Best Skin Care Tips and Treatments 2019

Skin Care is high up on my agenda when it comes to looking after myself at the age of 63.

Well, if I do not look after myself, no one else will. We need to take care of our health, our fitness and also our faces. Yes, we do! Certainly many  women of my mother’s generation did not prioritise themselves and looked older than we do at the same age. Beauty and skin treatments have made huge advances in recent years and it is possible to hold back time with the help of non-invasive treatments and the right products for your skin.

BASICS

Of course, there is plenty we can do to help ourselves, such as:

• Drink plenty of water
• Use sunscreen
• Get quality sleep (I wrote a blog post on this before)
• Always take off your make-up
• Eat well and keep sugar to a minimum
• Do NOT smoke
• Cut back on or do not drink alcohol (easier said than done!)
• Use the right products for our skin

MY CONCERNS

1 Wrinkles

2 Laxity (around the jaw area particularly)

3 Dryness

4 Loss of volume

You can see my areas of concern below!

EXPERT ADVICE

So yes, I still want to look as well as I can for my age (I make no apology for that) and am in the privileged position of being able to try out many treatments for free.

We all have different concerns. What works for me might not work for you. That is why it is important to get advice from an expert about what your skin needs. And I am not talking about going into a beauty counter and getting advice from a sales assistant; I am talking expert advice. If you can afford it, go to a facialist or aesthetician.

Regular readers know that I have been attending Jeanne Brophy in Clontarf this year and tried out Endymed, The Red Carpet Facial and Derma Lux treatments. I have been delighted with the advice I have received and have been using products recommended for my particular concerns.  Jeanne also works with the products you already have, unless they are completely wrong for your skin type. You can read my reviews here and here. Of course, you need to realise that you will need to continue with treatments a few times a year, but I believe it is worth it.

I was particularly pleased with how I looked on the telly following my Red Carpet Facial at Jeanne Brophy.

PRODUCTS

I have started using retinol with Jeanne Brophy’s advice and started with an Image retinol cream and moved onto Skinceuticals.  You need to start slowly until you see how your skin reacts, which is why you need advice from an expert, not a salesperson.

I also use a Vitamin C serum in the morning before applying my make-up.

I was given some Seavite products in September (from the Mulrooney sisters) and can highly recommend them. I love the cleanser, but I have become addicted to the serum the more I use it. I did an in-depth review here and give you the background to the products.

PROBLEM SKIN

Relife an Italian skin care brand launched here during the year. They introduced the Relizema Range to the Irish market, products excellent for anyone with sensitive skin, extremely dry skin and dermatis or eczema conditions. I won a basket of products at The Future Beauty Show and handed them out to family and friends. The feedback has been excellent, particularly the bath oil which has had rave reviews from a sufferer. When I burned my leg (don’t ask) I used their spray designed to use on nappy rash and it helped soothe and heal the burn quickly.

CHRISTMAS PRESENTS

 

When it comes to skin care, we often forget about our bodies. For years, I neglected mine because I was rushing out to school and never had time to apply cream after my morning shower. But I have started using the most amazing products  Eminence Organics and have more of the range to test.

I am obsessed with their body treatments: Coconut Sugar Body Scrub and Stone Crop Body Oil. I was introduced to them at a beauty evening at The Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links. The Sugar and Rock Salt Scrub with added Vitamin C to brighten the skin tackles any rough bits and The Body Oil hydrates and softens and yet does not take ages to dry in.

I am road-testing some exciting treatments in 2020 and will be sharing the results with you. You will be able to judge for yourself. Watch this space!