How DOES she do it? The Uptown Girl comes clean
Botox in the neck, hair pieces, physio for aching joints… Christie Brinkley admits looking this good at 61 is hellishly hard work
HAS she, or hasn’t she? That is the big question. And here is the answer: only your dermatologist should know for sure. Last year, an American magazine decided to celebrate my Big Six-O by placing me on their cover in a bathing suit. And ever since, people have been saying ‘I’ll have what she’s having’, while others proclaim that ‘60 is the new 30!’
What am I doing right? Well, for one thing I am always interested in what might benefit my skin. Now, at 61, I’ve dabbled in several treatments, with varying degrees of success. I have outlined them, along with hundreds of other insider tips – from diet and exercise, to make-up and hair tricks of the trade – in my new book, Timeless Beauty.
There are so many ways to give your face or body a fresh new look, from injections to replace volume, to lasers, radio waves, light waves, and even treatments that use growth hormones from your own blood to generate new cells.
I am not a doctor, and I don’t claim to be any sort of expert, so the last thing I would want to do is recommend that you try (or avoid) any one particular treatment. Those decisions should be between you and your doctor. But what I can do is share some information about what treatments are available, to help you make the right choices for your skin, while letting you in on a few things I have had done myself…
Botox... in the neck!
HAVING Botox injected into my forehead was a disaster. Looking back, I don’t even know why I bothered. Instead of making me look serene and relaxed, Botox took the arch out of my eyebrows and made me look sad. My face lacked expression and I couldn’t wait for the effects to wear off. I never tried it again in my forehead.
But more recently, I noticed vertical bands in my neck that were particularly obvious with side lighting. I didn’t like them, so I enquired about what could be done, and apparently the easiest way to address this issue was to inject small amounts of Botox into the ‘strings’ in my neck.
It worked wonders to relax those muscles and it also tightened my double chin area and jawline. The best part is that you don’t have to worry about any expression being lost or changed.
Botox is a type of drug called a neuromodulator – other brand names include Xeomin and Dysport. It works by temporarily stopping the muscle contracting by interfering with the nerve messages going to them. Results are visible within 48 hours, and last from three to six months.
Beware doctors who use too much, as this can cause eyebrows to droop (which is what happened to me) or lift too much, which creates a surprised look.
Fill, don’t stuff
I HAVE used fillers in super-tiny doses, and just like make-up, the best ones are imperceptible.
Dermal fillers are gels that are injected beneath the skin surface. As their name implies, they are used to fill in places that have lost volume due to ageing.
That means they are effective not only for filling up wrinkles and indented scars, but can also restore volume to the cheeks, hands and other areas that have lost their youthful fullness. Results are immediate and can last six to 12 months.
Used well, they can give the overall face a lift and also diminish fine lines. I’ve used them on an indentation on my forehead – the legacy of a playground accident – and also on marionette lines around my mouth. But you must use a very small amount because over-filling removes contours and gives you a flat face.
If you have a pockmark, a wrinkle that you feel distracts from your look, or a scowl that does not reflect your attitude, fillers can be a good solution.
A light refresher
I’VE also tried a laser treatment that was nothing short of miraculous. Last summer I got a rash from brushing against poison ivy and was left with noticeable discoloration on my face. After just a few treatments with a Clear + Brilliant laser (which wasn’t painful and didn’t make my skin more red or flaky), my skin tone was back to normal.
The process also stimulates your body to produce collagen, the naturally occurring protein in the skin that gives it firmness and elasticity, so I get the added bonus over time of my face looking fuller and more youthful.
Non-surgical lifting
SKIN-tightening devices that use radiofrequency waves, such as those in the Accent, Pelleve, Thermage and Tripollar ranges, can do amazing things without any surgical lifting. These machines deliver energy deep into the skin to heat it and stimulate collagen production.
Results develop over a period of two to six months after treatment and can last a year or more.
I tried Tripollar for wrinkles above my knees. The treatment sounded too good to be true and felt like a hot stone massage. However, the faint horizontal lines above my knees were indeed gone afterwards. This is something I would try again.
When it comes to cosmetic treatments, there is some truth to the old adage: ‘No pain, no gain.’
Injections, lasers, and energy treatments are rarely completely pain-free. But the good news is that any pain involved is usually minimal, rarely lasts much longer than the treatment itself, and can be easily mitigated with the right pain-relief treatments. Your doctor should be able to advise on steps to take before your procedure.
To minimise bruising from injections, you need to stop taking any medications of supplements that thin your blood. Cut out aspirin two weeks prior to your appointment, and starting two to three days before treatment, skip any ibuprofen or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, fish oil, Vitamin E, ginkgo biloba and alcohol.
Tweak, but don’t correct
MY ATTITUDE is: if something bothers you, it’s OK to tweak it. Don’t like your grey hair? Cover it up (or even make it pink and purple if you choose).
And the same goes for wrinkles, sagging and discoloured skin. Younger women should try to see keeping their skin beautiful and healthy is a process of maintenance, rather than correction.
With today’s menu of cosmetic treatment options you can pretty much pick and choose which things bother you, and do something about them. We could have a whole discussion here about the external pressure we all face to look a certain way. But hopefully you are not choosing a medical procedure as a way of becoming something or someone you are not.
The best results are not total transformations but nearly imperceptible changes that just make you look like a slightly younger version of you. This is an area where less really is more.
Find the right doctor
I’M FORTUNATE enough to have access to some of New York City’s top dermatologists, but not everyone does. So what do you do? First, check credentials. Ideally, you’d initially see a consultant on the General Medical Council specialist register. Accreditation with a professional body such as the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons is also desirable.
Find out everything you can about the treatment and its results – a good resource is realself.com, where people can post their own honest reviews about cosmetic treatments.
Don’t shop just on price, as this can lead you to an inexperienced practitioner. Disfiguring burns and pigmentation from lasers, fillers that cause painful infections, and counterfeit products are just a few dire consequences.
Timeless Beauty: Over 100 Tips, Secrets, And Shortcuts To Looking Great, by Christie Brinkley, is published by Grand Central Life & Style, priced £19.77