On Skincare Regimens

If there’s one thing I learned about skin care regimens, it’s that it can’t be static. 

It should evolve as you age, and more especially when situations change - from local weather fluctuations to moving countries, and hormonal changes like pregnancy and menopause. Although, I can’t personally attest to the latter yet, heehee. 

What I know for a fact is that with my desire to manage and improve my #SkinHealth, my skin care regimen has changed so many times, from when I was in my teens, to now that I am 40. 

In high school, I started with being a soap and water kind of girl to washing with Cetaphil when soap started to feel too harsh for my face. 

I began doing the Cleanse-Tone-Moisturize routine in my early 20s, which I coupled with the Oil Cleansing Method. Then using essences became an extra step and by my early 30s, I switched to a thicker moisturizer because of the harsh sun and winter weather in the city we lived in then. 

When I came across Garance Dore’s No Water cleansing routine. I decided to incorporate that into my daily life and have since included serums, facial oils and face masks in my bid to slow down aging. 

Of course, I still go to my dermatologist for regular cleansing facials, peels, prodding and pricking. 

There have been times when I would also take Biotin, a vitamin that helps thicken hair and is good for the skin and nails. But I don’t take it for prolonged periods. 

It’s practically a career just taking care of my skin, and I super envy girls who have low maintenance skin care regimens. 

So I know for a fact that for those of us who have or have had pimple and other skin issues, finding a skin care routine can be extra challenging. There’s a lot of trial and error involved, and it can be costly trying a product out, finding it doesn’t work and then moving on to the next one. 

The great thing is, there are beauty vitamins now that deal with pimples at the source. I’ve mentioned Lactezin in an earlier post. 

Lactezin has Lactoferrin (antibacterial milk-derived protein), Vitamin E, and Zinc, which combined together, have anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant properties. It deals with pimples from within, for clearer, smoother, less oily skin with finer pores. Wish this was around during my time! 

If you still haven’t figured out the best skin care regimen for your skin type, it’s time to start thinking about it. Whether you become one of the lucky soap and water kind of girls or you decide to embark on a Korean pop star-style 16-step routine, the choice is yours. No judgment here! 

As long as you have a fortified regimen built from a solid skin care routine plus beauty vitamins, blemish-free, healthy, glowing skin can be yours. Take it seriously and you'll see.

P.S. Lactezin is available at leading drugstores at Php20/capsule.

#SkinHealth Q&A: Healing Pimples from Within

As a follow-up to my last #SkinHealth post, here’s a skin concern from a reader that I know many of us can relate to. Read on!

Q: Hi Tin! You look like you have such nice skin, I can’t imagine you saying you had acne before. I’ve done a lot of treatments at my derma already, but I have yet to see a major improvement on my skin. Any other options I should consider? Thanks! 

- Sad For My Skin 

Dear Sad For My Skin, 

I was on the same boat as you are now years ago, and if it seems like you are not getting the results you want, just be a little more patient. Results do not happen overnight. 

I think it took me a year approximately before my skin totally cleared up. It took a combination of factors for my skin to heal really. Apart from regular derma visits, I embarked on a total lifestyle change: eating healthy, sleeping early, and if it sounds a little bit kooky, willing my skin to heal itself from within. 

Have you ever heard of Mind-Body Connection? In a nutshell, it pretty much sums up the idea that our thoughts can affect our health directly. Case in point, if we are stressed, we either get sick, have a breakout, get migraines, or get hives. 

Here’s what I suggest: Continue on with your derma treatments. You need those regular facials, cleanings and topical treatments. But also work on your #SkinHealth from within. A healthy lifestyle is a given, so I’m giving you three additional tips that also will do wonders for you. 

1) Don’t think about your zits. Honestly, the more I obsessed about my skin, the more my pimples seemed to multiply. And they just got more stubborn and wouldn’t go away. I’d get a really nasty inflamed zit that needed steroid shots, and my derma would make me take antibiotics na because it was bordering on cystic I swear. Ok, I maybe exaggerating, but you get my drift. It was downright horrible. So I decided to just let it go. Yeah, let it go. Get your mind off it, read a book, don’t look in the mirror (super worked for me), focus your thoughts elsewhere, and just go on with your life pretending you don’t have it. 

2) Prayers and meditation. Part of my daily nighttime ritual would be to pray to God to take away my zits. I would say, “God, I’d rather donate to worthy causes than spend my money on my face.” And really, I would. I’d donate to NGOs and give support to blood drives, clothing drives, visit wounded soldiers in hospitals, any way I can give back. Which links to my first tip. I think focusing less on myself and focusing my energies on worthy endeavors had a healing effect.

Plus, this is going to sound really weird but it worked for me, so I am putting this out there. Hear this, I would meditate and imagine a silver light cleansing my face and zapping all the zits with healing energy. I swear, our mind can do wonders in healing ourself. 

3) Consider taking medication like Lactezin. Ok, fresh new discovery! Lactezin is a naturally-derived over-the-counter drug, so you’re ensured it’s safe, effective and still clinically tested. It has a breakthrough combination of three active ingredients – Lactoferrin (antibacterial milk-derived protein), Vitamin E, and Zinc, which combined together, have anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant properties.

Lactezin starts curing acne from within, providing the body with defenses against acne and skin remedies for beautiful skin. The result is clearer, smoother, less oily skin with finer pores.

This wasn’t around during my time, but now that there’s something like this in the market now, I wish this had come sooner! Would have freed me from all the anxiety caused by bad skin.

Best of all, it deals with pimples the natural way, and not through hormones as it was during my time, where girls had to resort to taking birth control pills just to have clear skin.

Of course, keep your mind open to different treatments, but also remember that when it comes to medications, do your research and only take FDA-approved medication from a a reputable source or manufacturer.

Thoughts on Health and Aging

I’m turning 40 this year. Four-freakin-ty. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not freaked out about my age. It’s more like, how did time fly by so fast? 

Too fast, yes, but I am also grateful for turning forty. There’s plenty to celebrate and thank God for.

Life has been good to me. I have a wonderful husband and smart, funny and charming kids. 

Photo taken by Lianne Bacorro

My entire family, also my parents, siblings and in laws enjoy good health. I do work that I am good at, which I am fortunate to also enjoy and love. We have the time and resources to create fun memories, and hey, I still have pretty good skin considering my age. In fact, I can even say I am happier with myself now than I was when I was in my 20s. 

I guess you can say I’ve literally settled into my skin. Nothing about me changed drastically, it’s more like an acceptance of flaws coupled with lifestyle changes and the help of beauty treatments by my derma, Dr. Yanee Vasquez, heehee. 

While not necessarily true for all (haha) I believe that with age comes wisdom. I can say I know now what is important in life.

Health before vanity. Experiences before possessions. And maybe somehow, the secret to a youthful look. Well, in my case at least. 

I’m sharing you some of my #SkinHealth tips, which in a way has become an obsession and a personal advocacy. I hope that you pick up a thing or two from my mistakes, good habits and realizations. 

Besides, I know most of us women really do care about these things. These are valid and not at all shallow pursuits. Seeking, acknowledging and accepting our unique beauty does wonders for our entire well-being, trust me! 

1. Beauty starts with good, healthy skin.

Because my perception of beauty is natural beauty, and after years spent agonizing over zits and bumps on my face, I’ve realized that all a girl really needs is good skin. Let’s not talk about weight or age. Because if you have nice skin whatever your weight, or your age, consider yourself lucky. So skin lang, period. 

During a particularly emotional time for me in my 20s, as I was looking at my face in the mirror and staring at my bumpy, awful skin, I told myself, “When these zits and bumps all over my face disappear, I know enough that my skin, even with a pimple or two is enough”. You can say I’ve learned never to obsess over a single zit because I’ve had worse. 

Scientifically speaking too, the skin is the largest indicator of our health and when we are healthy, it shows in our skin. There is nothing like bare skin we can step out in. Saves us time from applying concealers and full-on makeup too. If you’ve got good skin, you’ve got it going, so you better take care of your skin in the best way possible. You don’t need much else. 

2. Hence, take a look at your skin, be honest about it. 

Have you figured out your skin type? Are you doing all you can to keep it well-moisturized? Do you have blemishes? Are your pores fine and even? Does your skin look glowing? 

If your answer is no, it’s best to sit down, look in the mirror (even if you don’t want to) and give yourself an honest assessment of the state of your skin. Literally face yourself, just like what I did in the mirror, almost two decades ago.

I was so sad for my skin, but I also wanted to do something about it. 

3. Do something about skin issues, seek a professional’s help if necessary. 

This skin breakdown happened while I was about to graduate from college. I was tired of just avoiding going out, staying away from mirrors, and not having photos of myself taken. 

I remember telling my Mom I wanted to see a dermatologist. She told me it was a waste of money and that I should just change my diet and drink lots of water. Well, after taking her advice for a couple of months and with nothing happening, I just went with my gut. 

Thankfully, I started work soon enough and I spent a chunk of my first job paychecks for my own derma treatment. That was money well-spent. In no time, I had seen the difference in how my skin improved and I was soon on my way back to blemish free skin. 

Seeing a dermatologist and using derma-recommended products turned out to be the only solution to my skin issues. Don’t ever hesitate. 

4. Always check the label.

I’ve tried all pimple cures out there. Some recommended by friends, some whipped up by some dubious lab, a few drugstore brands, and some prescribed by my derma. I’ve learned to really scrutinize bottles and labels because in my quest for the best pimple cure, I’ve unfortunately tried some products that did more harm than good. Aka, I still have pimple scars to prove it. 

Sometimes, when I look in the mirror and look at my 20 year old scars, I still remember that darn unmarked bottle that caused them. Hay. 

Better yet, make sure the product you use is FDA-approved. This ensures that active ingredients and the content level are regulated. We can rest easy knowing that the product has gone through clinical tests, a stringent screening process, and has the approval of skin experts and regulatory professionals before being sold in the market. 

To be extra safe, make sure the products you use come from a reputable source or manufacturer with a history of expertise addressing your skincare concern. Remember, your skin is the only skin you have, don't compromise #SkinHealth by using fake or untested products or brands just because they are trendy or cheaper. 

At the end of the day, go for authentic brands and products that are tried and tested, from sources you trust.

Taking good care of our skin isn’t about vanity. It’s really just making sure that our skin reflects the state of our health, and that when we use products meant for our skin, we are sure they are meant to do more good than harm our skin. 

One post can’t really cover everything I want to say, so expect more #SkinHealth tips and learnings I’ve picked up along the way. 

To have good skin at 40 is a blessing, and I’m sharing this blessing with you. Naks.