Q. I am 55 years old overweight (always trying to deal with that but, with not much success). I had breast cancer (seven years ago now) and a hysterectomy, as well as a bad back and arthritis (but we mustn’t let that get us down!) Like many people I am having to pull in the purse strings, but I would really like to know what vitamins and minerals I should take – and can they be combined, to save money? I am currently taking selenium, omega oils, sometimes zinc and Co-Q10. In addition, I’d like to ask about the skin over my eyes which has really sagged – any tips for that?
A. We are so sorry to hear about your string of problems but applaud your positive attitude.  The supplements we recommend you taking, after discussing your situation with Shabir Daya, the pharmacist at Victoria Health, are the following:

•  Improved Once A Day – a multivitamin and mineral

•  Essential Oil Formula for your essential fatty acids

•  Litozin for joint pain, which contains a special anti-inflammatory compound that should help your arthritis.  This works out rather more expensive as you to take a ‘loading dose’ for a month first; but our experience and strong scientific research testifies to its effectiveness.

With regard to the skin over your eyes, this is trickier.  First things first:  use a good eye cream, and be religious about dotting it on the ‘orbital bone’ (all the way around the brow, to the cheekbones;  don’t bother to put it on the lids – no matter how tempted you are – as the cream will travel there when you sleep anyway, and if you slather on eye cream too near the eye itself, it can potentially lead to irritation).  Prevent further damage by shielding eyes with large-framed sunglasses on even slightly bright days when you go outside.

Get your eyebrows plucked into a flattering arch, by a professional, and use an eyebrow pencil or powder to accentuate them;  ‘framing’ the eye in this way creates an optical illusion of lift.  In the same way, a dot of iridescent shadow blended just below the brow-bone has an eye-opening, ‘lifting’ effect.  And one last thing?  Don’t fret about your sagging skin.  You may see if when you look in the mirror, but when other people look at you, they’re looking into your eyes, not at the skin above them.  Try this:  look into the mirror straight into your eyes, and see if you can still focus on what you believe to be ‘sagging’ skin.  It’s just not possible!

• Improved Once A Day by Quest Vitamins, £4.49 for 30 tabs at www.victoriahealth.com - buy here (don’t forget about your exclusive 5% discount as a Beauty Bible ‘insider’, deducted automatically at checkout when you visit from this site

• Essential Oil Formula by Harmony Formula, £17.50 for 90 capsules available from www.victoriahealth.com – buy here (see note about discount, above)

• Litozin for joint pain, £20.60 for 120 capsules at www.victoriahealth.com buy here (see note above)