The art of face mapping

My skin is as moody as I am. Sometimes it’s as clear and clean as a carefree summer day and then, in the blink of an eye, it’s a mosaic of dry spots, pimples, and redness. My dermatologist told me that I have neither oily nor dry skin but a combination of both and that this combination is constantly changing.

This, of course, brought about a constant dilemma when it came to buying skin care products. I tried mixing facial cleansers for dry and oily skin and what usually happened was that my skin just came out flaky or irritated. To this day I’m still constantly changing my skin care regime in hopes of appeasing my moody epidermis.

So, about a week ago, when my friend Cheya Cunanan asked me if I was interested in trying the facial package of the new skin care salon, Dermalogica, in Rustan’s I said sure, why not? It would be interesting to get another opinion on how I should properly maintain my skin.

I’d seen some of the signs around Rustans, my favorite shopping mecca, advertising Dermalogica’s famous face mapping treatment and I have to admit I was curious to find out what that meant so when I walked into the minimalist decorated skin care salon on the sixth floor it was with a very open mind.

My therapist for the day was Sheryl Ricardo and I was surprised to find that before we even began anything she handed me a long questionnaire to fill out. Questions ranged from what skin care products I was already using to how many cups of coffee I consumed in a day. While I thought some questions didn’t make any sense, I sipped the glass of water they offered me and answered the whole thing. Afterwards, she began the analysis.

Every treatment in Dermalogica begins this way. Their highly trained therapists get to know your skin first through your daily habits and routines. For example, Sheryl told me that I may experience dryness and whiteheads on my T-Zone from the vast amounts of caffeine in my system. Apparently eight glasses of water a day is not enough for someone who consumes a lot of coffee as well. To properly flush out the toxins that caffeine adds to our skin, it's a rough ratio of four glasses of water to each cup of coffee. Yikes!

Then the treatment began. After changing in the dressing room Sheryl started a light exfoliation on my face telling me she would be giving me the treatment for sensitive skin. My questionnaire answers told her my skin is highly irritable and touchy. She wouldn’t be going into extraction because I had used acne medication within the last month and that proper time between such strong medication on the skin was around three months to allow it to rest.

The treatment was very relaxing and very eye-opening. Dermalogica is a no-frills brand that provides adequate skin care treatment. This, of course, meant that they didn’t use scents on their products since they don’t believe in adding unnecessary ingredients to their merchandise. Still, the lotions and creams did smell good and after the initial exfoliation treatments my skin felt really smooth.

Then Sheryl began to map my face. Apparently, Dermalogica has found a way to trace certain parts of our face to different organs in our body. The healthiness, or otherwise, of that area can depend on well or how "happy" that particular organ or organs are in our body. For example, our foreheads pertain to our digestive system, our cheeks to our lungs, our T-Zone to our liver, and so on. Sad to say, after my face mapping it seems that my kidneys are the only things "happy" with me. Uh-oh!

Afterwards, she proceeded with the rest of the facial treatment which consisted of smooth massages and light cleansing. It was so relaxing I could feel myself drifting off to sleep. As the last vestiges of cleanser were washed off, I felt my skin glowing. It wasn’t only a relaxing and "clean-for-the-moment" type of facial, it was really informative as well.

After my treatment, I sat for a while with Dermalogica brand manager Roselle Andaya who educated me a little more about the new brand.

Dermalogica is a US brand created by Jane and Raymond Wurwand along with therapists from the International Dermal Institute. It is a skin care brand which leads in creating innovative products that address a wide range of skin care needs from sensitized skin, to sun-damaged skin, to acneic skin, as well as skin problems that require professional treatment. As I mentioned earlier, it’s a no-frills brand that provides effective products free from all irritants. Dermalogica believes in total skin care. Noo false promises of having instant perfect skin. What Dermalogica can promise though is to give you the very best skin you can ever have.

So now I’m on a mission, to improve my own health thereby improving the state of my skin. With my sensitive Dermalogica eye cleanser (the skin around my eyes gets easily irritated) and a phone call to remind me of my next treatment, here’s hoping all of my bodily organs are "happier" when I come back.

Dermalogica skin care salon is now offering a wide array of treatments from facials to full body wraps for just between P650-P1,800. A wide range of skin care products for men and women is available as well. This coming October, Australian educator Fiona Tuck will be coming in to hold special paid workshops on proper skin care maintenance. Call 812-5099 or 813-3739 local 275 for more details. Dermalogica Skin Care Salon is located at Essenses Aesthetics, 6th level, Rustans Makati.

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Email the author at aquamarine_tranquility@yahoo.com