Beauty bible

A new high-end facial can’t solve daily worries, but it can take away the lines they leave

How to beat ‘anxiety face’

IF YOU’RE VAIN, don’t write a book. When I lifted my head after writing ‘the end’ on mine the other day, it was the scaled and lined visage of a prehistoric, gecko-like creature belonging on a plinth in the Natural History Museum.

The rims of my glasses had left red ridges beneath my eyes, my forehead was lined and my ‘elevenses’ (the two parallel lines between my brows) deeper than ever. Also – presumably because I can never be bothered to sort out either my chair or desk height to ensure I’m not staring down at a screen for 10 hours a day – I seemed to have acquired a set of marionette lines pulling my mouth down into my neck that I was simultaneously horrified and fascinated by.

There’s a term for this – blessedly temporary – affliction, I found out when I consulted skin expert Dr Nyla Raja: ‘anxiety face’. The clients booking into both her Harley Street and Cheshire clinics will try to detail what they don’t like about their faces, sometimes even dissolving into tears as they do so. But, Dr Raja says, ‘really it’s the anxiety of life reflected there that they don’t like’.

Concerned all these ground-down people are turning to needles unnecessarily, Dr Raja has devised a 360-degree lunchtime facial solution, the Face Remodel, that comprises three of my favourite non-invasive technologies – radio frequency, ultrasound and charcoal peel – to lift and improve skin texture while stimulating the skin to ‘self-heal’. And the best thing is, it’s practically pleasant. Warming and relaxing, it delivers an instant lift and glow. And with only minimal redness experienced for a few hours afterwards and increased skin plumpness that lasts for three months, this might as well be renamed the Anxiety Blaster.

But those who don’t fancy forking out £1,500 (doctornyla.com) needn’t work themselves into another frenzy. There are some impressive take-home treatments out there too – and I’ve rounded up five of the best.