When the flawed tries to be flawless

Flawless is an adjective undeniably identified with Rosanna Roces. No, she didn’t coin it. But it was she who popularized the word in local show business.

When she decided to open her own skin center, everyone expected she’d call it Flawless. Well, she tried. But then, when she was trying to register it as her business name, she discovered to her dismay that a beauty parlor in some obscure town in Nueva Ecija had beaten her to it. (Actually, there is also a videoke joint somewhere in Quezon called Flawless.)

Not wanting to let go of the name Flawless, she just tried to play around with it and came up with an even better-sounding business name: Forever Flawless.

Forever Flawless had its soft opening on Dec. 8, 2001 at its original branch at the fifth level of Megamall (in front of the chapel) and is marking its first year this weekend. It was an instant hit and I always kid Rosanna about how the place often gets so crowded, it sometimes looks like a government-run lying-in center.

From its opening, Osang had always egged me on to try the facial service at Forever Flawless. She said it’s very popular even among men. Well, I saw that for myself when I passed by Forever Flawless one time to visit Travel Pros which is also on the fifth level of Megamall. Lined up on one side of the clinic having a facial were executive-looking men in business attire. I could only venture two guesses as to why these men of means flock to Forever Flawless for facials: 1) They come there in the hope of catching Rosanna Roces or 2) Being businessmen, they know they’re getting a good deal considering that a facial service there costs only P200 (for basic cleaning) plus P100 or P200 more for a seaweed mask (don’t even ask me what’s that for).

Unfortunately, I haven’t tried the facial services there yet because facials don’t really appeal to me. I can see myself getting restless just lying down there unable to even read a magazine because one’s eyes are supposed to be covered with a piece of cloth. Forever Flawless also offers services like wart removal, body scrub, etc., but I have yet to find time for these.

However, there is one invaluable service Forever Flawless provides me with: pimple injection. You see, I am lucky in the sense that my stomach doesn’t easily act up even if I eat spoiled food (you read it right – spoiled food). But then, I still have to be careful with what I eat because I always end up with zits every time I eat seafood – shrimps in particular.

In the beginning, I would wait for a week or sometimes even two weeks for the pimples to subside and I would feel miserable all throughout the waiting period. Eventually, I discovered that you can have your pimple injected with steroid and it disappears the following day. (Of course, a dot of red mark remains, but that is better than having an inflamed pimple with puss in it.) It’s just a matter of finding the right dermatologist to do it.

The first dermatologist who worked on me turned out to be very expensive and overrated. All the time she was treating me, I suspected she was only injecting my zits with water.

Then, my brother introduced me to his former classmate in medical school, Dr. Carol Salonga-Adau. She turned out to be a wonderful dermatologist. She would inject my pimple today and the following day, it would be gone. Too bad, she holds clinic at St. Agnes Hospital in Roosevelt Avenue, which is Siberia from where I live. She also holds clinic at Clinica Manila in Megamall, but only up to early afternoon and only on certain days.

I also tried Dr. Nellie Jiao, whose pediatrician-husband, Dr. Arnel Jiao, writes a medical column for this paper. Dr. Nellie Jiao is also a miracle worker. But being a devoted wife and mother to two kids, her medical practice is no longer her priority.

However, she still gives lectures to the dermatologists of Dermclinic once a week.

And speaking of Dermclinic, I also patronized this skin clinic (in various branches) in the past. Most dermatologists here provide good service and I have become friends with some of them. But then, they can also be haughty. They slam the closed sign on your face even an hour before their official closing time if they feel like it. A few years ago, I staged a one-man boycott against its Megamall branch because they refused to accept clients as early as 5 p.m. because it was Bataan Day (this was on April 9, 1997).

Going to Dermclinic can also put quite a dent on your pocketbook. Although still reasonably priced compared to other skin centers, you have to pay at least P500 for every session. Never mind if it’s just one darn pimple they have to inject. In fairness to them, that’s really the rule and they make that clear from the beginning. Besides, that’s also how it is with other dermatologists (there are others, in fact, who charge more than that).

At one point, I realized I was draining so much of my resources on my zits that I decided to buy my own steroid and needless and began injecting the pimples myself. But rats, it seemed like those zits had a mind of their own. They began growing on the left side of my face and I’m right-handed. It was back to paying P500 again even for just one pimple. (Actually, you can hope and pray to have a lot of pimples so you can get your money’s worth, but then, why would you want that?).

Forever Flawless solved my problem because this skin center injects one pimple at P50 apiece. And since I grow only one pimple at a time, you can just imagine how much money I am able to save because of this arrangement. (They really don’t make me pay there anymore, but – really – I don’t mind paying at all because that’s only P50.)

The people manning Forever Flawless are also very warm and courteous. Its rival skin centers, of course, claim that it’s not being run by medical experts. But the truth is, Forever Flawless, has doctors who are there all the time. The branch in Megamall (the other one is in SM North EDSA), in fact, has a doctor who looks like Carmina Villarroel and her name is Dr. Michelle Reyes.

Forever Flawless is also open until 9 p.m. and this means you can do a lot of other things before having your zit injected, after which you can just go straight home, tuck yourself in bed – with your pimple starting to subside while you sleep. Believe me, the following day, it’s gone – again, except for that little red dot.

I know that it’s quite petty to be bothered by just one pimple – what with all the problems in the world. But if you belong to this group of people who are prone to acnes, believe me, having pimples on your face can also mean like the end of the world.

Mercifully, Forever Flawless is there to help solve my problem and give me a better outlook in life (again, this is so petty of me). And at only P50 apiece.

Now, I don’t feel petty anymore. I feel downright cheap.