Beauty Secrets

Why is fashion and beauty a multi-billion industry? Why are we drawn to beauty ads that subliminally seduce us into buying the very product they advertise? Month after month, why do women (and men, too) load up on their share of magazines and patiently scour each page for beauty tips and tricks–all in the pursuit of looking better and consequently, feeling better? Basic fact is, our human nature encourages us to gravitate toward what would benefit us emotionally and in this case, physically. Vanity per se is not a bad thing. Letting it run your life is (but hey, let’s not get into that just yet). True, money can’t buy confidence but it might buy you the products that will get you there (and it need not be expensive!). After all, when you look good, you feel good. I encourage you all to dip your senses into beauty products that serve to enhance your physical attributes. Don’t forget to enjoy the process. Remember, beautifying should be a fun thing and it should serve not as a tool to measure a person’s worth but as a testimony of how well we can care for what God has blessed us with.

As a rejoinder to my column last week, allow me to share with you a list of products that I use and have used through the years. Like most others I, too, am a creature of habit and I stick to those that are tried and tested. And while some people have the impression that I have shelf upon shelf of beauty odds and ends, that is farthest from the truth. My regimen is ultra basic, especially when it comes to facial care and makeup. Admittedly though, in the past I was a victim of marketing and would buy them all on impulse, not so much for what they actually did for the skin but for how they were packaged and what they represented. In due course, I acquired a multitude of products that ranged from being barely used to half-used to not used at all. It was a waste of money. Now I know better and have successfully trimmed down my beauty box to include only those that actually work for me. But there’s always room to grow and every now and then I buy a new lipstick, try new powder – the difference is this time around I don’t buy the ones I know I’ll never really get to use anyway, either because I already have too much of the same thing or it just doesn’t look good on me, period.

Skin Care

We are all familiar with the ad-age that tells us never to sleep with a dirty face. Whatever your routine is, adhere to it because it will pay off in your golden years. As for me, all the women in my family (the maternal side, specifically) use Pond’s Cold Cream.

In fact, the very scent of it stirs up memories of my Lola Carmen who religiously used it until her old age. She has since passed on but even at age 75, her skin was still soft and beautiful. My mother and her sisters took on the habit from when they were in their teens and naturally passed it on to my sister, our cousins, and me. I remember when, after a night out or a party in my lola’s house in Cebu we would gather in front of the huge mirror in our room and clean our faces together while we recounted the day that was. My mom started my sister and I early on (it’s never too soon to start taking care of your skin, she would always say) and would constantly remind us to use it nightly in a specific way: gently massage it all over the face and tissue off, repeat until tissue comes clear, massage again a small amount and leave it on the whole night. That way, the cream acts as both a cleanser and moisturizer. If you find it too greasy, use a toner or astringent before the last step. I also grew up with Eskinol until I discovered Block and White astringent that works better for me. I have a sprinkling of freckles on my face, which gets darker if I stay out in the sun without protection and it was only Block and White that faded the spots. An even nicer thing is the fact that it comes in three variants 1, 2, and 3, depending on how badly you need it. Because I also have freckles on my shoulders I have started using the astringent there as well and it seems to be happily fading away.

During the day, I just wash my face with water and tone it again with Block and White. My skin is naturally oily on the T-zone so I don’t really use moisturizer. A couple of weeks ago, Richard came home from S-Files with a goody bag of Pond’s products and I had a chance to try their Prevent and Correct Cream duo. Prevent is a day cream that I use now but I’m even more fond of their Correct night cream because the day after, my skin does feel even softer.

Yes, sometimes Richard uses the cold cream, too, although not as religiously as I do. But I always tell him that because looks figure considerably in his profession he might as well make an extra effort to take care of his skin. Luckily for him, he’s blessed with really good skin and I can count on one finger the number of times that his face broke out in a pimple or two. Only when he is required to wear makeup for pictorials or shoots in dusty locations do I insist on applying the cream to cleanse his face. Otherwise, he can pretty much get away with whatever he finds lying around in the bathroom.

If my complexion gets dry (which happens when I’m on the plane on a long flight or when in a cold country), ordinary moisturizer won’t suffice. Whereupon, I rely on Squibb Vitamin E capsule which I puncture, the oil of which I massage onto my skin. The result was very gratifying the first time, so much so that I kept at it daily only to have my face break out. It was a case of having too much of a good thing and I have since learned to use it only when needed. I always have it in my travel kit.

Lipcare

My lips have a tendency to get flaky and dry and believe me I’ve tried product upon product that promised to free me from the bondage of chapped lips. The top winners, for me at least, are Khiel’s Lip Balm #1 and the ever-reliable Vaseline Petroleum Jelly. Especially at bedtime, I apply a really generous amount and allow the excess to be absorbed naturally. When I’m in a rush and there’s no time to wait for the lips to be nurtured overnight, I just let the balm stay on a couple of minutes and use a toothbrush to slough off the dry skin. I finish it off with another layer (thinner this time) of balm. With regular application, lips really do stay soft and supple.

Footcare

Like I said last week our feet should be just as (if not more) pampered as the rest of our body. It’s a major turn-off when even the most beautiful woman has dry, cracked heels and higgledy-piggledy toes. You can’t forever curl up your toes when they’re not decent enough to be shown and neither can you hide them forever in pumps, sneakers, and mules. Regular TLC really does go a long way. Indulge in a pedicure and a good foot scrub – Fix Salon does a wonderful job of pampering. The suds of their foot spa contraption go all the way up to your ankles; the lady uses a liberal amount of scrub, proceeds with the pedicure and finishes off with a long, lingering foot massage that lasts longer than you expect it to. Heavenly. Cut Salon in Annapolis can serve up a good pedicure as well–just look for Mary Luz, Angie, or Kristelle.

It would do well to have a foot scrub handy at home when you feel like doing it yourself. If you keep it in the shower though, a quick rubdown daily can lengthen the time between visits to the salon and will keep those steppers in tip-top shape.

Haircare

I’ve had long hair for as long as I can remember so it has basically always been wash-and-wear through the years. I don’t color and abuse it much either except for occasional blow-drying sessions that somehow I still cannot hack doing myself. I always have to hie off to the nearest salon and have someone do it for me. I also make sure to get regular hot and cold oil treatments (the massage that comes with it is more than enough reason to keep coming back for more).

When I have an affair to attend and time does not permit me to have the luxury of blow-dried hair, I automatically pull my hair back in a sleek ponytail. To tame rebellious strands, both Richard and I rely on Osis Stick Up and Kiehl’s Créme with Silk Groom. We were into Aveda Self-Control before but it smells like tart on the hair and has a tendency to clump. I prefer Osis since it holds just as well, minus the funny smell. I’m not too fond of using hairspray because I don’t want the hair looking untouchably stiff. I was only too happy when Juan Sarte tuned me in to Sebastian Zero Hairspray because it allows the hair to move without sacrificing the hold.

Richard and I also like to open two to three different kinds of shampoo at the same time. Perennial favorites would include Lux Super Rich (for its scent as well as for its being instrumental in bringing us together as a couple) and Pantene (makes hair really soft). On the other hand, Aveda Deep Penetrating Hair Revitalizer works really well as a conditioner. When I was growing up in Ormoc though, our yaya Hilda would prepare in a jiffy pure coconut oil that she extracts by heating the gata until it was reduced to its purest state. I love anything coconut and I remember my cousin and I loading it up and leaving it on the whole afternoon to condition the hair. As expected, afterwards it looked healthier and felt unbelievably soft. Come to think of it, I should do that again sometime soon.

When Pimples Appear

For the lucky few who never get a pimple, congratulations. But for the rest of us who break out once in a while let’s be thankful that there are things we can do to remedy the situation. My sister belongs to the former group because I cannot remember a time when she had skin problems. Having the same genes, I was expecting myself to be on the same boat. Well, as luck would have it, I didn’t. In high school my chin would break out the most and although it steadily disappeared as I grew older, it came back with a vengeance when I was pregnant with Juliana. I was so ugly because my skin was so bad–I actually looked like a pimple that had a face growing out of it. (Can’t complain though. Hopefully in my next pregnancy I won’t have to go through that but if I must, then so be it. The birth of my child will more than make up for any discomfort). My ob-gynecologist prescribed an over-the-counter acne medication, Sansacne, that was safe even for pregnant women and it did rein in the breakouts considerably. My skin has cleared again and has fairly gone back to normal. Every now and then when I eat too much oily food, I get a breakout but Bactroban Ointment zaps it real quick. Neosporin Ointment and Tea Tree Oil works nicely as well. Would you believe that Visine really does neutralize the redness in pimples? Try it. I was amazed the first time but then again, if it’s safe to use on the eyes it should be all the more safe for use on the skin. When I do have to cover up a zit with concealer, I try to use a medicated one lest the problem worsens. A friend of mine, Chechel Joson whose kikay kit I always ransack, told me about Clinique Acne Concealer. It comes in two shades and it treats the pimple while covering it up.What more can you ask for?

My dermatologist can give me a quick fix for those pimples that I want to disappear overnight but I had a stubborn one that just didn’t want to go away despite repeated visits to her clinic. For that, I used Stieva-A Fortre 0.1%, a topical anti-acne tretinoin that is available in any drugstore, and away it went.

Smelling Good

There’s nothing worse than a woman with body odor. It’s not just a reflection on your cleanliness as a woman but an indication of how well your mother taught you about matters of hygiene. Do her (and yourself) proud. Smell good always.

Sometimes people get careless about how they smell or sometimes they just get so used to smelling bad that their senses fail to tell apart stench from scent. Common mistakes are when one uses styling products without washing the hair or not taking a bath daily. Unpleasant.

Nivea and Fa remain favorites because these deodorants protect but smell shower-fresh. There are also a lot of feminine washes to choose from coupled with an assortment of panty liners. I grew up using Carefree and I’m only too happy that they have since cropped up with innovations in panty shield technology – the g-string panty shield and Carefree Black. It’s wonderful. Hopefully they can come up with a beige line too? Who knows?

Good hygiene habits are developed when you’re young and become a routine that you hone as you grow older. Every so often there will be products springing up that promise to do this or that and until you have found the ones that perfectly match your needs, by all means keep searching.

Makeup

Believe it or not, my makeup kit is very compact mainly because I don’t really use much of it anyway. I used to have all the eye shadow colors and different specialty bits and pieces but I never got to utilize them and ended up giving them away. I don’t really know how to put on makeup except for the basic powder, blush, lipstick, mascara ritual. If I have to do my eyes I always just use MAC White Frost as a base and accent it with either MAC Bliss, Symmetry, Parfait Amour, and Pink Freeze, or a combination of two. Other than that I have four HB_Sixteen (from Herbench) eye shadow duos that pretty much coordinate with the colors I often wear: Blueberry Cheesescake, Pistachio Pecan, Candy Sprinkles, and Coffee Créme Brulee. I especially love the blueberry cheesescake because it’s a beige and eggplant-colored duo, the latter of which I use as an eyeliner. It’s a flattering color because a pure black looks harsh on me while soft brown comes out too light. Especially when I travel, I only bring these four duos because I can stack them one atop the other and together with the travel brushes that Herbench also carries, my Shu Uemura curlash, Mac Studio Fix, Maybelline Pro-Lash Mascara and three lipsticks, they all fit into my 6x2x4 kikay kit. I used to have travel brushes that came in soft cases but somehow I always lose them. The Herbench Travel Brush Set comes in a sleek, cylindrical container (around five inches) that’s compact yet complete.

If there was one thing I have a lot of, that would be lipstick. My current favorites are Origins Sheer Stick in Cosmic Force and Pink Lemonade (looks really nice when used to fill in lips outlined with MAC Spice Lipliner), Origins Liquid lip Color in Candy Girl (has a minty feel on the lips), Herbench lipgloss in Tease and Diva, MAC Lipglass in Lychee and Prrr, MAC Liplacquer in Acrylicka, HB_Sixteen in Orange Sorbet and Choco Loco (I actually bought these for my daughter in an effort to keep her little hands off my stuff but it smells so good she licks it off thinking it’s candy!), and Origins Transforming Lip Glaze (you use it atop whatever lip color you have on and it gives a rainbow effect–especially good when the hue is too strong).

I’ve been using Mac Studio Fix for some time now but a friend of mine recently showed me her Bobbi Brown Compact Foundation and it looked interesting because it shifts from cream to powder. I went to Rustan’s to get one in Porcelain but they didn’t have it on stock so I guess I’ll have to wait. I also like Christian DiorLight Transparent Loose Powder because a dusting of this controls the shine but still lets the skin show through.

I’ve always been partial to cream blushes because they look more natural on the skin. The first time Richard and I went to the States together, I stocked up on Prescriptives Sheer Cheek Lacquer in Voodoo. Sadly though, they have discontinued that particular one and when I ran out of it, Pretty When Pinched from Herbench came along. It gives me the exact same effect. Three times when in Hong Kong, strangers have approached me asking what my cheek blush was and where I got it. Used also as a lip tint and topped with gloss, it looks very becoming yet natural.

Bath And Body

Richard likes using huge chunks of soap so when Keren Pascual introduced us to Lush on a trip to Australia back in 1995 and we haven’t looked back since. When it was not yet locally available, we would buy it in bulk every time we traveled, often incurring a ridiculous amount of excess baggage that we had to pay for. Our favorites are Karma, Sea Vegetable, Bohemian, Banana Moon, and I Should Coco. Staples in the shower are the bath gels from Fa, Body Shop and Sephora together with a loofah and bath mitt. I also always have both St. Ives Apricot Scrub for the face that I love using on the body and Origins Salt Rub. After a shower when skin is still damp I use unscented body oil, either Neutrogena or Johnson’s Baby Oil Lite, and follow it up quickly with lotion (either Baby Bench Cream Oil in Bubblegum or the Baby Bench Lotion in Lemon Drop). Not only does skin feel soft as a baby, it smells like one, too.

Nothing still beats the mantra of a natural approach to beauty – drinking eight glasses of water daily, a happy disposition, enough sleep, no enemies (real or imagined), a clean and healthy lifestyle – but when all else fails, thank God for lipstick and blush!