The rains may feel like a relief, temperature-wise, but the intense heat right before the rains start pouring may also result in the rise in humidity, becoming the perfect breeding ground for fungus and bacteria.

The climate brings about beauty woes such as warts, dandruff, acne and body odor. Thankfully, there are remedies with anti-fungal ingredients.

Try Clear Menthol anti-dandruff shampoo for men.

Greasy hair aggravated by the humidity and the dandruff now in over-production causes the hair to fall, the scalp to itch and pimples to break out on the scalp, shoulders and back. According to its research material, Clear contains B vitamins, selenium and Zinc that not only make skin and hair healthier, but check fungi as well.

I decided to use it as my shampoo and shower gel for a month and was very surprised at the result. The moderate dandruff problem went away in just a week. My scalp stayed greasy so I had to shampoo twice a day to look tidy but the significant difference was that hair fall was cut down by about 60-percent and breakage was almost non-existent. Hair also became thicker and shiny.

For the shower gel, I use the menthol variant because I loved the cold feel, but those who don’t like it can use the other variants. I left Clear on for about 30 seconds on acne-prone areas (back, shoulders and chest) as well as odor-prone areas such as the underarms and feet before washing. It really did prevent the growing of new pimples; the existing ones eventually flattened out and disappeared. The body and scalp odor was gone as well which proves that Clear did beat out bacteria.

Tip: Clear conditioner is great for shaving legs and underarms as they leave a smooth nick free shave as well as anti bacterial protection.

Downsides: Pimple marks left behind need extra help from whitening products. One would still need deodorant for more stubborn underarms.

Blackheads

No matter how diligent I am about glycolic facials, certain areas are never free from blackheads. Neutrogena sent me its Deep Clean Blackhead Eliminating range when it got sick of me complaining. It take just two to three easy steps. The foaming face scrub acts as a cleanser and exfoliator that is gentle enough to use daily.

It scrubs off dead skin; the clean-smelling lather wipes away the dirt, oil, sunblock and grime and leaves skin smooth and glowing. The cooling toner will treat the blemished areas without the sting or over-dried after-feel and close pores so they look as tiny and refined as possible.

The star product, though, is the Warming Treatment. Meant to be used at night around three times a week I used it nightly after the scrub on my infested areas: nose, chin, hairline and nose wings (valley between nose and cheeks). It heats up to 40ºC, opening the pores so when you massage the area for the required 20 seconds the blackheads so close to the surface just fall out into your fingers and down the drain when you rinse it off. Use the toner afterwards to close those gaping pores.

Result: My blackhead decreased 80 percent. But the treatment won’t work on whiteheads as those are deeper into the skin and have yet to get close to the surface to turn into blackheads when oxidized.

For mild to moderate acne only.

If your acne is cystic, that is, of the numerous huge and misshapen variety burrowing into your skin, please see the dermatologist for cortisone injections to deflate it right away. Then have cleansing glycolic facial every two weeks at first and stronger medicine to use at home. Leaving such acne be will cause deep scarring pits that no drugstore brand is strong enough to cure.

Moderate acne may be numerous but are fairly small, rounded and are above the skin. Proactiv Solution has been around the TV infomercial world with famous singers Jessica Simpson, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber stating they use this to keep their skin clear.

Instructions: In the morning, cleanse by using the Renewing Cleanser on damp skin to clean and exfoliate and then rinse off with warm water. Then apply Revitalising Toner with a cotton pad and leave to dry. Follow with the Repairing Day Lotion. I still use an SPF 50 or above over it as the benzoyl peroxide will make spots more prone to darkening when the sun hits.

In the evening follow the same steps, but swap the Repairing Day Lotion for the Repairing Night Lotion. The final product in the set is the Refining Mask which should be used two or three times a week. The mask is clay based and is meant to unclog pores and make it look smaller. At times, I use this overnight and it keeps the shine controlled throughout the next day even when rinsed off in the morning. If I have pictures in the daytime I use this as an oil control feature under powder or foundation.

It really helps in the prevention area as I have not had new breakouts since then but it does leave some brown or red spots from bigger zits that take longer than the actual pimples to fade.

Neutrogena Deep Clean Blackhead Elimination and Proactiv are both available at Watson’s.