By THÉRÈSE MARGOLIS

Ah! With the great post-covid demasking, we can all finally breathe a collective sigh of relief.

No more smudged lipstick when we take off that face covering to eat, or ackward do-I-take-it-off-or-leave-it-on encounters with friends and coworkers. And no more toting around humongous bottles of skin-irritating hand sanitizers and disinfectant sprays.

So with the new reveal of your whole face and (thanks to the surging Mexican heatwave) at least a larger segment of your body, comes the need to reevaluate your personal hygiene regiments. That means brightening up those pearly whites (yes, now people can actually see when you smile) to buffing up your complexion. And, of course, with the newly renewed you, there is a whole plethora of wonderful new products in Mexico to help make your unveiling an event to remember.

Organic Oral Hygiene

Fact: Every year at least discarded 300,000 plastic toothpaste tubes end up in Mexican landfills or, worse yet, fluid waste that empties into the earth’s rivers and oceans.

Add to that the fact that about 23 billion plastic toothbrushes get trashed globally each year, and you are talking about a major contributor to the global plastic crisis. The long-term consequences for the environment — from fish to water reserves — can be deadly. And that is not even considering the slew of chemicals and artificial flavorings that go into the cavalcade of oral hygiene products that flood the market.

Which is why it is high time to take a new approach to oral hygiene, trading in non-sustainable, chemical-laden toothpastes and mouthwashes for non-polluting, organic alternatives and switching out that plastic Oral B for a more earth-friendly wooden brush with natural bristles.

Enter frame left, Green Doctor, a 100-percent Mexican company that specializes in natural, sustainable, affordable and effective oral healthcare for every member of the household, from the kids to Grandma.

With a range of products that include a natural tea tree-essence mouthwash and a bamboo brush with activated carbon bristles to a variety of bicarbonate of soda- and chlorophyll-based pastes in compostable and recyclable bioplastic packaging tubes and organic, carbon-activated whitening powders, Green Doctor offers the conscientious consumer the option of healthy oral hygiene suitable for a low-impact lifestyle.

Inspired by nature and flavored with organic essential oils like lavender, bergamot and spearmint, all Green Doctor products are fluoride- paraben-, aluminum-, sulfate-, sugar- and cruelty-free.

Dark Spot Remover

Nearly 70 percent of women over 35 suffer from hyperpigmentation (the medical name for what is commonly referred to as sunspots, livers spots and – that most offensive term of all – age spots).

But whatever you call them, those nasty little discolorations that somehow mysteriously appear on your face, hands, shoulders and arms once you pass the 20-something barrier can mar an otherwise porcelain-like complexion.

Blame them on the environment, pollution, UV rays or stress, dark spots are Mother Nature’s little payback for not having applied sunscreen regularly in your childhood and teenage years.

Thankfully, Garnier, the Paris-based beauty and skincare brand that has always put nature first, has a brand new line of spot-fading products powered with green science to pair super citrus extracts with vitamin C, a mega antioxidant, and a wealth of complementary dermatological actives to leave skin clear, even-looking and luminous.

Garnier’s new Express Aclara Serum — the latest addition to the brand’s Express Aclara line introduced in 2020 — not only helps to fade dark spots after just three days of use through a concentrated vitamin C formula, but is infused with protective mineral pigments and high SPF 50 (UVA/UVB) sun defense to help prevent the formation of new spots.

Express Aclara Serum has a light, dry-touch texture and also helps to hydrate, illuminate and unify skin tone without leaving a sticky, greasy feel.

The Express Aclara line also includes a facial cleansing cream, a three-in-one micellar water, a nourishing hydrating cream and a cloth facial mask that lightens complexions by a full skin tone in just 15 minutes.