A Filipina Mom Blogger

Blogging made me vain. Not directly though. With a blog that focused on an advocacy, it caught the fancy of a few TV shows and magazines. Before I emerged out of my 5 year recluse, I avoided cameras and people like a plague. I didn’t like how I looked. When I saw myself for the first time on TV, I was appalled to see myself 10 pounds heavier. My chin showed ripples of fats. How I dreaded these TV show guestings! Yet, I knew blogging alone is not enough to promote my advocacy. I was painfully shy that I could not look at the camera. With time, I learned through the make-up artist and camera men on how to appear telegenic. I discovered the technique to prevent double chin from showing (lift chin higher). I discovered how to angle my face so I don’t look too fat on TV. I learned to check the cameras before each take. I learned to be vain.

So if you’re seeking the answers on why I look good in some photos, you just got the answer. It’s all an illusion. My kids often tease me that mom, you don’t look 50. I don’t know if they’re kidding or not but while I still look young, I will continue to take care of myself.

Let me share just one aspect in the illusion of looking young.

I never used to buy makeup except for skin care products. I believed youth is beauty so I kept makeup to a minimum. I cannot help but notice now that white hair is sprouting around the bangs area. Now that I am over 50, I see the fine lines, eye bags and jowl on my cheeks.

REVALÉSKIN™
I’ve been using REVALÉSKIN™ since April this year. I was given a set of REVALÉSKIN™ so I could test it. I read that one of its key ingredient, CoffeeBerry® is fast becoming a worldwide sensation with top dermatologists calling it “one of the most promising new antioxidants that came along in years” while fashion and beauty magazines are dubbing it as the new fountain of youth. So how has it been after two months of use? Well, I notice my skin pores have shrunk leaving my skin smoother than it ever was. No kidding! It helps that I inherited good genes. I intend to continue this regimen even if I know it costs 11,000 pesos for all three REVALÉSKIN™ products.

Beauty and Minerals- Mineral Foundation, Canela shade

Sophie Uy, a beauty blogger gave me a sample of Mineral Makeup foundation. Before that, I used Loreal True Match which I found so heavy on my face. I felt like I was wearing a mask. So much gunk that I often felt itchy. I discovered mineral makeup from Sasha, another fashion and beauty blogger. See how one learns from bloggers! The thing is I didn’t know how to apply mineral makeup. I often sneezed as I applied the mineral foundation powder on my cheeks. I tried putting cotton on my nostrils but the powder went in through my open mouth. It wasn’t until Phoebe, another beauty blogger demonstrated the swirling of the brush that I finally got it.

Red Earth Eyebag Concealer
My eye bags started to show as I approached my 50th year. Even if I slept well and applied cucumber slices on my eyes, the sagging eye bags still showed. The makeup artist who applied my makeup for a show in the Lifestyle channel advised me to apply some yellow shade on the eye bags to create an illusion of “flatness”. I forgot the brand name he recommended but I found a Red Earth substitute costing around 1000 plus pesos. It truly hides my bulging eye bags!

Fanny Serano Concealer

I noticed that makeup artists in most beauty salon use Fanny Serrano Cosmetics. What truly amazed me was the concealer applied to me in one session. It hid my dark spots perfectly. Costing around 300 pesos, I found the perfect shade to cover up my dark spots/freckles on my cheeks. I love the illusion.

Mac Studio Fix NC 42

I finish off my face with this Mac face powder/makeup combination. This particular shade is perfect for my skin. I don’t look like a cadaver as some powders tend to do. I think this costs around 1,500 pesos.

After that I finish off with eye shadow.

Now that is only the makeup part of my vanity.

My husband often told me that he’d set money just for my liposuction. Sounds frivolous but I bet he’s just trying to spoil me. I told him that I didn’t want to die of liposuction complications and thank you, I will live with my sagging abdomen.

Last year, my sister, Belen, a dermatologist based at St. Luke’s Dermatology Center told me to try this non-invasive skin tightening treatment using Tenor Radio Frequency (RF). She said RF will tighten my chin, minimize the eyebags, soften the acne scars and fine lines. Why not? The procedure is non-invasive, fast, easy, and requires no downtime. So today, I got my first RF session. Don’t ask me how much it costs. It’s terribly expensive. I saved on professional fee though because my sister lovingly did the procedure. And it doesn’t stop in one session. I have to have at least 3 or 4. Phew.

So what was the Radio Frequency like?

Let me say No Pain, No Gain. It’s “ouch” as the heat reaches 40 degrees celsius. As my sister passed the unipolar probe on my face, I’d often yelp as I felt the burning sensation. The aim is to deliver a controlled amount of radio frequency energy into the skin.

With each contact onto the skin, the treatment probes uniformly heats a large volume of collagen into the deeper (dermis) layers of the skin and its underlying tissue while at the same time protecting the outer layer (epidermis) of the skin with its cooling system. It is designed to cause immediate increase in temperature, thus causing collagen contraction followed by new collagen production. Heating to these tissue depths therapeutically improves local circulation, promotes fibrous tissue breakdown, and helps to manage areas that are subject to edema by promoting the re-absorption and drainage of retained fluids and toxins.

My sister applied all throughout my face and neck portions avoiding the jugular and thyroid part. Was I done? No, my sister started to prick my face which they call the Pixel Skin Resurfacing. Some contraption attached to the probe of the RF machine was applied to my acne scars to create micro wounds. This to stimulate collagen production and once collagen is renewed it creates a tightening of the skin. As she passed the roller thing on my cheeks, I smelled burnt hair which was actually a combination of burnt hair and skin. Since I had no anesthesia, I felt like a thousand bees just stung me. Boohoo.

Now if you think, I look dazzling , you’re in for a surprise. I look horrible. Red marks line around the micro wounds. It’s temporary I know. An immediate change I noticed though was some fats seemed to have dissolved from my chin. My eye bags has some slight improvement because of the tightened facial skin. It feels like I had an eyebag lift. I was told that heating to my skin tissues depths therapeutically improves local circulation, promotes fibrous tissue breakdown, enhance the breakup of adipose tissue, helping to mobilize and eliminate fat deposits non-invasively, resulting in fats reduction.

In the meantime, I will live with this redness for a few more days as new collagen is produced.

Do you think you will resort to looking young when the time comes?