The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - The Telegraph Magazine
Beauty brains/the manual
Annabel Jones
Get your glow on; unisex scents
Facing up to a bright future
Years ago, Olay conducted a groundbreaking study that compared a clear, glowing wrinkled face with a tight, unlined uneven complexion. Respondents were asked to choose the face they liked the most. Overwhelmingly, participants found the even-toned, radiant example more attractive than the wrinkle-free one.
Ever since, the beauty industry has been focusing on products and treatments that help to create luminous skin, as it is now considered to be the measure of youthfulness. The aim: smooth, bright, dewy skin that radiates light without the need for extra sparkly pigments (though a good highlighter still can’t hurt).
Radiance is partly down to collagen, the protein that gives skin its structure, which may explain why Boots has seen a 1,570 per cent increase in searches for collagen on its website within the last six months. A 2017 study on the influence of collagen fibres on skin reflectance found that when collagen decreases with age, skin colour becomes less bright.
One way to boost collagen levels is with HIFU (high-intensity focused ultrasound), a treatment that uses ultrasound energy to target the layers of skin just below the surface. The tissue heats up rapidly, prompting the cells to dish out collagen to heal itself. Dr Marwa Ali at Harrods Wellness Clinic is known for her Gala Glow treatment, which combines HIFU with medical-grade vitamin C. Meanwhile Profhilo, an injectable bio-stimulation treatment available at Dr David Jack’s Harley Street clinic (and nationwide), delivers hyaluronic acid to the skin’s surface for hydration, while also stimulating collagen and elastin production. At home, a vitamin C serum will brighten on a surface level. Dr Eleanor Bradley from Boots explains, ‘When vitamin C is regularly applied to skin, it can help boost collagen levels and support optimal skin turnover. Melanin also becomes more evenly distributed throughout the top layers of the skin, helping to even out its tone and smooth its surface.’ Combine long-term treatments (post-lockdown, of course) with a radiance-boosting skincare regime and collagen-supporting vitamin supplements, and you could emerge with the type of complexion that won’t need to borrow its glow from a make-up palette. And there’s no greater skin satisfaction than that. Try these fab collagen givers for starters.