Maggie Cheung on style and skin care: Keep only the best

SINGAPORE — Award-winning actress and brand ambassador Maggie Cheung made a special appearance on the closing day of the three-day “The Beauty Debate” to share how Olay’s new philosophy, “Challenge What’s Possible,” paralleled her own career, personal life and beauty experiences.

In Singapore for the first time as Olay’s ambassador, the Chinese actress candidly shared how she challenged what was possible in her film career, successfully breaking through role stereotyping and geographical barriers, even overcoming “bunny teeth” with braces as a young woman. She would learn to do difficult action scenes (crying in privacy afterwards off the set), and eventually rising to attain international recognition, with awards such as the 2004 Cannes Film Fest Palme D’Or for Best Actress. Today Maggie is also challenging herself to do more for society as the first ambassador for UNICEF China.

Wearing a black knee-length short-sleeved dress, and later changing into a black jumpsuit accessorized with layers of gold neck and arm pieces, Cheung revealed how she has been a fan of Regenerist for many years. When asked how she keeps up with the pressure to look good, Cheung replied, “No pressure... just be how you like to be.”

Actress and Olay ambassador Maggie Cheung has been using the Regenerist line for years.

Just like with her wardrobe, Cheung said women should know what works for them — what outfits you want to wear and what looks good on you. “Only you would know that. So I think skin care is the same, you need to try, find what’s good for you. Under Olay there are many brands, there’s a brand for you there, or not. Regenerist is perfect for me, because I’m at the right age. It does what I need it to do. It gives me the nourishment that I need. When you have that good skincare in the bag, same as with outfits that you love, where is the pressure? I really don’t see it.”

De-clutter your beauty shelf

“Don’t put anything that you don’t like in there,” said Cheung. “I used to make that mistake. It’s too cluttered and I can’t find the nice things. So I throw away all the things that I don’t really wear, and if they’re all just the best, if on your shelf the creams are all the best stuff. You just go for it. Five minutes. I really try to see it as simple as that.

“On the bottle they usually say instant results, right? But how can that be true?” she asks. “For any good product with proper ingredients, it needs time to work. When I’m trying new products I give it a whole jar. I wouldn’t go halfway. When I’m done maybe I’d give it another jar’s chance, or I’d switch.”

The newly-launched Regenerist Wrinkle Relaxing Cream, P1,499, available at Watsons

Innovative products

“Better, innovative and more accessible products” was the commitment given by Ellie Xie, Country CEO, P&G Singapore. “Women’s needs are constantly evolving,” she said, “due to society, lifestyle and environmental factors. The brand’s new philosophy represents its spirit of yearning to understand and anticipate what women want, as well as the boldness to push boundaries in science and technology.”

The symposium showcased Olay’s latest innovations grounded in advanced cell care, a first-of-its-kind event that showcased the brand’s heritage and the innovative science behind its formulations. Olay’s breakthrough in skincare and technology can be seen in its Regenrist line. Part of the reason for Olay’s success is the top-quality ingredients, says Olay skincare scientist David Khoo “It’s part of the P&G commitment to make products available and affordable. It’s a combination of things that work.”

In an independent study, Khoo said Olay’s Micro-sculpting cream actually outperformed a $350 luxury cream in terms of levels of moisturization for 24 hours, based on machine tests. In another test, one which Khoo candidly shares his team was nervous about, a group of women were asked to blind test the cream against a set of prestige creams, and Olay also outperformed the others. 

Ellie Xie, Country CEO, P&G Singapore

Wrinkle Relaxing Cream: The game changer

“I think it’s because of our commitment to the science. At the end of the day Olay’s DNA is to make great technologies available in an affordable way. This is the nature of P&G as well, because we are a big company and there are ways in which we can leverage our scale to make these products available,” said Khoo.

Khoo took the media through the boutiques under the Olay line. Olay Regenerist is a micro-sculpting cream that combats signs of skin aging, from wrinkles to sagging skin. It consists of Amino-Peptide Complex and vitamin E that aims to renew skin at the cellular level. Olay Total Effects, the strongest seller in the Philippines, is designed with the modern busy woman in mind to fight seven signs of aging — fine line and wrinkles, blotches and age spots, rough skin texture, uneven skin tone, dry skin, dullness and visible pores. Olay’s latest breakthrough, launched just two days ago, the Regenerist Wrinkle Relaxing Cream, a revolutionary product P&G is calling a “game changer” for skincare. “Products do need to work overtime,” said Khoo, “but we recognize there is a need for a product to act immediately, and do both.” The new Wrinkle Relaxing Cream, which contains star ingredient Peptamide Y6 to fill the wrinkles in your skin for the promise of smoother, younger-looking skin.

Skin age analysis consultants determine what Olay product lines to use