My best beauty tips

(Author’s note: I’ve had the privilege of visiting both Greece and Hong Kong Disneyland for the first time with Philippine STAR Lifestyle editor Tita Millet (Mananquil), in the company of Ben Chan, Miguel Pastor and Keren Pascual. Tita Millet must have noticed that I really appreciate and use all forms of beauty products, and that’s why over the holidays she asked me to write a special piece on all my beauty tips.)

Vanity is both a work necessity and luxury. I remember though that even at nine years old while living in Boston, my dad would already question why during the colder months of the year, I was slathering on Johnson’s Baby Cream on my face and Vaseline petroleum jelly on my lips. I distinctly remember that he told me my mom didn’t feel the need for any nightly rituals, and I replied that I just wanted to make sure I had good skin. My dad was testing me so he asked if I thought my mom’s skin was bad? I’ve always spoken my mind, and I said I just wanted mine to be better!

Let’s start with the face. I get professional hair and makeup styling by Bambbi Fuentes at least five times a week. Immediately after my first shower of the day, while skin is still damp, I put Vitamin E oil all over my body then blot my body with a towel, followed by sunblock (I alternate between Obagi and Murad) on my exposed parts, most likely my neck, shoulders, and arms. We’ve tried almost all facial sunblocks, but Bambbi and I have discovered that Lancome’s UV Expert City Global protection works best under foundation. While others make concealer and powder foundation application difficult, Lancome allows foundation to glide on.

Bambbi long ago shaped my brows and I just tweeze the stray hairs that grow in every few days. My favorite tweezer is the Laura Mercier designed Tweezerman. Whether you use an eyebrow pencil or eyebrow cake, you still need to use an angled brush to blend and define your brow’s shape. My favorite brow grooming brush is by Bobbi Brown.

Currently, we are using my eye shadow sets which were Christmas presents from my manager Deo Endrinal and from my ate, oldest sister Ballsy Cruz. Deo managed to buy me the Kevyn Aucoin eye shadow palettes from Neiman Marcus, and my ate bought me Trish McEvoy’s eye shadow and lipstick palette from Bloomingdale’s. My main beauty tip as far as eye shadow application is concerned: always start with a nude or beige colored eye shadow base so that the browns, oranges, greys, greens, purples or blues which you’d want to achieve will adhere and stay on longer.

Bambbi and I have tried every curl-lash out on the market, we both favor Shiseido or Shu Uemura. We heat the eyelash curler by putting it near the blow dryer’s nozzle on high heat for about 10 seconds, the principle being that heat quickens and holds the curl.

As far as mascara is concerned, as long as it’s waterproof and applied at the base of the lashes, with the mascara wand at an almost vertical angle followed by short, sweeping strokes, you are almost assured of beautiful and natural-looking lashes.

Blush is so important. Women seem to be afraid of applying it, but everybody will look more youthful with a rosy glow. Believe me, pressed powder or baby powder isn’t enough. You may end up not shiny, but the tendency is, without a hint of color on your cheeks, you’ll end up looking pale and lifeless.

I try my very best to regularly patronize the products I endorse. San San cosmetics, which you can buy at all HBC stores, makes the perfect shade of pink blush. I use Cheek Blusher Shade #2. At first glance, you might find it too pink. But when you sweep it on at the center of the apple of your cheek, which emerges when you smile, you’ll see just how naturally flushed it can make you appear. Of all the San San Cosmetics, this blush is my favorite.

Tita Millet asked me what helps lipstick stay put. The first step is really to line the lips with a natural looking lip liner. MAC’s range of lip pencils really does glide on smoothly, and Spice is the universally accepted most useful shade. The application of lip-liner helps your lipstick stay put. Whatever lipstick you’ll decide to use, and whether you’ll apply directly or use a lip brush, gently blot with a tissue after application and re-apply. The blotting helps embed the color. So even if some of your lipstick smears on your glass or you wide off most of it on your table napkin, your lips will still have a hint of color.

Thank God dewy lips are back in fashion. Lipgloss completes the look. Almost all makeup brands have their line of glosses, but my all-time favorite for lipglosses is the Japanese brand RMK. It retains its shine and has an eye-catching iridescence. I learned about this brand from Ate Mary, diamond star Maricel Soriano, while we were filming the first Mano Po in 2002. It still isn’t distributed locally, but if you’ll be traveling to Hong Kong or Bangkok anytime soon, you’ll find it at the high-end department stores there, like Seibu in Pacific Place Hong Kong or Emporium in Bangkok.

Lastly, cleanse religiously. I like Shu Uemura’s Green Tea-based cleansing oil because of how quickly it melts away my makeup. For my face, I alternate between Cetaphil cleanser and Dermalogica’s anti-bacterial skin wash. My toner is Pro-Activ, I use Burt’s Bees Royal Jelly Eye Creme and Cetaphil cream and Vitamin E oil on my face before sleeping.

I really do use Kissa papaya soap for my body’s cleansing, my preferred variant is the pink anti-aging with vitamin E formulation. Josh used to have little bumps on his arms and back, which I think were being caused by his perspiration, but since he started using the green Kissa soap and the body lotion, they’ve practically disappeared. James also uses Kissa green regularly because of its anti-bacterial formulation, which is perfect after his everyday practice and workout.

Lastly, my makeup brushes are shampooed and laid out that on a towel to dry overnight every week. I’ve found using shampoo with a built-in conditioner, like Pantene, to be most effective in keeping makeup brushes in good condition. Plus this is a lot more cost-effective than buying expensive makeup brush cleaners.

Your skin reflects what you’ve eaten, no amount of makeup will hide poor nutrition. Since my ulcer was diagnosed, my eating habits have drastically changed. I eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, and I’ve stopped my caffeine addiction. My skin has never glowed more!