Project: Skin

Resolutions for 2006: travel more, be more compassionate of others, and take better care of my skin.

The first two are recurring promises. The last one will be a desperate action after a year of denying that age – and a careless sense of invincibility– was catching up with me. Three years ago, I wouldn’t have hyperventilated at seeing a single microscopic brown spot on my skin, nor would I have taken my heat allergy as anything more than what I’ve always believed it to be: a heat allergy. But as I go a notch higher into my mid-twenties, I am beginning to realize and witness what I refused to imagine would happen: my skin beginning to break down.

The last year was crucial. I noticed that my skin took more time to recover its evenness and moisture after a five-day cavort at the beach. I would notice brown spots, slight wrinkling around my eyes, and fine lines forming around my mouth. Yet-to-be-determined dots would appear, diminish, and recur, causing a state of mild alarm and causing me to rethink my dermatological delinquency.

Going into 2006, I began to search beauty counters for products that would help me regain my confidence in my skin and prevent me from indulging into a mid-twenties crisis (just something the world needs right now: another angsty, self-indulgent twenty-something).

The burgeoning beauty industry is on my side. Skin aging is not a limited problem and I found an entire arsenal at my disposal.

Estee Lauder

Estee Lauder’s Perfectionist [CP+] Correcting Serum for lines, wrinkles, and age spots promises a future bereft of Botox injections and laser treatments. Formulated with Poly-Collagen Peptides and BioSync Activating Complex, this anti-aging serum helps erase lines and deep wrinkling by as much as 55 percent within an estimated month’s time. As a pre-moisturizer requirement every morning and evening, Perfectionist Correcting Serum also helps diminish age spots, increases skin clarity, and improves the skin tone. (Available at Rustan’s.)

Murad

You shouldn’t expect anything but a battalion of age-defying products from a world- renowned dermatologist. Murad has everything needed to defy anything that can possibly cause skin to age. The brand’s Anti-aging line, composed of Day Reform and Night Reform treatments, "age proofs" skin and restores its resiliency. Best for women in their mid-twenties and thirties, the Day Reform treatment contains Tahitian Noni extract that improves the appearance of fine lines, while the Night Reform treatment has hyalauric acid and lecithin, which both act as barriers that form the skin’s first line of defense.

As a beach bum, a lover of the outdoors, and someone who prefers to walk to near destinations rather than endure traffic and inflating parking rates, I am particular to Murad’s Environmental Shield line. Made up of Essential-C Daily Renewal Complex for the morning and City Skin Detox treatment for nighttime, this line treats and prevents pigmentation and damage caused by environmental aggressors such as the sun, dust, and urban pollution. Vitamin C, retinol, and vitamin A in the Essential-C Daily Renewal Complex combine to restore skin clarity and obliterate pigmentation; an exclusive detoxifying anti-pollution complex in the CitySkin Detox treatment neutralizes pollutants and helps fight signs of skin damage and stress. (Available at Rustan’s.)

Pond’s

If anything else, Pond’s Age Solution Early Defense System is an in-your-face reminder of mid-twenties vulnerability. A massive campaign broadcasting that the first eight early signs of aging – wrinkles, large pores, unhealthy skin, dark spots and blemishes, fine lines, rough skin, dull complexion and uneven sun-damaged skin, first manifests at age 25 – is pretty hard to ignore. If you’re brave enough to look in the mirror, recognize these aging signs, and accept the call to duty, Pond’s provides a defense system consisting of a Protective Day Cream and a Nourishing Night Cream, specially designed for women ages 25 to 35. The Protective Day Cream, infused with a much-appreciated SPF 18 formula, contains Spirulina extract, a natural seaweed extract rich in protein and vitamin E that nourishes the skin and makes it more resistant to the damaging of skin cells and the breakdown of collagen. The Nourishing Night Cream, on the other hand, combines vitamins A, B and F to reduce the signs of aging while you sleep. Glycolic Smoothening Serum, made from nutrients found in natural sugar cane roots, increases skin cell replenishment. (Available at major department stores and drug stores.)

Awake And Sekkisei

It’s not just the substantial rice and green tea intake that makes up the Japanese’ fountain of youth. Japanese skincare brands have always had their reputation to live up to and its role as "youth providers" to fulfill. Popular Japanese brands Awake and Sekkisei, in particular, claim responsibility for the youthful appearances of the women of the Orient, sneaking out to a large number of followers from the rest of the world.

Awake’s Skin Renovation line comprises three products that guarantee clearer, brighter, younger-looking skin. The Skin Renovation Lotion Concentrate, a must before moisturizing, acts as a quick fix for damaged skin. A hydroxy-fatty acid provides moisture retention and protection. The Skin Renovation Cream provides high-performance duties. The cream’s rich texture and hyaluronic acid content "embraces" over-stressed, exhausted skin, while another ingredient, L-serine, provides a defense barrier. The Skin Renovation eye cream helps diminish fine lines and sagging that plague the delicate eye area. Glycine provides internal elasticity as well as helps produce a protective firming layer.

If you can wait a little bit longer to renovate your skin, Awake is launching a collaboration with famed New York-based bag designer Catherine Malandrino this February. Every single purchase of P10,000 worth of Awake products, including a Skin Renovation product, entitles the purchaser to a Skin Renovation set encased in a Malandrino-designed tote. A certified best buy, if you ask any beauty junkie. (Available at Rustan’s.)

Sekkisei, another Japanese brand, that build its approach on "whitening through purification" is also doing its share to battle skin aging through a new Herbal Esthetic mask. Due in stores this February, the mask provides the benefits of a cleansing, purifying, whitening spa facial, all in just two minutes. A mix of ten Chinese and Japanese herbal extracts sloughs off dead skin cells, provide moisture, prevents UV-caused spots as well as infuses whitening ingredients into the skin. Great for instant beauty primping. (Available at Rustan’s Essenses.)

Guerlain

Youth=radiance=happiness. It makes sense in a way, even if you reverse the equation or jumble it all up. The feeling of happiness brings a certain glow to skin, a glow that’s often seen reserved for the youth. It should follow then that to look youthful, you have to be happy. This idealistic notion is backed up by Guerlain’s new Happylogy line, a series of products that recreate the effects of happiness on the skin. Composed of four interactive products: serum, day cream, night cream, and eye care, the main worker for Happylogy is a Pro-endorphins Complex that plumps up the skin, smoothes away wrinkles, refines skin texture, and gives it luminous radiance. A huge, satisfied smile best complements results. (Available at Rustan’s Tower, Shangri-La Plaza by February.)

Shiseido

Restoration can be a very tedious process. When it comes to skin restoration, Shiseido keeps the tedium to a minimum. Its Revital skincare line proves that vibrant, youthful-looking skin isn’t an illusion and is just a result of neutralizing three forces that damage skin skin: aging, gravity, and environmental stresses. With Shiseido’s exclusive amino acids complex, the latest evolution in age-controlling skincare technology, Revital targets these three forces and works to improve skin’s elasticity and texture.

The Revital Cream contains CL Revitalizer, which lavishes skin with beneficial proteins for a vibrant look and feel. An extract from a Southeast Asian turmeric plant called "ukon" is contained in the Revital Wrinklelift AA and helps treat the appearance of fine lines around the eyes, mouth or anywhere wrinkles are visible caused by exposure to UV rays and dry conditions. The Revital Conditioner is an intensive toner that refines skin by tightening pores and improving skin texture. It also helps keep makeup stay fresh-looking all day. (The Revital line is available at the Shiseido Beauty Institute, level 2 Glorietta 4 and at the Shiseido Beauty Institute, ground floor, Power Plant Mall.)

Lancome

Women’s skin varies and luxury beauty brand Lancome has known this for a while. A series of product lines makes it easier for consumers to choose which beauty treatments would best suit their skin: Primordiale for the first signs of aging (women in their mid-twenties to early thirties); Renergie for skin that’s beginning to sag and wrinkle (women 35 and over); and Absolue for mature skin (women in their 40s and 50s).

Primordiale harnesses two major technological innovations using "smart" bio- materials to combat premature aging: a Duplex Vector that preserves skin’s suppleness and refines the skin and a Thermo Control System, which combines nanocapsules of pure Vitamin E and an SPF 15 sunscreen system to target photo- ageing, chrono- ageing, pollution, free radicals and variations in temperature.

Renergie assures an instant face-lift with Morpholift technology. Inspired by the latest cosmetic surgery techniques, it performs thousands of skin micro-lifting actions to lift and tighten skin as closely as possible. Four weeks of use should reveal those facial contours you thought you’d lost forever.

Absolue, a must for mature skin, targets the skin damage caused by age, hormonal deficiencies, hot flushes, and everyday stress. The four-week Absolue Progressive Cure program allows the skin to recover its lost elasticity and evenness, clarity, and radiance using premium ingredients and patented extracts. (Lancome is available at Rustan’s.)

Biorica

They say nature’s extracts are a no-fail ally when it comes to skin care. This said and proven, it still doesn’t quite prepare us for Biorica’s secret ingredient: leech extract. Reputation for being blood-thirsty wretches that will suck you dry aside, leeches, according to French brand Biorica, have medicinal properties, the Hirudo Medicinalis leech in particular. The saliva extracted from this medicinal leech contains an enzyme called hirudin, said to be the world’s most powerful anti-coagulant. Another salivary enzyme, eglin, acts as a potent anti-oxidant that fights skin aging. Biorica’s Revolution Anti-age line combines these two salivary extracts to form Hm3, which combats skin-harmful free radicals and prevents skin dryness and cell dehydration.

The Revolution Anti-age line includes products that target specific areas of the body and specific problems: a face serum, an eye contour serum, a lip contour serum, a neckline serum, a hands serum, anti-redness serum, and anti-pigmentation serum. The eye contour serum is particularly effective for reducing wrinkles around the eyes and stubborn under eye circles. Trust me on this one. (Biorica is available at Rustan’s Essenses.)

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