Distillers of youth

Bangkok people’s fascination with skincare was underscored recently when two renowned experts on youthful complexions paid separate visits.
 American Dr Howard Murad has been called “the father of internal skincare” for championing the importance of water within the cells. Singaporean Dr Georgia Lee, an adviser to Vitallife Wellness Centre at Bumrungrad International Hospital, has won admirers for her quick-fix non-invasive aesthetic medicine.
Murad, a well-toned 75, unveiled his latest innovation, the Intensive C-Radiance Peel, at the Oriental Residence, where he expanded on his contention that the condition of the skin – the body’s largest “organ” – simply reflects overall health. His concepts are outlined in “The Water Secret: The Cellular Breakthrough to Look and Feel 10 Years Younger”, a bestseller at Amazon.
Water is crucial in maintaining beautiful and healthy skin, the “younger you”, he says, but equally important is “inclusive health” – caring for every system in the body. Murad’s research and clinical work have demonstrated that the ability of cell membranes throughout the body to hold water is fundament to a youthful appearance.
He is less concerned about techniques for alleviating the symptoms of ageing and more interested in developing a simple, sustainable “youth-building lifestyle”. The regime is encapsulated as “Look better through high-performance clinical skincare, live better through nutrition, supplements and exercise, and feel better by managing stress.”
The ultimate goal, Murad told The Nation, is to build a “younger you” by unlocking your individual potential for living a happier, more fulfilling, more youthful and more beautiful life. “Life is gearing us to feel like failures due to high expectations,” he said. “My recommendation is a broad concept – I allow you to make a decision and be creative.
“It’s like in a cookbook when you follow a recipe and it never comes out the way it’s supposed to, so you feel like a failure. I say you can have 80 per cent of good food in the healthy zone, and for the other 20 per cent you can enjoy your chocolate cake – because that’s the ‘comfort food’ that gives you an emotional lift.
“So be happy with yourself and who you are. Just because somebody wrote a cookbook doesn’t mean they’re a better cook than you!”
Murad’s goal is to make every single cell young again, the way it used to be. “That means encouraging every cell to have more water by doing three things. You have to make the skin healthy by using products that actually make a difference. You have to eat properly, making sure you eat those fruits and vegetable, whole grains, amino acids and good fats.
“And, maybe the most important thing, you have to return to real youth, when you were a toddler and not afraid of failure, when you were more creative, when you expected the total, when you were happy and you showed it. You were able to be your true self.
“One other thing, which is very important, is to learn from yourself,” Murad said. “Many of us feel we have to go to university and learn everything, but you don’t. You have your own unique vision, if you allow it to come through. When you were a toddler you had a unique way of looking at things because you didn’t know there was any other way to look at them. But over time we’re taught how to look and we get put in a box and we all become the same.
“It’s very important to look at things with your own eyes and see them differently. You’ll be surprised at what you learn when you allow your own mind to be free. You can learn a lot more from yourself than you can from others.
“I don’t know what other people are interested in. I know that, it me, it’s creating something very different that makes a difference, like a new product and the idea of skin radiance being an attribute in ageing. As we get older the skin becomes duller, so we want the skin to become more radiant. Yes, we want to get rid of wrinkles, pigmentation, breakouts and large pores – all those things that happen when you get older.
“Yet the right recipe isn’t just one thing but everything. Every cell in the body is connected. Some people come to me and say they have acne. Well, where does the acne come from – stress, hormones, medication? So it’s important to make every cell healthy. Even if I don’t give you any treatment, your body will be able to heal itself.”
At a Vitallife Wellness Centre seminar, Georgia Lee, looking gorgeous in her early 40s in a couture dress, told The Nation she’s a regular at Paris Fashion Week shows.
Assessing the past decade of quick-fix beauty treatments, she noted that Ulthera is still popular and effective. Akin to other ultrasound procedures, this non-surgical facelift involves an applicator placed on the skin that projects data onto a screen from which the doctor can evaluate the condition of the tissue and administer the correct energy to improve it.
The ultrasound energy is delivered below the surface to stimulate collagen growth and thus cause a gradual tightening for a natural, long-term lift. The therapy focuses on “hot spots” called thermal coagulation points. “I like it because it’s not invasive and doesn’t leave any embarrassing signs of lifting,” Lee said.
“The trend in the beauty industry now is non-invasive treatment beginning at an early age. We believe in preserving. No matter how advanced the technology gets, it’s better to start early with simple treatments to ensure long-time effects. Although I’m not against patients undergoing surgery, I prefer the idea of preserving your own beauty.”
As for external beauty, Lee says sunblock is the single most important product to use – even indoors. It should cover the whole face, including the eyelids and under the chin, and the body as well.
“I also believe a lot in nutritional treatment,” Lee said. “You cannot look good without good energy inside. You might look good initially, but without good nutrition, you age faster.
“And improving the circulation can be done with exercise, but inner peace is not to be overlooked. So you have three things to make yourself beautiful – sunscreen, nutrition and mental peace. Everything else is just enhancements.”