A beauty ritual for looking and feeling good
May 26, 2004 | 12:00am
Dear Tingting,
Could you recommend a ritual that would keep me pretty?
Wanna Be Pretty
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It all has to do with personal taste, which should encourage ugly ducklings to tread the road to transformation because the truth is, everyone has a flaw. But even flaws can now be enhanced. A wart can be made to look like a mole until the courage to zap it comes along. Noses can look sharper with proper shades of brown and white to hide this Asian trait. Deep laugh lines can disappear with Zyderm or Restilane that can fill up creases for years of younger appearance. Nothing wrong with wanting to appear youthful, appetizing and alluring. But you’ve got to have a thorough cleanup routine to look clean and feel clean.
Try this for your morning ritual: Cleanse with Ivory soap or Cetaphil soap. Use an astringent – Eskinol is good – or a toner to remove the face’s oiliness. Smooth on a moisturizer. After your moisturizer, a sunscreen is important. Use a protective sunblock with 18 to 40 SPF each time you go swimming, sunbathing and even just around town. Coppertone is effective and inexpensive. That done, use a light-colored mascara for day or night. At night, just use more of what you do on your face and eyes in the daytime.
Total cleansing is still imperative for your evening routine. Use soap and water or cream to cleanse your face. An astringent after that is advisable because of the day’s pollution. Then smooth on a night nourishing cream on the face and neck depending on whether you have oily, dry or normal skin.
Use an eye cream, patting it gently under the eyes, from the inner to the outer corners to prevent premature crow’s feet. That brings me to facial control. Don’t frown, don’t smoke, don’t cry, don’t make faces. They cause wrinkles.
Eat a balanced meal with nutritional value. Diet if you need to lose weight or cut down on starches and sweets. Don’t indulge in food with empty calories.
Get enough sleep. Some can get by with six hours, but eight is good. Truth to tell, the older we get, the less hours we need to sleep – even five hours will do!
Go for a regular dental checkup. And see an eye doctor if you’re always asking your seatmate to read the small print on the menu. See your family physician if you do not feel quite right – or even if you do feel well. Health is wealth – what good is wealth without health?
Get your body moving. Take up a sport that makes you keen and sharper and your muscles firm, like badminton, tennis, golf, horseback riding. Try adult ballet with Tony Gonzales, jazz with her sister, flamenco with Emma Estrada or ballroom dancing with Marissa McMurray.
It’s good to look good, and even better to feel good.
Tingting
I am a senior citizen, but I’m not that old. I still look good and love to dress. I bought a beautiful cocktail gown which has a deep cleavage. Is there something wrong in wearing a dress like this, considering my age?
Ms. Senior Citizen
I see nothing wrong in wearing an outfit with a low decolletage, especially if you have a good figure.
Mary
I used to be as white as you are when I was a kid, but due to intrams in school (I was quite active in badminton and outdoor games), I got my arms burnt. My legs are still fine – they are still white, but my arms are not. Could you recommend an inexpensive whitening lotion which can be bought in drugstores or groceries and is effective? There are so many brands that promise good results that I get so confused as to which one to buy. Please help me!
Penelope
I believe that white is your natural skin color and your sun-kissed arms are merely a result of sun exposure. As such, you don’t need a whitening product. To get back your natural color, simply make an effort to stay out of the sun and make it a cardinal rule never to be exposed without sunblock.
Lucy
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