and manageable. Add the fact that I am addicted to the scent of Nourish, so I guess I AM Nourish!

Thank you so much for talking to us today!

Click to watch Carol's live interview!