The beauty industry is eternally dreaming up new ways to replicate the effects of cosmetic surgery procedures, without actually necessitating a scalpel or an anaesthetic. We took a deep look at a few of the newer beauty innovations, which don’t require invasive surgery, to see what’s been developed in the last 12 months or so.
BY LISA WILLIAMS The Newest Extreme Dermatology Promises Dramatic Results With Less Downtime If eyebrow threading makes you uneasy, honey, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Queen of off-kilter beauty extremes (remember vagina steaming?) Gwyneth Paltrow has another treatment for you to think about: The Threading Face-Lift. A recent GOOP article on her popular blog explored the ins and outs of the “under-the-radar” method for anti-aging which was approved by the FDA ten years ago. So what exactly is the draw of giving your face the ‘thread-lifting’ treatment? That would be the fact that’s it’s scalpel-free, has a lower downtime and is relatively low-cost compared with other, more invasive treatments, but comes with a bigger payoff of greater lifting capacity compared to run-of-the-mill lasers and creams. Blame silent screen-era director D. W. Griffith for the cult of perfection in Hollywood (and the rest of the world): His pioneering closeups arguably led to generations of actors (supposedly everyone from Marilyn Monroe and Greta Garbo to Burt Lancaster and John Wayne) becoming plastic surgery guinea Continue Reading
BY LISA WILLIAMS The latest Korean craze Rejuran anti-ageing microinjections seems to be every youthful celebrity’s weapon du jour. However, my obsession with salmon as an anti-aging extraordinaire started much further back when I first read the book, The Wrinkle Cure, almost a decade ago by celebrity doctor Nicholas Perricone (yes, he of the famed Perricone skincare line). In it, he introduced salmon as a superb source of anti-inflammatory, anti-aging nutrients. In fact, Dr Perricome was a firm advocate of Wild Salmon as it contains essential fats and powerful antioxidants such as the carotenoid, astaxanthin, that have important anti-inflammatory properties. How does this relate to aging? Decades of research show that chronic, sub-clinical inflammation is the single greatest precipitator of aging and age-related diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, certain forms of cancer, and wrinkled, sagging skin. What this means is that it isn’t the big events that make us look at an old leather handbag at 60, it is the small daily insults on our skin that Continue Reading
BY LISA WILLIAMS Though my nose is perfectly straight and sits well proportioned on my face, the somewhat bovine curve at the bottom bothered me. Not the curve, per se, but a childhood memory related to it. When I was about six, my mother casually mentioned my nose looked like Miss Piggy’s—which, in itself, is not a bad thing to say except no woman wants to grow up to resemble a porcine cartoon character. A few months later, forgetting all about her comment and the fact that I have a spectacular memory, she said, “Miss Piggy has a really ugly nose.” This caused an unintentional scar that remained on my psyche; I would never pose for pictures in profile. I was convinced it wasn’t my best face forward. However, I am a real coward when it comes to surgery. The furthest I have gone in my foray into the medical world was a blood test for my annual health screen. Hence, my dilemma. Jumping into the deep end When I found Continue Reading
As we grow older our skin goes through many different phases depending on our hormones and how much we indulge in life’s excesses. To help you understand your skin better, we look at what happens to our skin during our thirties, forties and fifties and give you the best beauty tips for each stage. Read More: 5 Anti-Aging Must-Haves for Graceful Living 30s WHAT IS HAPPENING? More babies are born to women aged between 30 and 34 than in any other age group. Pregnancy is a good skin care conditioner and it’s common for women to appear to ‘glow’ during this time. This is because a healthy hormone production of oestrogen and progesterone can give your skin a healthy look. Read More: 5 Ways to Tackle Stubborn Zits FAULTS & FIXES: Pregnancy spots: Some women complain of ‘pregnancy spots’. This is an overgrowth of blood vessels lying deep in your skin caused by too much oestrogen. During pregnancy, your skin texture may also start to become drier and tougher because Continue Reading
