STANDING OUT FROM THE CROWD in the digital beauty space is no easy feat, but Amy Chang @amychang – is not your average beauty influencer. With more than 1.6 million dedicated followers on tiktok and 615k on Instagram, Chang is anything but ordinary. Sharing her meticulously vetted and thoroughly researched beauty finds alongside relatable content about motherhood, niche topics like hair loss, adult acne and her personal adoption journey, Chang connects with women everywhere – online and off.
Whether she is travelling across the globe, sharing her knowledge at a beauty conference, shaking her crystal-filled locks at a live concert, or making arts and crafts with her two little ones, Chang is a tastemaker with her manicured finger on the pulse. Here, Brittany Johnson gets the inside scoop.
FAVOURITE TRAVEL DESTINATION I enjoy travelling to big cities where there is a lot of energy, buzz and art. I feed off of that pulse and it excites me, which is why New York City and Paris are my favourite places to travel to.
Photo: @amychang
DREAM TRAVEL DESTINATION Ever since I was a little kid I have always wanted to travel to Egypt and see the great pyramids of Giza! I plan on taking my girls there when they’re older.
FAVOURITE TRAVEL MEMORY My husband and I recently took our two daughters to New York City and we did a tour of the Metropolitan Museum. We hired a tour guide and it was a lot of fun showing the girls the Egyptian artefacts and the knight’s armour (my girls are into princesses, lol) and paintings of queens and kings. I love that travel memory because it brought me a lot of joy sharing one of my passions – art, with my girls.
FAVOURITE BEAUTY TECH GADGET I love the CurrentBody red LED light mask. I have been using it for years and am always amazed at its ability to soothe inflamed skin – breakouts, redness and even help with inflammatory- induced pigmentation. Red LED
light is proven by studies to help with inflammatory skin issues and these types of face masks are so easy to use.
TOP BEAUTY TIP Listen to your skin! Do not force something onto your skin just because it’s trending. If you notice something irritates your skin or stings a little upon application, wash it off right away and just know it’s not for you.
WHAT IS ALWAYS IN YOUR TRAVEL CARRY-ON I know some poo-poo doing skincare on a flight, but I love doing my skincare routine on a long-haul before going to sleep. I bring the works: a mini Garnier micellar bottle, a hypochlorous acid mist (currently loving the Avenova one, which is in a small bottle so it’s great for travel), a barrier support serum like cocokind’s Ceramide Barrier Serum, and a rich moisturiser (currently been loving the PCA HydraBright moisturiser). And I always bring Summer Friday’s Jet Lag Mask and the Rhode Peptide Lip with me!
cocokind’s Ceramide Barrier Serum
PCA HydraBright moisturiser
BEAUTY INSPIRATION My mom was my first beauty inspiration. She sparked my initial love of makeup and skincare. I watched my mother every day apply a full face of makeup. My mom is 74 and, to this day, and she still wears lipstick and foundation and looks so glamorous. Once that spark was there, my second beauty inspiration fanned the flames – SunHee Grinnell. She was the former beauty director at Vanity Fair and I read the magazine religiously looking for her beauty articles and recommendations. She deepened my love for the world of beauty. And when I got to meet SunHee in real life for the first time five years ago, it was such a dream! I look up to her so much as an Asian American woman in the beauty space who paved the way for other AAPI women to be here.
FAVOURITE BEAUTY TREATMENT I love getting HydraFacials! There was a period of time last year where I went to get one every 4 – 6 weeks and my skin was flawless – no breakouts, no clogged pores.
MOST ASKED BEAUTY QUESTION “What to do about breakouts?” My answer: do everything and anything you can to reduce inflammation – red LED lights, soothing cold chamomile tea bag compresses (steep tea bags, then put them in the freezer and use them as cold compresses on a pimple), white willow bark or BHA (both reduce inflammation), and barrier supporting serums or moisturisers.
DREAM BRAND COLLABORATION I would love to collaborate with Netflix! They’re on my vision board!
DREAM SPA DESTINATION Asia is known for its spas. I would love to go to Japan and spend a week in an Onsen just soaking in hot springs and eating delicious Japanese food.
WHAT’S YOUR DEFINITION OF “LIVING BOLDLY” Going after your dreams. Most people wait for their dreams to happen to them, but my mother always taught me to never wait for what you want – go after it.
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 3 DESERT ISLAND PRODUCTS
Allies of Skin EGF Growth Factor & Peptide Serum: growth factors are incredible at stimulating cellular regeneration, promoting the formation of collagen to make skin bouncy and youthful looking. I have been using this serum for almost a year and absolutely cannot live without it.
Kosas Dream Beam SPF: this is one of my favourite mineral tinted spfs. I struggle with melasma, so using a tinted spf is important for me because the tint helps block visible/blue light that can trigger my melasma. I also love how dewy this makes my skin look and it evens out skin imperfections.
California Naturals two-in-one: I love how gentle this shampoo/ conditioner duo is. I use it on my girls as it’s perfect for kids since there’s no suds, no tears. It makes my hair really soft and would be a perfect multifunctioning product for a desert island situation
