20 beauty essentials

It’s fascinating how women, and the beauty industry for that matter, manage to keep coming up with beauty dilemmas that inevitably have to be answered by one beauty product after another. The same goes for beauty treatments – whether they involve surgery or not. Even facials now come in a gazillion varieties. Aromatherapy and mint face treatments, anyone? Whatever happened to those good old-fashioned facials?

When you think about it, you don’t really need that much to look good. All you need are the basic necessities. Imagine going overboard on some kind of vanity spree and waking up one day to find yourself looking like Michael Jackson.

Limit yourself to the top 20 basic beauty essentials that can dramatically improve the way you look and feel. Nobody needs more than that.

Skin, Skin And More Skin

Skincare should be at the top of every woman’s beauty priority. Vogue-cover-worthy skin can be achieved through healthy living: lots of water, sleep, fiber in your diet, daily doses of vitamin C, and food that contains high levels of omega-3 fatty acid and antioxidants.

If that’s not enough, Sekkisei’s Junkisui skincare line is specially formulated to get rid of blemishes – perfect for those with acne-prone skin. The Junkisui line is considered a medicated cosmetic product in Japan.

Guerlain’s Perfect White C evens out dark spots.

Then there’s Shu Uemura’s cleansing oil, which almost everybody who’s in-the-know swears by – just pick the right kind that’ll suit your skin type. It eradicates accumulated dirt, grime, oil, and makeup.

And here’s a new miracle product: Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins’ Plantidote Mega-Mushroom face serum. It works well as a moisturiser under your makeup during the day while at night, it helps with hyper-pigmentation, extreme dryness, wrinkles, fine lines, and puffiness.

Dermatologica’s Daily Resurfacer is a daily leave-on exfoliating treatment with measured doses of alpha and beta hydroxy acids that smoothen skin.

Hello, Miss Body Beautiful!

No matter how much you’ve perfected your oh-so-beautiful face, a body full of back zits and rough spots just won’t work. You also have to take care of the spots people don’t normally see. Line your bathroom shelf with the following products and you’ll be smoother than a baby in two weeks. You’ll probably smell sweeter too if you use TACT’s olive oil shower gel. First up is Carita’s Le Cheveu scalp scrub. (Yes, you do actually have to scrub dead skin cells off your scalp.) This scrub must be used at least two to three times a week to help the new skin cells surface. Decleor’s comfort hand cream and The Body Shop’s peppermint foot scrub should also be part of your beauty routine. The hands, along with the feet, are probably the most physically overworked parts of your body.

Gee, Your Face Looks Terrific!

Now that you’ve got your basic skincare regimen sorted, the fun part – meaning makeup – begins.

1) Guerlain’s KissKiss lipstick is long-lasting and anti-smudge.

2) A fabulous eyeliner, Shu Uemura’s liquid eyeliner is quite a hit for night outs.

3) Tinted moisturiser for daytime use – try Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer with SPF20. Leave the foundation for much-needed coverage, like when on a date.

4) If you must use foundation, choose something that’s not too thick or heavy. Choose a light-reflecting product, such as Chanel’s Light-Reflecting whitening fluid foundation.

5. A light and sweet pinkish blush like NARS powder blush in Orgasm works for everyone, whether you’re tan or mestiza or chinita. And yeah, a great eye shadow palette like MAC’s Well-Plumed palette is also a great thing to have – it can instantly make you look like you’re awake even in the middle of the most drab cocktail function on earth.

The Little Details…

These last five products are all about the little things that add up to a lot. Impeccably clean and polished nails say a lot about a woman. Pick a flattering shade (Essie, available at Rustan’s Essenses, is a good brand) and have your nails done every two weeks.

Arresting eyes come with great lashes so it would help a lot to get yourself Estee Lauder’s Illusionist mascara. If you want something more dramatic, Shu Uemura’s false lashes are easy to apply and will hold well throughout a wild evening of dancing.

Watch out for cracked lips. Apply a lip treatment base, such as Lancome’s Revitalizing Lip Treatment lip base, before any lipstick or gloss.

Finally, something that the generations before us missed out on: Shu Uemura’s shimmer kit. Shimmer gels and powders can make your skin look absolutely flawless and naturally radiant.