Beauty boost, inside and out

What do you do to keep fit?

I work out on the cross trainer four to five times a week for about 20 minutes each time and end the session with yoga or weights training. I do yoga for about 15 minutes, mainly stretches.

I learnt to mix it up from a personal trainer who taught cross training with yoga, which is good as it combines a workout for the heart with endurance and strength building for the muscles.

That is why I sometimes do weights training after being on the cross trainer, instead of yoga.

Soon, I will also start to practise qigong - a traditional breathing exercise which involves slow, measured movements - to increase my stamina and mental alertness. I have found someone, who learnt the technique from a qigong master, to give me one-on-one lessons once or twice a week.

I want to build on my inner mental strength.

Life is worthless without good health, so I want to be mentally alert and physically fit till the very end.

What is your secret to looking so fabulous?

I am not sure about the fabulous part, but I have always loved anything to do with fashion - beautiful clothes, shoes, make-up and hair.

I watch my diet and exercise in order to fit into fashionable clothes.

As I age, I have been more diligent in looking after my skin, especially on my face, neck and hands.

I never go to sleep with make-up on.

I apply treatment creams and have had chemical peels to maintain clear and radiant skin.

This is more so in the last few years due to problems with melasma and acne.

I also do a medical facial once a month to maintain the skin's glow.

This facial, available only at doctors' clinics, infuses medical-grade serum deep into the skin for hydration purposes.

And I do a skin tightening procedure once a year using the Thermage radiofrequency machine.

These are the perks of my job.

Has there ever been a time when you were not fit and fab?

I was un-fabulous the first six months after giving birth to my first child.

It was just me and my baby, so there was no impetus to dress well.

I just slouched around in a pair jeans and T-shirt, without any make-up on.

The last few years have also taken their toll. Due to stress from going through a prolonged divorce and hormonal imbalance from perimenopause, I began to have acne.

It caused me great anguish because, up till then, I have never had a single pimple.

I also had melasma (brownish patches that usually appear on the face, especially over the cheeks).

Fortunately, I am in the right business to fix my face.

What is your diet like?

Breakfast is yogurt or eggs and fruit juice, lunch and dinner are usually salads or vegetables with meat. I don't often take rice and if I do, it's just two tablespoons.

I snack on fruits, crackers and cheese.

What are your indulgences?

My weaknesses are red wine, coffee and chocolates.

What do you do to relax?

I read crime novels, travel, sleep and meditate.

I travel every few months. It's mostly to relaxing places such as Bali. I like to escape to the island several times a year to meditate. I also travel to Europe twice a year for leisure and shopping, sometimes with a medical conference thrown in.

I love sleeping, which is done on the weekends, in the form of an afternoon nap, for example.

Finally, the most important factor for my tranquillity is daily meditation.

I sit cross-legged on a mat on the floor in my bedroom and do breathing exercises for 20 minutes. All this time, I will focus on the third eye, the area in the centre of the forehead. This calms my mind and I find that I become more focused.

I took up this habit about six years ago and it has helped me through turbulent periods such as my divorce.

What are the three most important things in your life?

My two children, my mother and God. They give me inspiration and the strength to carry on living my life to the fullest despite all my setbacks.

Would you go for plastic surgery and why?

I feel that the way I look now is already a blessing, so there is no need to change the way I look.

I also feel that inner beauty is more important than looks.

However, as I am in the field of aesthetics, I have used the skill to maintain a flawless complexion and slow down the ageing effect on my facial skin. It helps me to age more gracefully.

Do you think you're sexy?

It's not for me to say if I am sexy.

Having said that, others must think so, judging by the number of compliments I get.

BIO BOX

Dr Komathy Rajaratnam

Age: 53

Height: 1.65m

Weight: 53kg

If you look good, you feel good.

That is Dr Komathy's mantra.

The general practitioner, who graduated with a medical degree from the National University of Singapore in 1985, has her practice mainly in aesthetic medicine.

She has been walking the talk for over 18 years.

She got into aesthetics while working as a general practitioner and living in Australia back in the 1990s.

Back then, she had an interest in dermatology and started performing chemical peels and fillers to fix ageing skin.

It then evolved to include Botox jabs, followed by laser machines and cosmeceuticals (a combination of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals), she said.

She had followed her Australian ex-husband back to his home country where they lived for a few years before moving back to Singapore.

She is also registered to practise medicine in Australia.

Her practice, which is now at Camden Medical Centre, involves using procedures that are non-invasive.

She uses her skills judiciously on herself and has been praised by her patients. "They constantly tell me that I am a walking advertisement for my practice," she said.

But medical skills alone are not enough to maintain one's youthful looks.

A good diet is important and exercise is another key requirement.

"I will never stop exercising," she said.

"It is the foundation of my health and looks. In my profession, you have to look good, otherwise no one will take you seriously."

She is divorced and has two children - a daughter, 21, who is completing her law degree in the United Kingdom; and a son, 17, who is in an international school here.

This article was published on April 10 in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times.

Get a copy of Mind Your Body, The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.