Whitening and the Other Wonders of Glutathione

Sandy*, a working mom, has been taking glutathione oral food supplements on a daily basis. She swears by her brand's effectiveness, claiming that her skin has been fairer with only four to five months of use.

Sandy also has other reasons for taking glutathione. She knows that it plays a good role in keeping her liver and other organs healthy.

For most Filipino women, however, glutathione is a popular food supplement because of its whitening side effects. This is evident in all the TVCs, billboards and Internet ads placed by online sellers in eBay, Sulit.com and Multiply. Apparently, many have yet to know the other, more important benefits of using glutathione, as well as the precautionary measures that they have to make in taking the food supplement.

Womens' frequently asked questions on glutathione are answered on this blog in a concise and easy-to-read manner. Thanks to various sources online.

1. What is glutathione?

Glutathione is a protein that is produced in the human body. It is also found naturally in foods such as fruits, vegetables and meats. (Uretsky, Healthline)

2. What are the benefits of taking glutathione?

As an antioxidant, glutathione protects the cells of the body from getting damaged by free radicals. It also helps boost the immune system.

The possibility of using glutathione to treat cancer and heart diseases is still being studied. Meanwhile, Healthline cites the following reported uses of glutathione:

• treatment of poisoning, particularly heavy metal poisons
• treatment of idiopathic pulmonary firbosis
• increasing the effectiveness and reducing the toxicity of cis-platinum, a chemo drug used to treat breast cancer
• treating Parkinson's disease
• lowering blood pressure in patients with diabetes
• increasing male sperm counts in humans and animals
• treatment of liver cancer
• treatment of sickle cell anemia

3. How does glutathione whiten skin?

Skin whitening is a side effect of using glutathione. It is not the main use or function of the food supplement.

Dr. Eduardo Gonzales, in his article at the Manila Bulletin, says:

Glutathione whitens the skin because it inhibits the enzyme tyrosinase, which simply means it prevents the concerned cells in the skin from manufacturing melanin, the pigment that is responsible for the brown to black coloration of the skin.

4. What are the ways to take glutathione supplements? How much will they cost me?

Glutathione can be taken orally as a tablet or capsule. However, it is said that glutathione is is not well absorbed when taken by mouth. Sandy spends around Php1,400 monthly for the gluta capsules that she takes on a daily basis.

Glutathione soaps are also available in beauty and drug stores for a price range of Php100 to 300, depending on the brand. It is also said that it takes weeks to months to get the desired whitening results.

Injectables, which are said to act faster, are also available from dermatologists and online sellers at a minimum of Php3,000 per shot. Some of them come in combinations like glutathione + Vitamin C. Belo Medical Helpdesk gives the following info re: glutathione injectables:

Glutathione IV (intravenous) - Php 3,360.00 per vial (one session) done 2-3 times a week. To achieve maximum results, treatment should be done for 15 sessions. Effect will be seen on your 3rd session. Package: for 15 sessions- Php 44,800.00. A single treatment consists of 5cc of Vitamin C and 4cc of Glutathione. The product is made from Europe.

5. How often should I take glutathione to maintain the healthy effects?

Glutathione should be taken consistently to maintain both the aesthetic and healthy effects.

6. Are there any harmful side effects?

There are no established harmful side effects of glutathione. However, Dr. Gonzales doesn't advise people with chronic diseases such as diabetes, pregnant or lactating women, and children from taking the supplement.

7. What are the precautions that I have to make?

Both women and men should exercise care and caution in availing glutathione supplements. It's always best to consult with a doctor who knows your medical history.

At the same time, only avail glutathione from trusted sellers. Some buyers in the Glutathione Alert thread on eBay happened to have purchased fake supplements and reported prolonged side effects and vomiting for at least 3 days. (And for someone like me who had been hospitalized twice for a severe case of drug allergies, I suggest ultra care!) Make sure that the brand is BFAD approved.

The other wonders of glutathione shows how the food supplement is a real deal when we talk of beauty being skin deep. Call it fabulous, a miracle in a pill. We just have to be watch out for the fakes.

* Name changed upon request.

Sources:

Eduardo Gonzales, M.D. Glutathione: The Real Score -- Medical Notes. Manila Bulletin, 26 Oct 2009.

Samuel Uretsky, The Gale Group, Inc. Glutathione. Healthline, 2005.

Oh My Lash! A writing contest.

Good news to those who sought lash advice and found Mad About Lashes . . .

I learned about the ILASH's Oh My Lash! writing contest through a tweet. ILASH is an eye lash and brow conditioning gel which promises "longer and fuller" natural eye lashes in "as fast as 3 weeks." By enhancing natural lashes, ILASH is far different from most of the methods discussed in my former blogpost. And with this, ILASH must be something that's worth trying.

To join the contest, please click here. Two winners will receive a bottle each of ILASH, each worth Php5,900.

Meet the Brazilian (Waxing) v.2

Updated from: Meet the Brazilian (2007)

This is beyond fashionably late for summer. But for reasons other than bikini bottoms, I am posting an updated version of one of the most viewed entries in my old Blogspot, Life in High Heels and Miniskirts.

A few days ago, some friends have approached me for advice on Brazilian waxing. It was then that I thought about excavating Meet the Brazilian. I figured it needs a lot of updating and so here goes Meet the Brazilian version 2.



I remember how different things were about six or seven years ago. Products and services were fewer compared to the smorgasbord that now greets us in every salon. Women were also more uptight. So with society being as judgmental as always, back then, Brazilian waxing was a sure taboo.

These days, more and more women seem to have loosened up that society has to fast forward itself when it comes to aesthetics. Why am I even surprised that Lay Bare waxing salons are popping out of every part of Metro Manila like mushrooms?

My first encounter with Brazilian waxing was not at all easy. I may have given birth via normal spontaneous delivery but still, the mere thought of exposing myself to another person gives me the jitters.

Aside from that, the whole process was excruciatingly painful for me. Take note that taking Ponstan an hour before the procedure is the only means to feel less pain. Unlike in giving birth, there are no anesthesias that numb the senses nor sedatives that will make one just sleep through the entire process.

I'll charge my courage to sheer vanity. I made it through an entire hour of waxing and plucking with a bit of screaming only because I had a clear scenario in mind: I had to wear a white bikini to the beach in three days. God knows how unforgiving people could be when it comes to gross imperfections.

My reason shifted to hygiene when I realized that keeping myself bald down there made wiping after urinating easier. I was also less prone to itching and infection.

From then on, I booked myself for a Brazilian every 2 to 3 (or even up to 6) months. Hair can grow in just three weeks but the growth is slow and the hair, soft. Shaving, although painless and easy, definitely cannot match the comfort of maintaining a Brazilian. Besides, I have already gotten used to the pain.

Here are some tips and trivia for those who would like to try getting a Brazilian for the first time:

1. Shy of "opening up" to the aesthetician? Just think of her as someone who's pretty much like a gynecologist. As a pro, seeing naked women is a part of her daily routine. She's probably seen hundreds. So...
   
2. if thinking about self-waxing instead, I'm afraid it's not possible.
3. Trim the hair to about 1-2 cms. It lessens the pain.
4. Taking Ponstan or Advil an hour before the appointment is an advice I'd heard and read about but never actually came to try. (Do watch out if you have allergies.)
5. Brazilian waxing ranges from Php 450 to 1,000, depending on the procedure and the salon. Cold wax (honey wax) is the cheapest.
6. Men can also avail of the service.
7. Contrary to popular belief among the “virgins,” it doesn't take a single peel to remove all the hair down there. It takes a lot, if not a couple!
8. Waxing ladies normally begin at the area near the navel and ends at the part near the anus.
9. Sometimes, plucking is necessary to remove the remaining hair.
10. Hot wax procedures are less painful than those that use cold wax, at least, in my experience.
11. The best procedure is called clean and easy. Hot wax is spread on an area and removed – together with the hair – with a piece of cloth. This is the fastest, cleanest and easiest method I've ever tried. Opt for this if you prefer the one time, big time ouch. (Brazilian Bare at Rustan's Tower, Makati and Neo Spa at Fort use this procedure.)
12. Never ever ask the waxing lady to stop after she has spread the wax. Cooled wax is harder to remove and there, you said it, more painful.
13. Do bring stress balls or anything that can be grasped. Lay Bare's helped me stifle my screams.
14. The salon should use disposables and put antiseptic cream / liquid on the area waxed after the procedure.
15. Bring a feminine wash and an extra underwear just in case the salon does not have them.
16. But do not wash your feminine area for at least 12 hours after the procedure. Moi, I make it overnight.

I shall post a review of Manila's waxing salons very soon.
In the meantime, happy waxing! :D

Suffer for beauty, oh bitchy one

Across borders and throughout centuries, women's relationship with beauty is that of an S&M.

Back in our school days, we have read about tribal women who chisel their teeth, pierce their nipples, drill big holes on their ears and put huge tattoos all over their bodies. In the Victorian era, women endured breathlessness and pain in the middle section in order to attain the hourglass figure that corsettes gave. A thousand years ago and until the early 1900s, in China, women suffered the excruciatingly difficult process of breaking and binding the foot; a lifelong tremendous effort for beauty.

These days, women still suffer, though in less absurd ways. We spend hours in the gym motivated by the "no pain, no gain" mantra just so we can achieve the look or the feeling that we want. We lie on the derma's beds, which are actually beds of roses and thorns, as we stifle the screams of pain from the pricking and inserting of needles used in procedures to eliminate flaws or even change the way we look. In more simple events, many of us go for toners with the astringent effect or tend to sacrifice comfort for style like enduring the pain from dancing all night in sexy stilettos. And in some ways, we also have to repress the pain that our affinity for beauty causes to our pockets.

Speaking in terms of sex and bitchhood, I say that the quest for beauty is similar to losing one's virginity. Along the lines of pricking, waxing and threading; it always really hurts on the first time. But since it made you look and feel good, the saying that "once you pop, you can't stop" applies. It goes on to the point that you finally find yourself addicted to pain--living through and loving it; knowing that glory awaits the brave ones.

For hundreds and thousands of years, women have suffered in the name of beauty. While we maintain that to look good is our primary motivation, we leave in the shadows the reasons behind our sadomasochistic approach to beauty. Okay, we want to feel good about ourselves. But why? Can we not feel good even without having to go through such process?

I believe that the raison d'etre lies on the lines of acceptance. In an article on the Lotus Foot, I found this

:"The driving force behind this desire was complex: it had to do with marriage;
it had to do with sex; it had to do with status; it had to do with beauty; it
had to do with duty." (Footwear Fetish - An Erotic Tradition, http://www.shoeworld.com/)

These days, it is not just fair for women to blame men for their sufferings. The quest for beauty has something to do with acceptance from the opposite sex or from persons within the ranks found in the social circles where we find ourselves in. It may be to appease the wants of a domineering mother; the conditions of a meticulous lover; the observant eyes of a discriminating social butterfly; or the requirements of a tyrannical boss. Beauty just seems to be a social requirement--where the requirement varies from one social circle to another.Vicky Belo, a world-renowned cosmetic doctor, has been capitalizing on these social requirements to encourage more women to be valiant about addressing their aesthetic insufficiencies. I do not intend to give her any negative associations for this because what she says is basically true!

I remember learning in my Theology class on Marriage and Sexuality that even the late Pope John Paul II says that love starts with attraction. And how in the world can a man single out a female in a room full of them without his own requirement?

In jobs, priority is usually given to the applicant who looks more charming--assuming that all applicants have the same credentials. The same goes with women in sales-oriented careers. The initial requirement is always a good and pleasing personality (which I think is really a good and pleasing appearance). Only after she meets this, will she get the honchos to listen to what she has to present.

Feminists have been successful with attacking the footbinding tradition in China and so are those who fought against other seemingly obscure practices like the stretching of mouths and sculpturing of teeth. But still, there are new traditions to contest and since most of them have become ironically acceptable, we leave them the media and the catwalks for their battlefields.

The "enemy" in the first place is not the men in general but rather, the social constructions made by men and women alike.

Note: The title was fed by a man who does not wish to be named. Published online on 22 Nov 2007.

Photo Credit: http://www.healthy-temple.com/