May 2012 FaceWorkshops Club: Facial Yoga for the Eyes

Are you exercising your eye area? 

Early research shows that facial zones age at different rates [Marrakchi 2007] and the eye area, in particular, is susceptible to premature ageing – due to squinting in the sun, computers, bad working conditions, lack of sleep, etc.

My clients quote the eye area to be their biggest concern. [FaceWorkshops Survey 2012]

We look people in the eye when forming a relationship. Our eyes are able to detect very slight changes in the eye area, we can distinquish a 20% change in skin surface topography eg. wrinkle depth. [Samson N, et al. 2010]

However, anti-wrinkle eye creams are used only by 22 % of people in the UK; 33 % in age group 45 – 54.

In order to deliver results, skincare has to team up with a smart application technique and facial exercise.

The FaceWorkshop Club members were encouraged to exercise their eye area,  doing 3 eye exercises, twice a day, for 7 days.

• First exercise was an eye movement (please note the video repeats the movement twice)

Exercise 1

• The second exercise was resistance training and the third exercise was an upper eyelid lift. Following the instructions, we did 20 repetitions twice for Exercise 2.

Exercise 2 and 3

• We did rest with palms on our eyes afterwards.

Please read the comments of the participants below, these are the subjectively assessed results.

Beauty Pays: Make Most of Your Assets.

According to social scientists, beauty pays. Contrary to the old feminists’ beliefs, it is not degrading to be groomed and look attractive. Beauty and intelligence are not mutually exclusive – recent research shows a link.

• Learn to invest time and effort into looking your best.
• Learn to smile and the world will smile back at you.

The past two decades have seen research documenting the economics of return to good looks. Attractive people earn up to 20 % more than unattractive people (all else being equal).  They are also seen as more competent, more persuasive, attract cooperation and have smoother relationships with colleagues. But beauty pays off in friendships, in social networks and in the politics of private life.

“Beauty is not superficial, trivial, insubstantial and futile. Investing time and effort into looking good is not an indicator of vanity or frivolity – for men or women.”

Everyone can highlight what they have to present themselves in the best light. The French insist that style allows even the ugly to become attractive – the jolie laide. But ugliness and beauty are also about attitude and a state of mind. Why let the uglies win, she asks?

Catherine Hakin is a social scientist at the London School of Economics and the author of Honey Money: The Power of Erotic Capital. http://www.catherinehakim.org

Source: Know Your Assets. The Sunday Times Style 11/09/2011.

FaceWorkshops Club: Garnier Ultralift

July 2011

At my talk to the Society of Cosmetic Scientists last week, the discussion revolved around the real performance of skincare. The industry agreed with me that skincare will never match the instant results (and risks) of surgery but small step-by-step visible improvements (like when we exercise) benefit our appearance. The SCS president emailed later to say “I used your gym analogy to a reporter from The Sunday Telegraph on Friday who was writing a piece on whether skincare works…” Analogies help to illustrate what to really expect in the ever-so-hyped world of skincare. But let’s look at the facts now.

• Unilever research shows that a well-formulated moisturiser will improve wrinkles by at least one grade (1/5 on a 5 grade wrinkle scale) in 6 months. This will be a visible result – people will notice and compliment you on a softer, plumper look!
• A benchmark dermatologist prescription treatment, retinoic acid, will improve wrinkles by two grades (2/5 on a 5 grade wrinkle scale) in 6 months but often with side effects including redness, scaling and inflammation.
• Using a skincare routine with ingredients matched to your skin type and concerns will improve the results.
• As always I hasten to add that skincare only accounts for 1/3 of the success! Youthful looks require well-shaped muscles and good jawline definition achieved by regular anti-ageing facial massage and exercise!

Have you seen the change in the mirror yet? See the results for yourself.

Garnier, a L’Oreal company, launched an interesting campaign. Davina has a dry skin type and, as any presenter, using strong facial expressions and being in and out of make-up all the time, she is prone to premature lines and wrinkles.

I don’t recommend Garnier for dry/mature skin types very often as there are no anti-ageing peptides in the formulation. But this is a fun exercise to see how well your anti-ageing moisturiser works!

Please note that the Garnier wrinkle scale has 10 grades (not 5 as the research scale above). That means you should see a difference earlier!

Link to YouTube Garnier Ultralift Challenge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvvcNMGuDxU

Link to the Wrinkle Reader

http://www.ultraliftchallenge.co.uk/GarnierUltraLift_range_ruler.html

October 2012

FaceWorkshops Club were testing the Ultralift anti-wrinkle cream. These are their comments – I will summarise once all comments are published.

Look At Me @ Sunday Times

According to Jane Shilling, author of The Stranger in the Mirror, a book about her own experience of becoming middle aged “you go through a long process of testing if your allure is still there, in the same way that, as an adolescent, you test out whether it has arrived.”

She says that usually on the cusp of turning 40 - I will be 40 next week – you are going to lose your allure in a culture that worships the youth. One minute you matter and will be noticed, the next, you are filed under “wasn’t bad when she was younger”. 

We all want attention on some level – but we dont want to try to be the same person we were 20 years ago. Our culture says being sexy and successful equals looking and acting youthful. But look at the French. Being attractive is art & fun there – long past the age of 40.

Sunday 23rd January 2011; Look At Me by Shane Watson.

On Beauty And Ageing

For so many women, life gets better in their later years. They grow into their looks and trade in their spotless perfect skin for experience and self-fulfilment. But if we are all living longer on average, we are going to spend most of our lives “not being young” and we might as well embrace it.

Women complain of becoming invisible to men in middle age and research supports this as our programming. But older women have their life experience written into their faces – all these fascinating, inspiring, individual stories. Young girls have inimitable, peachy, smooth skin with their future unmapped in their faces.

We can surgically enhance till we are blue in the face but we can never be beautifully young again. Instead, lets embrace our experiences and cherish the face that shows how interesting life we had.

Source: Walter H. Beauty and truth. Harpers Bazaar, August 2010, 76.

 

Beauty Across Cultures & Continents

Marketing agency, Sturm und Drang, were interviewed by Cossma Magazine recently and revealed the cultural codes of beauty across continents. Europe, US and Japan are distinctly different in the perception and meaning of beauty.

In Europe, particularly in Germany, true beauty is not visible on the surface. It comes from your personality; it is all about charisma and individuality. German beauty routines are fairly uncomplicated and take about 20 minutes a day. The focus is on the eyes and how we express our personality through our eyes. It is all about how we feel, what we eat and how we look after our soul. It is not about applying a product onto the surface. To respond to advertising, the Germans need “a reason to believe”; they are always asking questions and looking for “the truth”.

In the US, beauty is all about shine – glossy hair and “whiter than white” teeth. Beauty comes from the outside and American women put lots of effort into making themselves look attractive. Their routine is about an hour a day and a lot stricter than in Europe. However, it is limited to their professional life and happily abandoned at weekends. It says, “I am in control”. Advertising in the US focuses on the benefit, on the “object of desire”, on visual attributes. “This is it. Do you want it? What you see is what you get”.

Beauty in Japan is all about purity “down to the pore”. It is all about looking young! Japanese women spend 2 hours a day on their beauty routines, particularly cleansing, detoxing and UV protection – applying as many as 5 layers of skincare. Being cute equals being sexy. Advertising is about the context of the product usage. “How do I feel afterwards?”

Richard Lewis, the crosscultural guru, suggests that Britain’s cultural position mirrors the geographical – it is between the US and continental Europe. Do you feel that may be true for how we perceive beauty too?

Source: http://www.cossma.com/news/detailansicht/artikel/europa-bendig-on-beauty-routines-in-different-cultures-in-web-tv.html?tx_ttnews[backPid]=7067&cHash=6df7565254