Beauty Bible: Help with a thin face
Q. I'm 30 this year, but I have lost a lot of volume from my cheeks and under eye area. When I gain weight, it unfortunately doesn't show in my face. Can you recommend any skincare or other options to help please (but not fillers or fat transfer)? A. Skincare can help but on the whole it’s temporary. However, choosing products that contain hyaluronic acid is wise as HA essentially plumps up skin cells. You might want to consider taking a supplement of this too.
Liz Earle Intensive Nourishing Mask is fab but the product that Sarah found helped most with skin-plumping was Darphin Youthful Radiance Camellia Mask, not cheap, but worth investing in. That does contain HA as well as camellia oil and pomegranate extract.
Skincare-wise, if you like Liz Earle’s product I would tend to stick with that brand. The Superskin range is the richest, so why not try that?
As well as eating, you need to hydrate your skin with water – lots and lots of still pure water. Try flavouring it with cucumber, ginger or lemon to make it more palatable. And try herbal teas like fresh mint or ginger.
But the thing that may make the best difference is to get your gut sorted. Sounds funny but bear with me. Your skin is essentially your gut on the outside. If you gut flora is disturbed (that’s the good and bad bugs) because you are/have been stressed, it will as you have noticed show up on your skin.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, two pairs of gut meridians run down your face. I discovered this when I first took a chlorella supplement (Sun Chlorella A). A week or two after starting, I noticed that not only was my skin really velvety and peachy looking, my rather long bony face looked ‘lifted’. Now that isn’t something I say usually. In fact, nothing has ever made that difference except maybe a lovely holiday. Certainly not a supplement.
So do consider a supplement like Sun Chlorella A. It comes as titchy little green pillules, start with five of them three times a day. Or choose the granule version and add it to juice. (Do remember to clean your teeth after – and don't be alarmed when you go to the loo: what goes in green can come out green, too…)
Do have a look at the Super Green Facelift Diet in our latest book, The Anti-Ageing Beauty Bible, which gives you lots more information about greens for your gut plus a recipe for a green smoothie, which has proved very popular.
Lastly, you might try some facial exercises to get the muscles moving and bolster your facial structure. If you look on THE BEAUTY BIBLE section on our website - click here - you will find Eva Fraser’s facial exercises.
• Liz Earle’s Intensive Nourishing Mask/£14 for 50 ml at www.uk.lizearle.com - buy here
• Darphin Youthful Radiance Camellia Mask/£45 for 75 ml at www.johnlewis.com - buy here
• Sun Chlorella A/£21.95 for 20 sachets from www.victoriahealth.com - buy here