LIFESTYLE
Forever young!
Time ticks on around our faces, and winter just speeds things up. Here are the latest novelties in the cosmetics field that offer you the chance to look younger without resorting to surgery.
High concentration active ingredients
They help to protect skin elasticity: “They are indicated for use from 30 years of age,” explains Corinna Rigoni, chairman of the Italian Women Dermatologists’ Association. “The most common active ingredients are jaluronic acid, vitamins (A, C, E), various plant extracts and amino acids. These allies contain a high concentration of active ingredients, and are not greasy, tonify the skin and fight dark skin patches and couperosis.” Which one should you choose? The first step is to identify your problem: there is a special serum for each imperfection.
The benefits of peeling
Exfoliation using chemical substances is the most popular beauty treatment in Europe. But we mustn’t exaggerate, as basal cells take 15 days to regenerate, and if we abuse the skin it becomes very fragile and sensitive: better to do it in the winter and avoid the hot season, above all exposure to the sun or sunlamps. It can offer many benefits: it renews cells, stimulates fibroblasts and removes dark skin patches. For the same reason, professional peeling treatments are also highly effective, particularly those with a pyruvic acid base.
The ray of light that makes you younger.
The luminous band of Fraxel or CO2 fractional lasers is targeted to only hit the skin partially, in thousands of microscopic points, for fast, side effect-free healing. Cristina Ilse Ghinolfi, doctor and plastic surgeon in Milan and Bologna, explains: “The regeneration process starts from these treated skin cones, healing in 4 to 5 days. The heat emitted by the laser contracts the collagen fibres and activates the fibroblasts. Closer to the surface de-epithelization (the exfoliation of a more or less thick layer of skin) takes place. This makes dark skin patches, acne residues, dilated pores, wrinkles and bar codes (lip wrinkles) disappear. After a few days the skin is more elastic, has better tone, and far fewer wrinkles.”
The treatment is easily carried out in the clinic and requires the application of a local cream anaesthetic, applied around an hour beforehand. After the intervention, the skin will be reddened, maybe very much so, for two to four days. During this time make up can be used but exposure to the sun or sunlamps must be avoided. To consolidate the result the treatment may be repeated a month or two later, depending on the type of laser.
Text by Monica Melotti
