Beauty

So, I got glutathione and everything I thought I knew about it was a lie*

Yeah, yeah, I get it—I’m pale AF and I have no business injecting it into my bloodstream, go home Patty you’re drunk and all.

Much has been said about how so-called standards of beauty—particularly in the Philippines—are way too idealistic, overly unrealistic, and just… well and truly f*cked up. No thanks to society, I had prepubescent, unwarranted anger at the gene gods for (1) not making me tall enough, and (2) not giving me thick, straight, luscious black hair which defy explainable physics.

I’ve conquered and even embraced some of my insecurities (except maybe during those times I find myself scrolling through Pia Wurtzbach’s Instagram, but we all have moments, amirite?). If anything, I legitimately feel s/mad about these “standards” and the products encouraging them, and how they make people—especially girls—think less of themselves.

It’s exactly for this reason I was quite dismissive of glutathione—or in retrospect, my long-lasting misconception of it. But

*to be fair, I didn’t really know much. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Thanks to Finessa Aesthetica, which opened its branch in Cebu a few months ago, I now know better that it goes beyond skin whitening.

While I readily admit to ignorance, I chalk up my negative impression on glutathione was to a real life example: A girl who I knew from my girlhood, sporting ugly white splotches—yes, because of glutathione; I checked—on her otherwise beautiful morena skin when I saw her at the mall some years back. This, I was told, was probably due to “bad quality” of glutathione, and perhaps the method it was taken in—likely in capsule form.

So, what really IS glutathione? I found out, to my general relief, that it’s actually a very good thing—Mother of Antioxidants, Master of Detoxifiers, Preventor of Aging, Purifier of Skin, and a long list of accolades that would rival that of Daenerys Targaryen’s. It’s naturally produced by our own bodies, although stress and eating processed food that lack in nutrients lead to us being glutathione-deficient, which can actually be remedied through exercise and eating sulfur-rich food such as broccoli and cauliflower (yum). Of course, this being the 21st century and the era of people being too damn impatient for results, there are supplements. Most people just focus on glutathione’s skin lightening ability, which is true, but guess what? It’s not the defining ability of glutathione—it’s only a ‘side effect’ you get from absorbing all them good stuff. The more you know!

With my perception of things considerably turned upside down, I began to look forward to my glutathione drip, or as Finessa Aesthetica calls it, the Gluta Infusion, also with vitamin C. This method injects glutathione into my bloodstream, allowing for purer absorption of greater quantities, compared to taking pills which would take weeks for effects to manifest.  With just one session, I was told to expect my body to flush out toxins and have a stronger immune system, but I was also warned that in order to get there, I would initially feel feverish within a few hours. The most obvious physical effect is that I would wake up with beautiful, glowing skin the morning after, especially coupled with the Vitamin Burst Oxygenation Facial I got right before.

I was led into Finessa Aesthetica’s Drip Lounge, an enclosed area with plush reclining armchairs and a widescreen TV set. There, they set me up with my drip injected straight into a vein on my left hand.

Drip-4
Before anything else: Skin patch test. Not something to be taken lightly, considering you’re getting something injected into you.
Drip-2
The aesthetician looking for a good vein. Also, let it be said that while I don’t have a phobia of needles, I don’t like them either. Ergo: Eek!
Drip-1
Drip, drip, drip.

The process took a good 30 minutes and was pain-free, although the staff did check up on me from time to time to see how I was doing. I was told not to get on my feet immediately, and was encouraged to go straight home especially since I was driving. Later that evening, I got the chills and felt my joints being sore, just like how it’s like on a fever except I wasn’t running a temperature.

So, did I wake up to beautiful, glowing skin as promised? Sort of. To be honest, I saw the difference a bit more on the second morning rather than the first. It wasn’t a drastic change (perhaps I was too pale enough for the glutathione’s skin lightening ability to actually be noticeable?), but my skin was more even-toned and—the part that made me the happiest—less red! I have some redness on my cheeks, which gets aggravated when I’m exhausted. So, to see them reduced means the drip definitely did something right, although I’m not quite sure if it’s glutathione improving my energy or manifesting its side effect that led to that. Either way, it allowed me to give my face a break from the BB cream for a few days.

All in all, my glutathione drip was an… enlightening experience (hur, hur). It’s not something I would opt to do on a weekly basis, or even monthly for that matter, although I’d like to think I would want to get it done when I have busy days ahead, or maybe before a major trip, and I need to be energized all the way.

My most important takeaway from this experience? Yes, pale people can have a slice of the glutathione cake too.

Finessa Aesthetica Cebu
G/F #79 VEG Building
General Maxilom Avenue
+63 917 109 8899 | Facebook

2 thoughts on “So, I got glutathione and everything I thought I knew about it was a lie*”

  1. How can Patty Taboada get any whiter? lol

  2. Patty – there is a much better way to get glutathione – check out @glutathionedetox on facebook. Think patches.

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