The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - The Telegraph Magazine
Lisa Armstrong
Fight the Christmas face bloat
In the thick of the 12 days of Christmas, if you’re feeling bloated/blotchy/generally not peak you, here are five steps to a more glowy, healthy and youthful face. Spoiler: they don’t involve a spa in Thailand.
1 Mitigate the onslaught of carbs and chocolate with supplements. Vitamin B complex is a solid friend to your complexion, while vitamin C will boost collagen production. And keep eating those satsumas: they can satiate other cravings (remember: sugar triggers inflammation, a major cause of lines and wrinkles, and loss of skin tone). Get some locally produced honey, which helps bolster your immune system. Dr Sophie Shotter at The Skin Clinic takes 25ml of Zenii’s Skin Fusion with hydrolysed marine collagen in the morning. ‘The key is that word “hydrolysed”, which means it will be fully absorbed, unaltered, and the particle size tricks the body into thinking it’s been wounded, so it produces extra collagen to heal itself,’ she says. It also contains zinc, vitamin B, magnesium and a host of other minerals and vitamins. Shotter takes Prohydrate to boost moisture levels, too.
2 Spice up your 1.5 litres a day by adding a capful or more of raw apple-cider vinegar (the kind that comes with its own culture) to water. It will help digestion, stimulate healthy flora in your gut, and brighten your skin and eyes. At Heckfield Place, the Hampshire hotel where Harry and Meghan went on babymoon, they add ginger, turmeric and – for aesthetics – rosemary and ice. Almost like being at the Copacabana.
3 A walk in fresh air is fine, but two minutes of facial exercise a day should also be non-negotiable. The two most effective for the jawline and cheekbones involve sticking your tongue out as far as it will go and moving it from side to side 20 times, twice. Next, drop your jaw as far as it will go, and pulse the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth 20 times, twice. No one must see you do this, but the toned results are worth it. A refrigerated jade facial roller will also fire up your circulation.
4 Neurophroline Serum by Garden of Wisdom, previously mentioned on these pages and one of the beauty launches of 2019, neutralises the impact of stress on your skin.
5 Once your oils and moisturiser have been absorbed, keep foundation to a minimum, if you need it at all. Focus on blending a sheer luminiser around the temples, above the cheekbones and just above the bow of your lip. My favourite this year is RMS Beauty’s organic Living Luminizer.