MANILA, Philippines?It?s 8 a.m. on an overcast summer day at the Manila Polo Club and fashion designer Lulu Tan Gan surveys the outfits she has brought to this exclusive Inquirer fashion slash fitness shoot. Lulu looks fit and fab. ?It?s my father?s genes. My body has remained the same since I was in my teens. I have two grown up daughters and a great love life, and I don?t have a single white hair,? giggles Lulu as she arranges and accessorizes her own knit wear separates and Nike exercise pieces by Stella McCartney for Adidas.
Because of the proximity of the Polo Club Oval to her four-story office, it is where Lulu changes her daily attire from work to workout. She usually runs or briskly walks 5 kilometers a day or five times around the Polo Club Oval. She invites me to join her at sunset when the heat is cooling down.
?It was January last year, I noticed my muscles needed toning. I have always swum in the pool and maintain an active lifestyle driving from my Alabang home, designing at the work place, lunching with friends, going to my Tan Gan outlets at SM malls and usually dining out to do extra curricular work like my favorite charities. But still I needed a focused exercise program for de-stressing and meditation,? relates Lulu.
It was when she asked fellow fashionista Leica Carpo how she kept her girlish figure that is ripped and buff that Lulu became attracted to running. It comes with the gilded endorphin rush naturally, but add to that a Zen serenity after the shower. She credits her year-long affair with running or brisk walking to having good posture, marked endurance and a positively calm outlook.
Beauty regimen
?I wash my face with Perla soap or natural local unscented ones. I cleanse with Shu Uemura and La Mer Cleansing Oil which is gentle for my skin type. I moisturize a lot. Lots of sunblock, too, by Coppertone. I look at the lines on my face and I am excited about glowing older (laughs),? Lulu says.
?I haven?t done anything surgically yet. But I like my face now. Perhaps that?s why people say I look happy. I have never compared myself to anyone. When you?re confident about your inner honesty and true self, you mature and evolve instead. They say this golden age is when a woman is at her most beautiful. It is also her sexual peak. Hmmm, maybe. I haven?t given it a serious thought.?
