In All Her Youthful Glory

I can very well remember a long discussion, between the guest bloggers {aka, I, Shen, Jheng, Sophie and Nikki} and the Pond's Brand Team, on the topic of who the newest ambassador for their Gold Radiance line. The guesses were pretty hilarious and I still manage to erupt into loud guffaws every time I remember that night at M Cafe.

I first learned that Tweetie de Leon - Gonzales was Pond's Gold Radiance ambassador during the Philippine Fashion Week Opening at SMX. Even then, I could remember thinking that there wasn't anyone more fitting than Tweetie to become the ambassador. Gold Radiance is one of Pond's anti-aging lines and Tweetie is the epitome of aging {or not aging at all} gracefully.

Truly, women, and I am one of them, crave and work hard to keep our youthful radiance all throughout. In our twenties, we might not be bothered by signs of aging such as dullness, wrinkles, dry skin and lackluster. However, though we might not see them right now, these things will come haunting us in our older years IF, that's a big IF, we don't take care of our skin right now.

The intimate dinner hosted by Pond's for beauty bloggers a few weeks back at Makati Shangri La's Shang Palace proved to be more helpful in more ways than one in helping us know what we can do to preserve this youthful glow we so love and crave for.

Prawns, Fung Tong Style | Death by Gluttony for me.

Between Bites' Jane Chua was celebrating her birthday that night, too! And she's looking really good.

Note to Self: Buy the Cleansing Mousse, stat! Like Tweetie, my favorite product from this line is the Pond's Youthful Glow Serum. Ever since I have started using it, I noticed that my skin has been glowing. And though I still get my occasional breakouts and blemishes, the skin is truly supple {no, no one is paying me to say that, thankyouverymuch.}A funny thing that I learned from the dinner is that the serum, because of its potency, should come before the moisturizer, regardless of day or night use. I do apply it between my moisturizer and my blemish cream. Oops.

Tweetie de Leon on Pond's Precious Youth Serum

L-R: Jacqe Yuengtian, Pond's Senior Brand Manager, Rissa Mananquil, Pond's Ambassador and Tweetie de Leon - Gonzales, Pond's Gold Radiance Ambassador {Can you see how glowing Tweetie is? And she's in her 40s!}

It truly was a casual night. And the conversations revolved around gym and sports, no-diet diets, drinking 2 liters of water by noon and love, of course.

Pond's Sr. Brand Manager Jacqe Yuengtian is every inch a Pond's girl. Look at THAT skin!

Partners in blazers. Shen and I came in completely similar outfits! Heehee! {Thanks for the photo, Achi!}

Some things I learned from that night:

• It doesn't matter how much makeup you apply on your face during the day, as long as you remove it all at night. When they said that sleeping with makeup on is one of the worst crimes we can commit, it's true. I noticed that when I fail to remove everything off of my face, I get really bad breakouts. And if you're a model like Tweetie and Rissa, who of course, have a lot of products on their faces during shoots and fashion shows, you'll be doomed if you don't remove them all. Tweetie swears by the Gold Radiance cleansing mousse. I personally use Pond's Cold Cream, which works fine but is too tedious to use, as after removing makeup with it, I still have to wash it. Must try that mousse thing soon.
• Treat the 'life' in work-life balance the same way you do as work: like an important meeting. I have to admit that work always get the best of me and I try very hard to give way and allot time to my social life most days, even on weekdays. True, I do get to do most things I feel like doing, such as watching concerts, seeing musicals, chilling like a villain and eating good food and having my drink fix. But I have a nasty habit of still thinking about the things I have to do and all those errands I have to do and sometimes I end up being halfhearted in the 'life' department. Tweetie said that for her, going to the gym and engaging in sports, such as squash are integral parts of her day and she treats them like a meeting --- no disturbances during. 
• In the same light, treat weekends like a weekend should be. Take time off and do not think about work. I find that this works in rejuvenating me throughout the week when I completely immerse myself with weekend-ish stuff like getting cramped in a corner with a good book {currently reading Alain de Botton's On Love, sniff} and Kahlua cake, or when I prop myself in a comfy chair and watch How I Met Your Mother {the last episode got me crying, dammit!} and One Tree Hill. 
• Water and 2 liters before noon. Just like Alice in Alice in Wonderland, who thinks of six impossible things during breakfast, Tweetie makes it a point to have took in 2 liters of water. I took one look at her skin, her beauty and her sunny disposition and convinced myself to do this moving forward {and I have!}. "It curbs hunger pangs, too," she added.
• Aging will come at some point and it's best we prepare. This is kind of, really, my personal advocacy. I know I may be more concerned over it than some, because I blather nonstop about moisturizing and taking extra steps wherever I am {at work, at the spa, at home and I even think of it when I'm alone.}Together with other healthy lifestyle activities, infusing an anti-aging product on your daily regimen will not show you immense results now BUT they will when you're playing with your grand kids {my version would probably be doing shots with them} in the future. To borrow a work advocacy's tag line, It's Time!
• The face is not the only indicator of age. The hands and feet are, too. And ever since that, I have started religiously applying facial moisturizers {yes, as in pang face!}to my hands and feet. If my vanity quotient picks up, serums will go unto my hands and feet, too.
• Love, love and love. Some years and four kids later, Tweetie gushes about her family and husband like a teenager in love. I couldn't help but admire their story, still being in love everyday, even coming to work together, every day. We all do not need much convincing that love will make us younger, and even if we do not have special someones {I don't, but that's no excuse to be grumpy}, we can love the people around us, our friends, our family, our pets, Him, and best of all, LIFE.

 What about you? What's your anti-aging defense? Oh and Happy Hearts' Day! Thank you, Pond'sand Nuffnang for inviting me at such an informative and girly girl dinner!