Indulge in some skinful pleasures

It's the largest organ of your body and takes much abuse from the elements - and from you. So, isn't it right that you pamper your skin every once in a while just to ensure it is doing its job well and is in pristine condition? Friday meets a few beauty therapists who offer plenty of tips on how to care for your skin...

Was your reflection you saw this morning in the bathroom mirror evidence of neglect? Did you inspect further and realise that your skin is dry, even flaky; your hands, horror of horrors, wrinkled; your feet calloused; and your face chapped?

Face it. It's your skin screaming for attention.

Your skin is the largest organ of your body. But, do you protect it enough? Every day, this sensitive organ is assaulted by elements which can be potentially damaging - the hot, billowing winds, the intense sun, the cold temperatures of your air-conditioned office... What can you do to ensure that it remains in the best of health?

Friday meets some some well-known beauty experts who share their experience on the relevance of a good skincare routine.

Facing it

"The first thing you notice about a person is his/her face," says Marie Ann Harrison, beauty expert and spa director at the Willow Stream, The Fairmont Dubai. "It is important to take care of your skin because it is exposed to extremes of weather," she says. Moving from the outdoors into an air-conditioned environment can affect the skin. The change of temperature tends to dry out the skin, she explains.
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She requests an assistant for some fresh fruit juice. Within minutes, two tall glasses of their Garden Tonic juice, made of carrot and celery juice, mixed with vitamin E. Drinking a lot of natural fruit juice is good for the skin, she advises.

"It's quite cleansing and the vitamin E gets rid of toxins in the body. Celery is a very good cleanser. It helps release tension while carrots are good for the eyes. Orange offers vitamin C."

She drinks a lot of juice, she says, but will not consider it a substitute for two litres of water she consumes a day. "Juices are high in natural sugar, and it's not everyone's cup of tea. Water is your best drink."

For Malini Ohri, health and beauty therapist at Splendour, Dubai, everyday care is more important - whether it is at home or at a salon.

"Cleansing, exfoliating and moisturising the face, neck and décolleté (region at the base of the neck, just above the chest) helps lessen acne. Eating fresh fruits like bananas is good, as well as eating stir-fried vegetables (cooked in two minutes to retain the vitamins). Oily food should be eaten in moderation."

Jacqui McCumiskey, spa manager of Cleopatra's Spa, Dubai, advises people to thoroughly cleanse the skin, especially the T-zone. Her skin is slightly oily so she uses a creamy wash in the morning and a slightly thicker cream in the evening to remove her make-up, she says. It is also good to tone the skin regularly. "Toning not only cleans off any residue, but tightens the skin as well."

Jacqui also suggests gently patting the eye area with a little eye cream using the ring finger (which has the lightest touch) "because we don't want to stretch the thin skin around there". Be careful not to put too much eye cream, though, because this will trap moisture in and will make your eyes look puffy.

You can only do so much at home. Now and then, it is best to let a professional take care of the areas which you may have neglected, Jacqui advises.

Going for a facial

When therapist Laura Birch, Cleopatra's Spa, prepared to give me an O-lys Therapy facial, I had to confess. I'm one of those people who wish I were like Natalie Portman - flawless, glowing skin and all.

But the truth is I don't really find the time to adopt what most people consider a thorough beauty regimen. My idea of clean is simply having a good bath every day, towelling dry, and, if I feel like it, applying a little lotion all over my body.

"You need to exfoliate," says Laura, while working a cleanser on my face. The products are made from botanical extracts, she assures me. Her massage is light, almost feathery, and I instantly drift into a relaxed state.

The O-lys machine to my right made it clear that this wasn't going to be just any ordinary facial. The treatment is based on light therapy, Laura explains. The machine is a small box with four fibre-optic attachments emitting different coloured light (wavelengths) while the facial is going on.

Red, for example, stimulates the blood circulation. The coloured lights are then pointed at the cheeks, the forehead and the pharynx to stimulate serotonin, a feel-good hormone, says Laura.

The process stimulates a natural cellular regeneration and repair process, she adds. She flicks on the machine. Red light streams from the attachments which she directs at specific points on my face. "Red kills bacteria and is good for deep-cleansing," she explains. She then proceeds to tone and exfoliate my skin.

Feeling my skin with her light fingers, she tells me I have bumps on the chin. "That's underlying congestion. Basically, since you don't exfoliate, you get layer upon layer of dead skin cells. Hence, you need to exfoliate once or twice a week to maintain the health of your skin," she reminds me.

She then switches the light to green while she puts a face mask on me. "To relax you," she says. She finishes it off with a nice, firm massage to my shoulders, neck and scalp.

The experience is, to use just one word, relaxing.

In fact, it was all very visible too. When I bumped into my friend, Wilma, that evening, she told me my face was actually glowing!

The body massage

It's not just the elements that can affect your skin. Stress, too, can do as much damage. If you are stressed out, it will reflect on your skin.

A massage is highly effective as it allows you to relax totally, Marie says. I didn't exactly know what that meant until I tried it out myself.

For the uninitiated and experienced alike, the aSpara Spa Prestige Massage at the Willow Stream and the Taj Four Handed Abhyanga at the Taj Ayurvedic Spa are experiences that bend conceptions.

Spara Spa Prestige Massage

At the Willow Stream, Rebecca, my petite therapist, leads me into the first of five treatment rooms. The setting is enough to make you relax: cream-coloured stucco walls with soft music wafting in through the speakers hidden in the ceiling. The lamps on the wall, like glowing torches, soften the atmosphere.

I climb on the electric-heated bed and Rebecca covers me with towels. She lights two pots of aromatherapy candles as we start the session. I had 90 minutes of blissful, relaxing, soft-touch body massage-cum-exfoliation from head to toe. Rebecca doesn't leave anything unmassaged, even the tips of my fingers.

"Wonderful," I murmur, "How do you let your hands do that?" "We have healing hands," she says, with a shy laugh. She uses mind-relaxing lavender-based serums, which are wonderful to the senses.

The highlight of this treatment is the back mas