Skin test

My sister told me recently that she went to this derma in Fort that does a pretty good facial at below Belo prices so i gave it a try yesterday. While it was flooding all over Manila, I drove to Nu U Asia. It's in the same building as Aubergine, Zhu, and Secret Recipe. They led me to a dorm-like room which totally turned me off. Three rows of beds = three patients having treatments. Luckily I was the only one there but could you imagine getting a facial with other people in the room? The procedure was pretty basic and very P600 - a lame facial scrub, a prick here and there using what seemed like a dull needle, and that was it. What I hated was that there were nurses going in and out of the room, one even reaching out to my side since the iPod dock was there and another who came inside just to tell the girl mercilessly pricking me that the kids outside were "cute". The music they played was The Beyonce, Mariah, and Whitney Houston Collection which wasn't very relaxing if you're laying there being punctured. What I liked though was this minty wax they lather on your face to "cool" and "whiten" it. They leave it plastered on your face for a good ten minutes (or maybe they forgot about me). When I paid, the girl at the counter asked if I had change. "No I don't." If I did, I would have given it, riiiiiggggghhhhhtttt? "Ok, sir," she replied. The she stood up and went out. 10 years later, she came back with a grande drink from Starbucks and fries from McDonald's. She stopped in front of me and handed me my change straight from her bundle of crumpled change. At least she didn't give me old P20 bills. When I got home that night, I realized a blemish emerged - one that wasn't there pre-Nu U so I'm blaming them for making it peep to say hello and annoy me. Now I have to drag myself to Belo to have it injected.

Peel or not to peel

I had my monthly cleaning at Belo awhile ago and the girl who attacked my face recommended I have it peeled so my skin would be baby butt smooth. She recommended I do the Fraxel Laser Treatment.

"Fraxel Laser Treatment is a revolutionary procedure that allows us to treat your skin problems in a new unique way never before possible. This unique fractional laser resurfacing technology leaves the surrounding tissue unaffected and intact. This fractional treatment allows the skin to heal much faster than if the entire area was treated at once; using the body’s natural healing process to create new, healthy tissue to replace skin imperfections. A Fraxel treatment eliminates sun spots and age spots, improves uneven pigmentation and melasma, and improves wrinkles and Stretch Marks with minimal downtime. It also helps improve acne scars. The Fraxel laser penetrates deeply into the skin dermis with thousands of tiny microthermal treatment zones."

It sounded interesting until I saw this in the Belo website: So, nevermind.

Skin savers

Everyone wants to have clear, glowing, and healthy looking skin. Well, at least I do. Unfortunately, I wasn't bestowed with that gene so I have to revert to other ways to achieving a supermodel-like fez. When I was in college, my best friend Liana took me to this skin care clinic in BF. I was so addicted to having my face cleaned that I'd visit them every other day for the treatment until I realized it was such an impractical practice. Now, I make it a point to either visit my derma once a month or every other month. Or depending on my facial situation. While I was having a facial this morning at Belo Alabang, I asked the skin specialist how long the pores stay open once it is exposed to the steamer. "Pores open when it's hot," she said. "That's why when you're at the beach..." Then she stopped and continued poking and pricking me as if there's no tomorrow. No pain, no gain. I guess she must have sensed that my tan of the tropics wasn't achieved by going to them or to Basement in Rockwell for those fake tanning treatments. "I just got back from the beach actually," I said. I didn't bother sharing with her that I happen to like being under the sun and tan because it evens out my skin tone, hiding its gruesome imperfections. When the treatment was over, my face felt numb from all the wincing action I did when she exerted all her energy on my t-zone. When I stood and looked myself at the mirror, my right cheek looked as if it was stung by a million hornets. Sure I may have looked bad but it felt great knowing I was on the path to perfect skin-dom. For those who have a (very) low threshold for pain, here are several facial wash products that I've tried that so far do the trick: Eskinol Naturals Orange Fresh Facial Wash - nevermind if it smells like My Shaldan, it has tiny Vitamin C beads that help scrub away dead skin and excess oil leaving you with glowing skin. The Face Shop also has a rather refreshing version without the beads. They also have it in Aloe Vera. Cetaphil - doesn't wash away the skin's moisture unlike other facial cleansers. When I first used it, I put globs on my palm and slathered it on my wet face because I thought it took a lot for it to sud. It was only later that I realized (and read the instructions) that I had to apply it on a dry face. Hmph. With Cetaphil's suggested retail price, it BETTER work. Garnier Anti-imperfection wash - now, how good of a product name is that? It says it all. It also comes in another variant, Pure. I don't remember what the difference but I've been using it for a couple of weeks now and so far, so good.

Face off

All the stressing over looking for something to do in Majayjay during the holy week gave me one of those internal blemishes that never seem to want to go away no matter how much ointment, astringent, or pimple busting drug you apply on it. It conveniently planted itself almost in the middle of my forehead making me look as if I was cultivating a third eye that could open up any minute. My only relief was, it wasn't inflamed so it didn't look like I was sporting a bindi. In my vain attempt to eradicate it off the face of my uhm, face I sped to Mercury this morning to buy whatever product that proves to be the quickest to kiss the styyyuuupid blemish goodbye. I ended up getting two Maxi-Peel products - one that acts as a concealer and another that well, zaps the zit out and will make you have kutis artista. Anyway, i applied both every now and then but it didn't feel like it was working so I made an appointment at Belo for a facial. Now I feel and look much better. I'm glad Rochelle, the girl who treated me, wasn't sales talking me into having other treatments done. The last time I went to have a facial, the girl was telling me I should do this and do that. It was kind of a turn off so I didn't go back to that branch for a couple of months.

Face it

"You're so dark again!" "How many times do I have to tell you not to stay out under the sun too long? You're going to have wrinkles when you get older." That's what my mom always tells me when she notices that I've baked too long. Mothers really know best. They know that staying out under the sun for hours and hours will eventually give you skin problems as you get older. But being the hard headed middle child that I am, I hardly listen and continue laying out in the sun with my iPod plugged into my ears. I'd rather have a nice and reddish brown tan than have no tan at all. I normally don't apply anything when I sunbathe, which is bad. I've always had this notion that if I apply sunblock or tan amplifier, I'd end up looking like a Pacific Islander. Not that it's bad. I just prefer not to have that skin tone. There was a time when I was obsessed with maintaining my Boracay-made tan that I'd lounge by the village pool every weekend to get another coating of uhm, tan. I don't recall the last time I had a sunburn nor peeled like a snake. But when I do start showing signs of flaking, I apply globs of moisturizer all over my face and body. When I washed my face this morning and wiped it using my white hanky, I noticed small flakes of skin. An hour later, I was in Kiehl's buying moisturizer. I normally use Clinique's M Lotion but I didn't want to go all the way to Rustans in this heat! The guy said that this product helps boost the elastic quality of the skin and improves skin's firmness and gives it a more unified look. Nobody likes looking like a quilt.