Cleansing is a routine taken for granted by almost everyone. It happens to be the most important in the to-do list, being step one and all. Botch it, and the rest of the routine--toner and moisturizer-- just build up, clogging the pores and causing skin problems.

Marx, a friend who now lives in Japan, regularly brings facial cleansers on his visits to Manila. Last January, he introduced me to this mousse-type cleanser called Sekkisho Foam Cleanser (P1,300). I’ve purchased another since and it’s available in most Japanese grocery-slash-boutiques in Manila. At a squeeze, it’s foam, but when directly applied to face, it turns into oil. But, unlike regular oil products, this one easily washes off without the greasy after-feel. Also, its foam-to-oil format keeps some active cleansing agents that cannot otherwise be held stable in liquid or cream. Similar logic used to harness pure vitamin C that is well known to be unstable when in contact with air and light, that’s why The Body Shop Vitamin C Plus Time Release Capsules (P1,100) are designed so, in tiny capsules for daily use. Thus keeping its anti-oxidant properties guaranteed very potent. After the prescribed 28 days, skin’s natural glow comes back—the most that it can anyway, minus lifestyle habits.

Moisturize

Water hydrates, so drink up. How to keep the moisture in is tricky, but doable with a range of products that have shea butter and honey for a main ingredient like the Spa Wisdom regimen from The Body Shop with shea butter-based Africa Spa Salt Scrub (P1,495), Africa Spa Rich Cocoa Body Balm (P1,195) which work instant wonders for very dry skin, and the Monoi Miracle Oil (P795) that contains the much-talked about Monoi de Tahiti and Babbasu Oil from Brazil to seal the moisture into our thirsty skins. Vitamin E in any product also means good for re-hydration.

Protect: Take Free Skin Tests

Summer skin breakout is most common to those who don’t have a cleansing regimen. Know that the three-step rule of cleanse, tone and moisturize is not just for women who use makeup, but truly for everyone who wants to keep their skin pure. Consider the dirt in the air a form of makeup, if need be, just to show the ugly-clear picture of it.

Endless choices of three-step regimen are available today, but you’ll want the routine to suit your skin type. Certified dermatologists usually offer free skin consultations to first timers; flyers abound.

Some L’Oreal counters inside department stores offer free skin analysis through Skin Scope, a direct-to-skin machine that lets you see the skin under your face 50 to 200 times clearer. Sure, it’s used as a marketing tactic, but at least it provides a conscious effort to explain and sell, based on an interactive sales pitch. Like, a kind of netting-like appearance means healthy skin, as that of the woddle’s (between face and neck) or at the back of the arm as opposed to the lined and spotted underskin on the T-zone. This free service also lets you see sebum, hydration level, lines and wrinkles, pores, cometidones and even impending pimple. Yep, and just like ugly undies, they should all go away. The L’Oreal Beauty Advisors will do this, along with a pitch on the perfect products for your skin type. But it’s like buying youth cards, now why scrimp on that?!

Lancôme basically has the same called Diagnos Expert, only, it prints out a personalized recommendation of skin care routine after measuring the pores, sebum, hydration, firmness and wrinkles. Results are then compared with the ideal skin type of another within the same age and ethnicity. Mine, with a few signs of aging and fine lines on the forehead, spat out an acceptable list, of which I’d gotten a Lancôme Galateis Cleansing Milk (P2,395), Tonique Clarte Toner (P2,295), Sensation Totale Radiance Booster (P4,450) and Primodiale Fluide Moisturizer (P4,795).

Sure, their products are more expensive, but their claims of potency are backed by testaments and, to a certain degree, come with a guaranteed result after a prescribed time. Personally, the Neuro-White Spot Corrector, which should work in just about three weeks, did just that with me. At P5,750 per 30ml. tube lasting an effective three months, it’s not a luxury buy and the repeated flattery remarks from colleagues justified it all.

Kanebo also offers its own free counseling with Beauty Vision Machine up to 100 times skin deep or its upgrade, the Beauty Analyzer 21. The microscope makes a graph onscreen that will show the area most oily and most dry, providing a good background for their line of cleanser, toner and moisturizer, like the Blanchir Make-off Conditioner which absolutely cleanses and works magic with the help of Spongechief (P230). As always, they offer free facials, as part of the consultation process and a make-over, to show off how the right makeup set and knowing how to use it can help you take a few sad years off your face.

When you’re done, go visit Kerastase Institute by ESA at 6750 (tel nos.8191040 or 8190886) and have a Kerastase Hair and Scalp Analysis, also with a scope and magnifier that allows you to see 1000 times nearer into the hair and scalp. It’s a must for people with scalp problems and regularly treated hair. The comparative photos of normal and problematic scans can give a shocking insight, specially when you learn that the hair’s normal cycle is only 25 times in one lifetime. So don’t pull it anymore, no matter how curly, unruly and misbehaved a strand gets. There are products to help you revive or tame them, anyway.

For example, my recently colored hair has proven damaged over time. Some parts, when magnified, looked like a rat chewed off the surface, literally tattered. Unmagnified, they are actually unsightly without any leave-on conditioner and the back of my hair is actually the most beaten with six years of pony-tailed updo. After just one treatment of K-Mist Force Ritual (P1,750) with Vita-Ciment Concentrate® I observed a significant change in texture. It has smoothened though I need to continue a three-step regimen (cleanse + treat + protect) that of Bain De Force Cleansing Bath (P925), Ciment Anti U-Sure (P1,335) to care for my worn-out lengths and ends and a leave-on conditioner (P1,280), which also provides color brightness for my highlighted top. In two weeks, I should be ready for the Kerastase Reflection regimen, the most-raved colored-hair treatment in Hollywood. Another two weeks and I shall have my hair and scalp re-analyzed to see how these treatments fared.

You should, too, after going through all the scans, scopes and consultations, just to see if the treatment and home-care are actually working despite your lifestyle. The 1-2-3 routine has to do with your skin situation based on lifestyle, so don’t you go buying the expensive ones, just because. Then again, as what mothers always say, "you are worth it!"