Vive la difference | Bangkok Post: opinion

THINKBOX

After living in Bangkok for a few months I finally ran out of toiletries from home - Canada. A quick trip to find moisturiser and make-up led me to an awakening about cultural differences and similarities when it comes to beauty and what cost women around the world are willing to pay.

I come from a province called Saskatchewan in the middle of Canada. To say the temperature is cold is an understatement. In our winter months -40C is common, as is hiding within the warmth of our homes. With about four months of tolerable weather many women spend most of the year with fair, pale skin.

Yet when you look in magazines and fashion spreads in North America, the perception of beauty is sleek tanned models even if it's not the reflection we see in the mirror.