Wear a shower cap over your face. Think about sexy men. And do not stress about those inevitable wrinkles.
All are part of Japanese beauty expert Chizu Saeki's 'Skincare Revolution', her compilation of sometimes unorthodox facial care that has made her a household name in Japan. Her tips even made it into a video game several years ago.

Yet she also says flawless skin is not everything.

'As you age, it's okay to have wrinkles, it's okay to have age spots, it's okay to sag,' the 66-year-old Saeki told Reuters after the publication of 'The Japanese Skincare Revolution', her first book to be published in English.

'Growing older - that's just the way it is; it means you've lived. Anything else is a lie.'

This reassuring message has no doubt contributed to her success in Japan, one of the world's fastest ageing nations. She has customers in their 80s dropping by her salon in the fashionable Ginza district of Tokyo.

The core of her methods - getting women to use things they already have - resonates even more as Japan's economy is hit by a recession and consumers tighten their purse strings further.

'Becoming beautiful isn't about cosmetics, it's your way of thinking,' she said.

'This is something you can do at home with what you have around you. I thought if I could spread the word on this, age won't matter, money won't matter.'

Saeki is a good advertisement for her methods. Though her short hair is white, her face is firm and unlined.

However, anybody expecting exotic treatments such as seaweed wraps or rice bran potions may be disappointed, as Saeki bases her methods on the often simple care Japanese women have lavished on their skin for centuries.

'Japanese women were always known for their pale, beautiful skin and their dark hair. But now they get tanned like foreigners and use make-up from their teens,' she lamented.

THE ELIXIR OF IMAGINATION

Following a 40-year career as a beautician, a good part of it with foreign firms such as Dior and Guerlain, Saeki set up her own salon in 2003 when she was 60.

She advocates simplicity, whether using already bought cosmetics or things such as honey, which she recommends for chapped lips.

To increase the effectiveness of lotions, she suggests wearing a shower cap over the face as an instant 'steam sauna'. Of course, cut out breathing holes first.

Then, there is the 'elixir of imagination' - fantasising. She recommends thinking about attractive men, which she says promotes the secretion of hormones beneficial to the skin.

Three million copies of her books are in print in Japan and she often appears on television. Treatments at her salon - which cost from 31,000 to 48,300 yen (S$510 to S$680) - are fully booked months in advance.

'The face is a reflection of the heart, a chart of your health, a signboard of your life,' she said. 'When I look at a person's face, I know everything about them.'

This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times.