Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Mara Padilla Evangelista-Huber is one of my favorite resource persons for skin care. It’s a given that she’s knowledgeable but her approach is no-frills and very practical. She believes that skin care is personal, and that not everything that works for one person will work for another.
During the Philippine launch of Cetaphil’s face range, she talked about aging and the different types of products we need to temporarily stop the signs of it, including fine lines and wrinkles, and dullness.
The last time I interviewed Mara (for the launch of Cetaphil’s body wash), she talked about cleansing and how it was the harshest step in any skin-care routine.
“It’s very easy to over-cleanse because we’re looking for that squeaky clean feeling. If our skin ‘squeaks’ when we rub it after cleansing, that means we’ve over-cleansed. We actually need a mild cleanser for our skin,” she said.
The Cetaphil face range has two gentle cleansers. Gentle Foaming Cleanser is infused with skin conditioners and vitamin complex (vitamins B5 and E). It is fragrance-free, hypoallergenic and nonirritating formula, with a pH level of 5.5. This is ideal for use in the morning. The Daily Exfoliating Cleanser, which has a pH level of 5.3, is the gentlest exfoliating cleanser I have ever tried. It contains bamboo stem extract exfoliant and moisturizing ingredients like vitamins B5 and E. This is best used at night after you’ve taken off your makeup with micellar water or cleansing oil.
The Hydrating Eye Cream-Serum with Hyaluronic Acid has a cream-serum formula that absorbs quickly like gel but moisturizes deeply like cream for 24 hours. It contains niacinamide, plant extracts, vitamin E and licorice extract. This is Cetaphil’s first-ever eye cream and I’m very excited to try it as soon as I’ve consumed the eye cream I am using.
Hyaluronic Acid helps keep skin soft and hydrated. It’s a humectant that helps hydrate skin and maintain that hydration. Niacinamide or vitamin B reduces the appearance of skin blemishes and congestion.
So far, my favorite in the Cetaphil face range is Rich Night Cream with Hyaluronic Acid. I just came from a trip to Europe and this was what I used day and night (on top of La Mer The Moisturizing Soft Cream). I’m proud to say that I came back from my winter trip with my skin intact (meaning no flakes, rashes or blemishes). I’m still using this at night on top of a serum and I’m liking this so far.
I read somewhere that Hyaluronic Acid holds a thousand times its weight in water to retain all that moisture in our skin and prevent all that moisture from evaporating into the air.
During the launch, Galderma Philippines also introduced actress and singer Toni Gonzaga as the face of Cetaphil’s face range.
Toni, who is married to Director Paul Soriano with whom she has a son, recalled that when she was younger, there was a time that she had a skin-care crisis.
“I tried many products, from low-end to high-end. As expected, my skin broke out and I went to my dermatologist, who said I needed to go back to basics and prescribed Cetaphil cleanser,” said the actress.
During the launch at the Garden Pavilion, Grand Hyatt, BGC, Toni said she has been using the Cetaphil face range for 3 to 4 months. She went through all the steps of her skin-care routine.
Toni also shared some of her fitness tips. The actress said she doesn’t eat anything heavy past 5 pm.
“It’s usually soup or a salad. As I’m now in my 30s, I take better care of myself. My advice to everyone is invest in yourself,” she added.