Caring for Your Face

There seems to be a whole slew of skin care routines and products and make-up out there. Back in Pinas, Olay Total Effects seem to have captured the women’s market, as well as injections of glutathione and visits to the derma. Here, there are so many creams available and well-advertised too, you’d find it difficult to pin down the best.

Here’s what I’ve gathered – bottomline, wash frequently and with the cleanser that suits your skin. Yes, you may have to try several. Believe me, I had to. There was Clean & Clear, St Ives Apricot Scrub with Salicylic Acid, Pond’s, Sulfur soap, Ivory soap and Neutrogena. Well, with a limited budget, there’s only so much I can try, can I? Fortunately, Neutrogena did it for me, both Deep Clean and Oil Free Acne Wash. How did I know which one worked? Essentially, I tried the aforementioned products and yet zits kept appearing, but with the 2 Neutrogena products, no zits, and if any, very rarely.

Then, apply a light moisturizer with Vitamin C and sunscreen (UVA & UVB protection). If you find it a bit tedious doing that, especially so in warm/humid weather, then at least put on a rejuvenating or skin repair cream at night before bed. Bear in mind though, even if it’s hot out there and you feel you produce enough oil on your face to fry an egg, you still need sunscreen. Think wrinkles, ok? Anyway, I tried Olay Definity but that didn’t work. So I’m now on Neutrogena’s Visibly Even (night concentrate). If that doesn’t work, I’ll try L’Oreal Skin Genesis next. Apparently, you don’t need to buy high end to get good results. There was this health segment on the nightly news which featured several face creams from low end to a bit more expensive (no they didn’t go so far as to test Chanel, Guerlain, or La Prairie, etc) and of all the creams tested, it was Olay which showed the most promising results. So, try the drugstore brands first, and see how your skin fares. Why “splurge” when you can “steal” di ba? You have to keep in mind that not all expensive brands lauded by beauty magazine editors are really effective. The companies, whose products they are testing, are paying for ad space after all, so views might tend to be a bit skewed here.

For make-up though, my friend P is on the right path. It seems mineral make-up is the way to go because of the more natural ingredients used. It will probably be a tad trickier applying them, if you’re used to the more traditional way of creams, cake powders, or even mousse. Oh well, I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. Right now, while I’m still a housewife, I don’t need to wear any of those gunk on my face. A nice bath, spritz of fragrance, lip balm and I’m set for the grocery or the supermarket. Haaay….can’t wait to join the work force…..