BEAUTY – The guaranteed regime to stop wrinkles

Posted by Editor on August 19, 2015 in Beauty, Health and Beauty | 2 Comments

This year I turn 44, and guess what I don’t have a single wrinkle, not a line. Ten years ago I made a pack to myself I would not allow any lines to manifest upon my face. I wouldn’t just age disgracefully but obdurately! So I embarked upon a life -long mission to defy the aging process. Now I don’t have thousands of spare pounds to splurge on my face, so I have to be very strategical with my purchases and procedures.   In my 30s I really didn’t care about what products I used because at the time it was well known that not very much worked. Lets face it, anti wrinkle creams were bought from the fear of growing old, buying into a fantasy that yielded no results. We were bombarded with non sensical science that baffled a nation of naive desperados. With clever wording useless products were sold as wonder creams. And we eagerly opened up our purses and swallowed it whole.   So what did I do?

Now I don’t have thousands of spare pounds to splurge on my face, so I have to be very strategical with my purchases and procedures. 

The first thing I did, and I have to thank my mother for this, I moisturised twice daily since a teenager. I didn’t use an expensive cream, I used the cheaper moisturisers, even just aqueous cream. A moisturiser is just a moisturiser, all it does it hydrate the skin, it’s not going to give you an instance face lift!

Next, ironically I had terrible acne as a teenager, so I was prescribed Retin A. Now I remember watching in the 80’s on a programme called Tomorrow’s World, that Retin A helped to reverse sun damage and wrinkles. Of course, at the time, I was using it to combat my demoralising acne. Now, the thing with Retin A is that is very harsh on the skin and can cause terrible irritation and skin peeling. At it’s worst I looked like a leper with layers of skin hanging off my face, but this was to benefit me later in life, which I will explain in my instalment. Also it makes your skin photosensitive, thus one must at all times wear a high factor sunscreen.   So I started to get into the routine of always applying sunblock even in the winter. Thanks to my acne, I did one the MOST important thing for anti-ageing, sun block for the face! We all know now that the sun is the quickest aging factor in an extensive list of wrinkle inducing elements. As my hormones calmed down and so did my acne, I no longer required harsh acne treatments, but remember the skin has a memory just like your muscles, and it records every activity it’s subjected to. I had inadvertently strengthened my skin, it was inordinately less sensitive, and sensitive skin really hates anti –wrinkle treatments.

Now I remember watching in the 80’s on a programme called Tomorrow’s World, that Retin A helped to reverse sun damage and wrinkles.

So well into my 20s I was cleaning my face with soapless cleasners (soap dries the skin out) moisturising and using sunblock. That was it! And that’s all you need to do.

Then I hit my 30s. Still with my baby face I continued with my simple, but effective procedure. But it was when I was 34 when I took my first big step down the more cosmetic evasive treatment. An older friend of mine decided to have Botox, and wanted me to accompany her to the clinic. Well me being me, I couldn’t resist but to have some myself. Why? I hear you ask. Why on earth would I start at such a young age having botox when I had no wrinkles? Well the simple reasoning is that Botox stops wrinkles from forming, but they are less effective at expelling existing ones.   Fillers or chemical peels are required for that. For my first ever treatment I had just my forehead injected. It gave me a marginal facelift which effect I really liked.

Why on earth would I start at such a young age having botox when I had no wrinkles?

Now well into my mid thirties I extended the Botox injection areas to the orbit of my eye and between my eyebrows. It used to amuse me when confounded people challenged me to say you don’t need Botox, to which I retorted: “Precisely, if I looked like I needed it then it isn’t working!”

“Precisely, if I looked like I needed it then it isn’t working!”

I have continued Botoxing now for 9 years and in my opinion it’s an essential procedure to hold back time, but unfortunately the effects wear off in months and it requires other interventions.

Now my 40’s! Despite all my preventative procedures, and successfully managing to cling onto a more youthful appearance, it was getting harder and harder. This is when I started to really research extensively the beauty industry and what works and what doesn’t.   Over the past 4 years I have tried and tested many products and some were totally futile and some were amazing.   I have discovered how to effectively use a myriad of creams and serums to maximise their benefits.   I have learnt the myths and realities of what we are being told and sold. The good news is, that in the past few years, there have been some radical innovations and there are products out there that can evidently reduce those lines, and they won’t cost the earth, and I promise it will be life changing.

Read my next instalment: How To stop Wrinkles, where I will reveal what products I have used, and what regime I do that has given me a face that beguiles my age.

Darren, Heart London Magazine