Facing the new year bright

You booze, you lose — your skin does, anyway. The holiday breeze tempted us to party like there’s no tomorrow, oh, but there is a tomorrow — that's today and there’s hell to pay. Crazy what a holiday’s worth of bingeing does to the skin. Compounded with yuletide stress, traveling and socializing stress, pretending to be Martha Stewart stress, and procrastinating deadlines stress, merry-making takes its toll. Here comes the part where I tell you to start the year right and wow everyone who’ll see you once classes/work/life resumes with a New Year’s glow. It can’t be done overnight, but these products sure try, really, really hard, to set things right.

Breakout city

Clogged pores are the root of all skin evils. Had too much of a good time watching fireworks on New Year’s Eve (and catching all that haze on your face)? It’s time to exfoliate. Mario Badescu Silver Powder is an oil-absorbent powder that helps unclog congested pores to prevent blackheads. How to use it: dip a damp cotton pad into the powder and press on the congested area, wait for 10 minutes then wipe off with toner. This powder, it’s fairy dust. Wish I could sprinkle it over McKinley Road at rush hour to declog that as well.

Hello, dull face

Well into the colder season, skin goes into a slump. It becomes lazy — either that or it can’t keep up. Somehow, it turns a bit gray, a sign that it needs a little boost. Perricone MD Vitamin C Ester Serum is a daytime serum for a brighter complexion. Like you, it also multi-tasks, distributing the benefits of Vitamin C Ester on the face, lips and eyes. The packaging promises a glow after seven days — I am among the 82 percent that agrees it makes skin more radiant. On top of that, it smells delightfully citrusy and puts me in a cheery mood.

Tired gaze

Tiredness shows up first in the eyes — through your gaze and the skin around it, the thinnest skin you’ll find on your body. Sisley-Paris Supremya At Night Anti-Aging Eye Serum is the next best thing to getting a full night’s sleep. It takes away dark circles, puffiness and lack of firmness like a thief in the night — the key moment for cellular regeneration when skin is sheltered from external stress. The texture is immaculate — I can’t even describe it. I heard Sisley has an entire department devoted to developing such lush, creamy, comfy textures. It ain’t magic, but it feels damn close.

Dry spells

If there’s anything that our skin craves this time of year, it’s comfort. A cushy, silky, non-greasy blanket of nice-smelling comfort often found in a tube of cream. The best one I found is La Mer Oil-Absorbing Lotion. At first, the powdery scent sent me into a sneezing fit — I feared I might be allergic. That would’ve been a shame. But no one says no to La Mer, so I persisted on slathering it on every time my skin felt extra dry and tired. Eventually, my sinuses came to terms with it and it became my go-to product for desperate days, those mornings after a good binge, or nights when certain activities required a certain glow and a mild, expensive powdery scent.

Cluttered heads

'Tis the season of cooler, dyer weather, which may cause the scalp (which is also skin!) to become flaky and irritated. Kerastase offers a soothing solution in Specifique Dermo Calm Bain Vital, a shampoo that soothes sensitive scalps. I have made it a point to alternate those creamy shampoos with those clear ones that leave hair so clean, it actually squeaks as you towel-dry. This shampoo is one of them, and frankly, the most effective of them. It stops itching, but doesn’t leave hair dry or brittle. Use with Kerastase Specifique Dermo Calm Masque Sensidote to really clarify your scalp.

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La Mer, Mario Badescu, Perricone MD and Sisley Paris are available at Rustan’s. Kerastase is available at Kerastase salons.