As a growing number of Filipinos embrace a more active lifestyle, they need all the help they can get from safe, practical products that work to ensure that they feel and look good—whether it’s controlling excess oil and sweating or promoting healthy skin by minimizing chafing. Neat, a line of personal care products from New Zealand, may offer them the ideal solutions.
Pretty neatBy Alex Y. Vergara
It’s quite a feat to stay neat and clean these days, especially during balmy weather. Your best bet to look good and smell fresh longer, apart from regular bathing with soap and water, is still an effective antiperspirant. But no matter how hard you try, once you start pounding the streets and braving the elements, including all sorts of pollutants, your entire body, from your scalp down to the soles of your feet, start to perspire.
That’s why in the realm of antiperspirants, it’s not only the underarms and feet that perspire and need extra care and attention these days, especially when temperatures climb to the 40s (which, in the age of global warming, has already become routine in a tropical country like the Philippines even during supposedly cool months). To complicate an already sticky situation, sizzling temperatures in Metro Manila and other urban centers are almost always accompanied by high humidity.
Because of its antiperspirant properties, Neat Face Saver is now a must-have primer among a growing number of makeup artists.Really, it’s enough to keep you indoors and confined within the comforts of your air-conditioned room forever. Of course, that’s next to impossible given the number of tasks we all have to accomplish outdoors, either under the sun or even in the shade. We’ve got our armpits and feet covered with some of the most effective over-the-counter deodorants and foot powders in the market, but what about our faces? They perspire, too, making us look haggard, sweaty, oily and unkempt even before a typical working day has reached the halfway mark.
Facial antiperspirant
Short of using an antiperspirant by spraying or rolling it on your forehead and neck, a New Zealand-based company may offer the perfect solution for you. Developed specifically for the face, especially sweat-prone areas like the forehead, back of the neck and upper lip, Neat 3B Face Saver Gel is gentle yet effective enough to control excess facial perspiration resulting from everyday outdoor and even indoor activities like walking, running errands, company presentations, or even doing routine work at home.
“These all fall under light to moderate indoor and semi-outdoor activities,” said Australia-based Filipino entrepreneur Greg Tamayo, who recently introduced the Neat line of products, including Neat 3B Action Cream, to the Philippine market. “No amount of facial antiperspirant is enough to stop you from sweating after a rigorous workout at the gym or jogging under the mid-morning sun.”
Say goodbye to moist, chafed and irritated skin with Neat Action Cream.But Neat Face Saver is effective enough to control excess perspiration and facial oil under relatively “normal” conditions. Ideal for both men and women, the product can be applied under makeup, sunscreen and everyday moisturizers. Easy and smooth to apply, Neat 3B Face Saver’s light gel is said to leave no visible facial residue and an icky, sticky feeling. And since it’s designed to keep perspiration at bay, makeup and sunscreens are said to stay on longer. What’s more, ladies, it reportedly keeps makeup looking fresh all day even in hot, humid weather.
Just like sunscreen, Neat Face Saver can be reapplied after some time, especially when the product’s effect starts to wear off due to excessive heat and perspiration. But how lightweight is the product? How gentle is gentle? Neat’s antiperspirant gel formulation evaporates rapidly from the surface of the skin, leaving the active, antiperspirant ingredient as a thin film whose antiperspirant effect is formulated to last for several hours.
The product isn’t designed to affect the production of perspiration from the person’s scalp, but it will help decrease the amount of perspiration visible on the face. Similarly, according to the product’s online information, the beads of sweat that can form on the upper lip during tense business meetings or high-profile social functions are much less likely to occur.
Safe to use
Neat Face Saver Gel should be applied to the forehead, the upper lip and the back of the neck. It should not be applied on or near the eyes, and it should not be applied to the scalp. The product does not appear to cause any reactions with other cosmetic ingredients, and it is entirely safe to use.
As with all antiperspirants and cosmetics, there is a slight risk of an allergic reaction to one or two of the product’s ingredients, but the allergy will settle soon after product’s use is discontinued.
When Neat Face Saver Gel is applied prior to other cosmetics, the second product will remain on the skin for much longer and will be less influenced by facial perspiration. This is particularly helpful for sunscreens and other products like foundations and face powders, which are required to remain on the skin for as long as possible.
“In fact, one of the Filipino nurses in Australia who availed himself of the product swore by its effects,” said an amused Tamayo. “He told me that he still managed to look fresh and less haggard than before even at the end of a busy shift at the hospital. This also explains why a growing number of makeup artists use Neat Face Saver as a primer before applying foundation on their their clients’ faces. It helps makeup stay fresher and longer on the face.”
Neat offers a range of products for people with active lifestyles. For starters, Tamayo decided to limit her offerings here in the Philippines to several products. Depending on the market’s response, of course, she plans to introduce more. Apart from Neat 3B Face Saver Gel, she has also introduced Neat 3B Action Cream.
People on the heavy side
Developed by New Zealand doctors specifically for people who are on the heavy side, the rub-on product, which also comes in a tube, promises to prevent sweat rash and chafing between the legs, buttocks and breasts. Apart from athletes, the product is ideal for hikers and outdoorsy, sports-minded people, especially women. Said to be safe for the entire family, Neat 3B Action Cream works by removing “all moisture” in the affected area. How?
According to the product’s online literature, Neat Action Cream is an effective antiperspirant in an emollient, soothing cream base for application to areas where skin surfaces rub together and become inflamed. A typical problem for both overweight men and women.
The underlying problem in these situations is perspiration and the resultant chafing between skin surfaces: sites at which this occurs are between the buttocks, between the legs and beneath the breasts.
The product may also help to prevent fungal infections such as tinea and intertrigo, which tend to occur in warm, moist areas of the body.
These problems are common amongst people who are active and who participate in sporting activities. Chafing and associated friction problems may also occur in people who carry extra weight.
Developed by the same doctors who introduced Neat Feat Roll-on, the world’s first roll-on antiperspirant deodorant for feet, Neat Feat 3B Action Cream has quickly been adopted by sports people and by people living in countries with warm climates.
How To Use
Neat Feat 3B should be applied to clean, dry skin once or twice daily, depending on individual requirements. The active antiperspirant reduces the amount of sweat produced and the emollient, lubricating cream base prevents friction and chafing.
“Since I started promoting both products on social media and through a number of Filipino bloggers and influencers, I’ve been getting a lot of inquiries, especially from makeup artists and people with hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating), on Neat Face Saver Gel,” said Tamayo.
She added: “But both products aren’t for everybody. The Neat Action Cream, for instance, is really designed for overweight people whose skin is prone to chaffing.”
Both Neat 3B Face Saver Gel and Neat 3B Action Cream are exclusively distributed in the Philippines by Lazada (www.lazada.com.ph), which delivers all over the country with no minimum orders required. The Face Saver is initially priced at P850 less 20 percent, while the Action Cream is priced at P990 less 30 percent.
Developed and manufactured in New Zealand, the Neat line products, including Neat Face Saver, are available exclusive at Lazada.
