By Dr. Chau Phan, Pharmacist and owner of Humaniti Beauty and Pleasant Care Pharmacy
In my book, Age Gracefully: Make the Right Decisions for Your Skin, I said this about the women in my family. “The woman next to me in the picture on the cover of this book is my seventy-seven-year-old grandmother. I hope to look like her when I’m her age. Because we are Asians, we were born with good genes that support antiaging. However, we still need effective skincare solutions to maintain our skin’s youthful look. And now that I am involved with customized skincare, my family, including my grandma, are my loyal customers.”
I was ten when we came to the United States. We didn’t give much thought to protective measures such as sunblock, and a skincare regimen was not part of our daily routine.
Lessons about Healthy, Beautiful Skin from the Women in My Family
Growing up, I didn’t learn how to take care of my skin from my mom or grandmother. This was right after the Vietnam War. We were poor and had other concerns to think about. Later, when I was developing my skincare products, I used to wish that my culture took more of an interest in handing down to the next generation a full skincare regimen as, for example, the Koreans do. Whether they are old, young, women or men, Koreans make a conscious effort to protect the body’s largest organ.
Now I realize that my culture does have a dedication to protecting our skin. The women in my family tend to wear a hat and cover themselves when they’re out in the sun. Vietnam is a humid and extremely hot country, yet Vietnamese women are careful not to allow their skin to darken through exposure to the sun. The culture lends itself to this practice because it considers light skin beautiful. Some Vietnamese women even cover their whole face and their arms when they are outside.
When my family moved to the United States and I was reaching the age when girls begin to pay attention to their looks, I noticed that my grandma and mom used a moisturizer daily. And they continue to do so to this day.
How to “Gift” Beautiful Skin to the Women in Your World
I am a wife, mother, pharmacist, and business owner…so, busy, right? That’s why you can count on me to provide information that any woman at any age can use to keep herself looking as young as she can for as long as she can. (And who wouldn’t want that?) I operate from a belief that, if you focus first on health, beauty will follow.
So, why not purchase my book for someone you know? I can’t recreate the whole book here, but I present to you the following bullet list of some of the realistic anti-aging tips I write about:
- Avoid extreme temperatures
- Protect yourself from exposure to UV radiation from the sun
- Minimize exposure to pollution
- Eat nutritious foods high in anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals
- Get plenty of sleep
- Get up and move more
- Quit smoking if you’ve started; don’t start if you haven’t
- Decrease alcohol intake
- Drink more water
- Cleanse and moisture your skin according to your skin type and age
- Work with medical professionals to learn what to put in and on your body to avoid premature aging
That last bullet suggests another Mother’s Day gift idea besides my book: The products on my Humaniti Beauty website. My customized solutions are designed to include just what you need to protect yourself from the external factors that cause your skin to age too soon.
My unique discovery process helps you and me to determine together what works best for your skin at this time in your life; the end result is a formula number (and, yes, I have one, too!) that will help you face the challenges your skin (not someone else’s) presents.
Tell a Woman in Your Life That You Love Her Face
In a blog article I wrote a couple years ago (“The 5 Simplest Ways to Make the Best of Wrinkles”), I said this, “Each time you look in the mirror, see yourself with the eyes of love and acceptance. The face you see there reflects you as you present yourself to the rest of the world. Instead of counting wrinkles, count the evidence of intelligence, of kindness, of the integrity you see there. Your face shows others what you are really made of.” In that article, I referenced another – “How Did Wrinkles Become the Enemy?” Perhaps a woman you know could use some affirmation about her unique beauty this Mother’s Day. Do yourself and her a favor: Go tell her.
Several of the products on the humanitibeauty.com site may be just what you need to follow my recommendations in this article. If you would like more information about Humaniti Beauty’s products or about me, you can contact me at info@humanitibeauty.com or call me at 510.200.9984.