Saviors for red, itchy, sensitive skin
As a beauty junkie, I’m lucky that my skin stands up to all the abuse I put it through. I’m hardly allergic to anything, but I know many women who aren’t so lucky.
Consumer healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline ( GSK) recently conducted a skin-health survey in the Philippines, and found that more than one in two women say they have sensitive skin. That’s over 50 percent who’ve had “bad skin days” arising from itchy, irritated and sore skin, which causes them to feel self-conscious, vulnerable and embarrassed.
As if that wasn’t enough, “out of that group, 70 percent would say, ‘Sensitive skin troubles me because I have it on my face, 2/3 says ‘I have it on my body,’ says Sharon Mak, GSK’s director of communications in Asia, “and one in two women said they would not visit a healthcare professional for their skin condition.”
Considering all the demands of modern life — extreme temperatures outside and air-conditioning inside, pollution, stress from commuting and work, lack of sleep, unbalanced diets, and all the products we put on our skin — it’s no wonder our largest organ gets a little out of whack now and again.
“Another revelation is that Asian skin is thinner than Caucasian skin, which means more than ever it’s susceptible to external conditions,” adds Mak. “Without having really good, healthy skin, if you put on anything else — whitening or makeup — it won’t be effective, you won’t get a glow. So fundamentally you need to have healthy skin so the efficacy of other products works even better.”
To care for itchy, dry, and red facial skin, GSK brand Physiogel — which bears the magic word “hypoallergenic” in its logo and holds the status of being the No. 1 dermatologist-recommended brand in the Philippines — has just launched its Calming Relief face-care range.
“We have two lines at moment,” says Jon Lee, head of GSK Skin Health and Nutrition in the Philippines. “The blue one is Daily Moisture Therapy for normal to dry sensitive skin. The Calm Relief line is more for irritated, reddened, reactive, eczema-prone skin. As a brand, Physiogel stands for sensitive skin.”
With no preservatives, perfumes, or colorants to sensitize skin, Physiogel’s Calming Relief line features three products: a Gentle Cream Cleanser that cleans the skin without disrupting its natural moisture barrier (you don’t even need to rinse it off); and light and rich textures of Calming Relief Face Cream that boast proven results. Both reduce facial redness and soothe skin for a more even tone (91 to 93 percent of women saw reduced redness in two weeks); the light texture features a fast absorbing formula that provides instant and long-lasting relief from dryness; and both creams have been clinically proven to restore the skin’s natural moisture barrier.
“Our proprietary ingredient BioMimic Technology mimics the skin’s lipid structure,” Lee says. “Lipids are the layer of fat that help keep the outer layer of our skin moist and healthy. In people with sensitive, dry skin, the lipid layer is compromised and doesn’t function properly. Water is easily evaporated and irritants and external aggressors can come in. The beauty of BioMimic is that it stays for 72 hours, even after you wash, bathe, and swim.”
Both Mak and Lee insist that GSK isn’t a beauty company but a 100-percent health company that, with the help of doctors, dermatologists, scientists, and intensive R&D, provides solutions people actually need.
“The reason why we moved from being prescription-only towards a more consumer-friendly, accessible approach is because we saw the need that a lot of women have sensitive skin,” Mak says. “South Korea leads Asia as the No. 1 country with the highest incidence of sensitive skin. The Philippines is No. 2. Physiogel is such a gem of a product because it gives you skin health.”
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Physiogel is available at Watsons and Mercury Drugstores.