Smile, you’re on camera: The Murad counter on the first floor of Rustan’s Makati, with a skin specialist manning the Youthcam, which analyzes your skin Photos by Walter Bollozos
We all have our issues when we look into the camera. While I’ve been growing increasingly concerned about the fine lines and wrinkles that start to plague every 40-something, like the truth-telling mirror in Snow White, Murad’s Youthcam gave me the real skinny on the state of my skin.
It’s like getting a skin consultation for free. At the Murad counter in Rustan’s, you put your chin in a little cup in front of the camera and it takes a snapshot of the side of your face. Hooked up to a laptop, the Youthcam then analyzes your skin in terms of five skin conditions: fine lines and wrinkles, pigmentation, inflammation, redness and pores.
“It will give you a percentage and count of each skin concern, so you’ll know which one is highest,” says Aprille Cabrera of Rustan’s Cosmetics & Toiletries Division, Skin Care Category. “When someone comes for a skin consultation and says they’re really concerned about acne, for example, what the camera and Murad’s skin health specialists do is we address your concerns, but the camera shows you your major concerns in terms of scores of each aspect.”
With zero as the perfect score, what the Youthcam showed was that sun damage and discoloration was my primary skin concern at 34.26 percent, followed by fine lines and wrinkles at 28 percent (“That’s low for your age range,” skincare specialist Mervin Pili reassured me). Guess I should have been stricter about putting on the sunblock.
“What we find is that people have a lot of pigmentation even if you don’t see it with the naked eye, especially people who go to the beach,” Cabrera noted. “It’s deep-seated, so if you don’t do anything about it, it’ll come out.”
Aside from sunscreen, the Youthcam recommended remedies for me from Murad’s Resurgence range. What’s more, you get a printout of the day and night regimen, which you can use not only as a reference but also show to the therapists at the Murad Spa, where they can customize a professional-intensity facial to suit your needs.
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My bespoke facial consisted of Resurgence Renewal and Hydrolite Infusion, a brand-new treatment that plumps skin with the hydration so crucial to skin health in Dr. Murad’s philosophy. Therapist Mirell, who was extremely well trained and knowledgeable about every product she used, proceeded to cleanse my face with Renewing Cleansing Cream, an ultra-moisturizing wash with gentle exfoliators. She then applied a series of serums and masks, including skin-brightening Essential-C Daily Renewal Complex from Murad’s bestselling vitamin C range, and Age-Diffusing Firming Mask, a luxuriously rich mask formulated to give skin a firmer, more resilient tone.
In the waiting time between treatments she provided some heavenly massage action on the face, neck, head and shoulders. To finish off the facial, she applied Murad Age-Balancing Moisture SPF 30 and Renewing Eye Cream, which Cabrera says is Murad’s top-selling product in the Philippines, with its triple action that targets crow’s feet, puffiness and dark circles.
Another intriguing range is Murad’s Firm and Tone body care, with its serum, Body Firming cream and dietary supplements, which Cabrera says rabid fans buy boxes of in the dozens because it works versus cellulite and stretch marks. Dr. Murad is, after all, the author of The Cellulite Solution. There’s also a Vitamin C Firm & Tone body treatment at the Murad spa. But I’ll have to save that for another day.
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Get a free Murad Youthcam skin consultation at Murad counters in Rustan’s Makati, Shangri-La Plaza, Gateway Mall, Alabang Town Center and Cebu.
