Once more with peeling

Dear Ms. Tingting,

I’ve heard about the phenomenon of facial peeling. Is there any at-home peel that is just as effective and you can just do in the privacy of your own bathroom? Would you recommend the Maxi Peel and Extraderm brands that are available in any drugstore?

Ana Cachin

 Peeling is today’s most commonly used technique by dermatologists to clear away the damaged surface layer of skin.

Maxi Peel and Extraderm are lower in strength, but they do have some benefits. Chemical peel by your dermatologist with AHA and BHA is higher in strength than that you can find in an over-the-counter product or in spas. I strongly recommend you ask your dermatologist about this. IPLs can be done at home by doctors and beauticians who have their small machines and can do it in your own home.

I also learned about Lancome’s at-home Resurface Peel. This peel uses glycolic acid, an ingredient also used by dermatologists for certain peeling procedures. It works by taking away the surface layer of the skin and with it, the little marks and blemishes. It is designed to be used twice weekly for one month. There are four simple steps in using Lancome’s Resurface Peel:

 Step 1: Clean up first with the Resurface Peel Prep towelette. Wipe over the entire face.

Step 2: Sweep the Renewing Peel Cream over the face, using the special application brush. Leave on for five minutes. This is when the peel gets to work, removing dead skin.

Step 3: Remove all of the peel from your face using a couple of the soothing cloths.

Step 4: Moisturize with Resurface Peel Comforting Cream formulated specifically for post-peel skin.

Each box of Lancome’s Resurface Peel contains enough for eight peels, which can be used morning or night. The skin will need SPF protection after the treatment, so Lancome recommends applying Expert SPF 30 sunscreen.

Tingting

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RX For Overplucked Eyebrows

Dear Rissa,

I feel terrible – I overplucked my eyebrows! How do I make them look naturally fuller while I’m recovering from overplucking?

 Martina G.

There are no toupees for eyebrows. That’s why you should be conservative when plucking brows. You can’t paste them back and it can take weeks for them to grow back. Keep your over-plucked brows neat as they grow out by defining them and filling out the bald spots with an eyebrow filler.

An eyebrow filler usually comes in pencil or powder form. You don’t really have to buy a product specifically for eyebrows. As a substitute for eyebrow liners, dark eye shadow will do just as great. But in choosing the right shade, black is too harsh for most faces — even if your hair is jet black. Choose a color a few shades lighter than your eyebrow hair. A dark brown shade looks softer and more natural. Eyebrow products that are staples in my makeup kit include Model Co Eyebrow Designer Kit (exclusively available at Beauty Bar), MAC Brow Set in the shade Boy Girl (available at Rustan’s Makati, Rustan’s Shangri-La, and Marionnaud Mall of Asia), and Shu Uemura Eyebrow Manicure in Palm Beige (available at Rustan’s Makati, Rustan’s Shangri-La, and Power Plant Mall). These are eyebrow products that don’t disappoint.

With a small angle brush, define your eyebrows using light feathery strokes that echo the shape and thickness of your brows. If you are using a pencil, never draw a continuous line. Use strokes in the direction of growth to resemble hair growth. You don’t have to fill the entire brow. You shouldn’t because it can come off as looking too harsh. Concentrate on the area closest to the bridge of your nose and the outer edges near the temples.

Carefully blend the filler into your brows by brushing them with an eyebrow brush (or an extra toothbrush) in an upward motion following the natural arch of the brow. To tame unruly brows into shape, use clear mascara to brush them upward. You can also try using hairspray on an eyebrow brush.

When it comes to shaping, use your natural arch as a guide — no matter how subtle it may be. Don’t try to radically redefine your brow! If your brows are naturally thick and full, don’t go pencil thin. Apart from being the current trend, full thick eyebrows can instantly make you look younger. Even our classic childhood fairy tales dictate it. Remember how all the kind-hearted pretty princesses had full well-groomed brows while the old evil witches and queens had thin harsh eyebrows? I don’t think any woman wants to look like the old evil witch! If shaping your brows makes you nervous, go to a professional at the salon or ask help from a friend whose eyebrows you like. Afterwards, you can simply follow the line they’ve established.

Rissa

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Top Tips For Red Lips

Dear Lucy,

I thought of asking you because I feel you may also have the same experience. My lips are naturally red; as such, it is quite a challenge to wear all those light-colored lipsticks and glosses because the color, as it appears in the tube, never appears that way on my lips. What do you do about this, if it’s a concern for you as well?

I’m also very fair like you and I have a difficult time choosing a beige color (for blush or contour) that will not look streaky on my face.                                               Yael

Yes, yes, yes! I know exactly what you mean! That’s my perennial problem, too. My lips are naturally red that I have a difficult time using all those pale lipsticks and glosses. What I do is sweep on a really pale-colored one (like MAC’s Pretty Please) so that it neutralizes the redness somehow. When I do a smokey eye and I want to keep my lips really neutral, I use the lip lacquer from Nars, in a color called Chastity. I love it! It makes my lips really shiny and glassy and yes, it takes care of the natural redness without going overboard. I mix a small amount of it with clear gloss prior to application just to make it more spreadable. If you want a pale pink, Nars lip lacquer in Baby Doll will do the trick.

For more enduring paleness on the lips, it would be a good idea to pat on, very lightly, some liquid foundation. That will ensure that the lip color as it appears in the tube will stay true on the lips. Otherwise, Kryolan lip rouge works very well. The coverage is quite opaque, and peaches and nudes come out really nice. The only thing is it can become quite cakey so you may have to refresh and retouch fairly often.

For a nude colored blush that still looks pretty on very pale skin, try Nars blush in Luster. I really like it, the effect is very pretty.

Lucy

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Send e-mail to tingtingcojuangco@yahoo.com, ltg@pldtdsl.com, and stylesos_rissa@yahoo.com.