Are you ready for a ‘liquid’ facelift?

IN THE fourth part of our unmissable series exploring the treatments that can take years off you, expert ALICE HART-DAVIS reveals everything you need to know about the latest cutting-edge ways to restore that youthful plumpness . . .

You don’t start looking hollow- cheeked and gaunt overnight. like many aspects of ageing, this creeps up on you as the fat pads filling out your face start shrinking, usually in your early 40s.

even if you don’t have a particularly plump face, you have about 20 of these useful fat pads in the cheeks, under the eyes, around the temples and down to the chin and jaw. The ones under the eyes are the first to go, which makes the eyes a bit sunken, and then the cheeks begin to look less full, which is often the point when you start to notice the change.

To add insult to injury, some of these pads may drift south from their original moorings, leading to pouchy bags under the eyes or a jowly jaw.

What makes the process more noticeable is that these shrinking fat pads lead to less volume in the face. imagine the fat pads as tiny balloons holding up your skin, but from which air is slowly escaping. This makes the skin sag and crease.

if your younger face was on the solid side, as mine was, the reduction in volume is not always a bad thing.

i was amazed to discover some cheekbone definition in my 40s, though now i’m half way through my 50s, i do have a tendency to look gaunt.

WHY BONE LOSS IS A REAL BOTHER

AnoTheR less desirable aspect of ageing is that we also lose bone mass in the face — from the temples, the eye sockets, along the jaw and chin and around the mouth.

The result is that everything in the face gradually starts to collapse inwards.

This is all very natural, but it’s not great, is it? And this loss of volume and support is made worse by midlife dieting or strenuous exercise regimens. cutting back your fat percentage may be great for your waistline, but it isn’t so kind to your face. This is what lies behind the old maxim that once a woman reaches 40, she has to choose between her face and her figure.

hang on to a few extra pounds and your face should look softer; diet them away and it will swiftly look older.

FILLERS COULD BE THE ANSWER

Re-VoluMiSinG the face can work wonders to restore a bit of youthful softness. This is where facial fillers come in.

if you hear talk of people having ‘liquid facelifts’, it will be facial fillers (which are technically gels, rather than liquids) that are doing the lifting. i’m a big fan of what can be done with fillers.

‘patients tend to be scared of fillers as they are frightened of looking too puffy or overfilled,’ says dr Tracy Mountford of The cosmetic Skin clinic, who has been injecting faces for some 28 years.

‘Also, they don’t understand the new concept of strategic multiple syringe filling, which helps to generate lift, not “puff”, in the face.

‘people still see celebrities who look weird and overdone and, therefore, they just don’t believe treatments can look natural.

‘however, once they see our before and after case study pictures, they understand what we are doing and how we achieve natural results.’

There’s no need to feel scared about treatments as long as you choose the right kind of products and have the work done by an experienced, supercompetent practitioner.

not just someone who knows technically how to use the stuff, but someone who can work with it like an artist.

This means re- sculpting your face to add the softness, volume and structure it needs, so that afterwards you just look like yourself — only fresher.