Acupuncture for younger-looking skin

DEAR LUCY,

I am in my mid 40s and I’m quite diligent with face care. I have not had anything done on my face yet — no fillers, no Botox even. The most I’ve tried are peeling and non-invasive treatments via machines like IPL and thermage. What else can I try?               CHINKEE

DEAR CHINKEE,

I would recommend accupuncture for the face. It is fast, non-invasive, there is no downtime and the results are nice. There is a tightening effect. I especially like it as a supplementary treatment to Revlite, both of which I have done at Belo Medical Group. I asked Dr. Guada how and why acupuncture for the face works and the explanation is that acupuncture stimulates certain points or meredians on the face that makes the facial muscles contract. As we grow older, our facial muscles elongate so we need to tighten it to achieve a younger physique. Since most lasers treat the skin, this is the only one that addresses facial muscle atrophy. It also improves our lymphatic system making it efficient to release toxins. Try it. I suspect you will like it.

P.S. Best if done on a weekly basis.                   

LUCY

* * *

Get your brows shaped by a pro

DEAR REGINA,

Your eyebrows always look so nice on Instagram.

What do you use on them?         SAM

Thank you! What you use should depend on how thick, thin, dense, or sparse your brows are. If you’re lucky enough to have pretty thick brows (like I am), the first step is to get them shaped by a pro. I prefer threading to waxing because I feel it’s more precise (fingers crossed that you have a high threshold for pain, though), and for that, I go to Browhaus in Greenbelt 5 or Serendra. It’s a bit pricey at nearly P600 to get your brows shaped, but you’ll step out with really clean, natural arches. (I have this huge fear of my brows getting over-plucked, which has happened elsewhere before. This has never been a problem with Browhaus.)

I’m sure you’re aware that brows are super, super crucial for looking polished. Get rid of everything else. If you have perfect brows, great skin (cover up those circles with concealer), and a lash curler, you can get by.

After getting your arches shaped, assess how much help your brows need. Mine are pretty okay, so I just use products to fill them in and make them look more dense and defined than they really are. Use a taupe-brown brow pencil (darker shades may look too stark) to create tiny hair-like strokes to fill in any empty-looking areas, or try K-Palette’s 2Way Eyebrow Pen, which gives really subtle but very awesome definition. (One end is the pen, another is powder for further filling in, if necessary.)

* * *

Nail care and color on-the-go

DEAR RISSA,

I would love to paint my own nails but they always end up uneven and I always make a mess. How do I smoothen nails and prep them for polish?                                          MICA

Doing your own nails is always a nail-biting, intense experience — painting on polish alone is difficult, and having an uneven base, like nails with ridges or tough cuticles, makes it even more so.

One way to resuscitate your nails, if they are indeed really damaged, is to let them breathe. Nails are not made of plastic — they are porous, like hair and skin. So it’s important to allow them to rest from chemicals and give them around a week or two to repair themselves.

For women who have to juggle so many things, it’s hard to even find time to call the nail salon to book an appointment, let alone show up. I have found a solution in American nail polish and nail care brand Anny.

Their nail care line carries tools and products that you can use on-the-go, like the Mineral Nail File, which files the nails without you having to apply so much pressure that leads to cracking and breaking, and the Cuticle Softener To Go for softening cuticle beds.

All their nail lacquers are also free of toxic chemicals usually found in nail polish that can do your nails harm, like formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyl phthalate. When doing your own nails, never mind if you make a mess — you can always clean it up after with Anny Polish Corrector To Go, a nifty stick that erases mistakes with the precision of a pen. All these are available at SM and Watsons stores.

* * *

Send e-mail to Lucy Torres-Gomez at ltg@pldtdsl.com. E-mail Rissa Trillo at stylesos_rissa@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter @RissaMananquil. Send Regina Belmonte your questions at vivatregina.tumblr@gmail.com or tweet her @vivatregina.