Unfadingbeauty.co.uk is dedicated to helping mature women maintain their youth, trialling and testing different products and treatments to give honest answers and tips on what works best. Recently we welcomed Ann-Marie from
unfadingbeauty.co.uk into our St Johns Wood clinic to try our
3D Skinlift by Ultraformer. We asked her a couple of questions about her treatment and skincare and here’s what she had to say.
1. How did you enjoy your 3D Skinlift by ultraformer treatment?
The 3D Skinlift by Ultraformer went really well and I have to firstly put that down to my therapist Christina, at the St. John’s Wood branch of EF MEDISPA.
I don’t like discomfort of any kind, but Christina calmed me and talked me through every stage. Because she knew exactly what she was doing, it gave me confidence and even though at times it felt slightly uncomfortable (like tiny slaps from what sounded like a mini photocopier machine), we got through it. Together we even learned that the left side of my face is more sensitive than the right, and Christina adjusted the settings accordingly.
I could see immediate lifting results on my jaw line, neck and upper face, especially around my eyes; but it’s really how others react that tell the real story. The first thing that Mark, my husband, said when I met him outside, was that my eyes looked young again. I know what he means; I don’t have to fake a crease when I’m doing my eye make up as my eyes are more open.
![33](https://ef-medispa.imgix.net/storage/uploads/posts/33-1024x812.jpg?fm=pjpg&auto=format)
Because of these results, I feel that 3 treatments would completely lift my jowls like a face-lift and maybe only 2 treatments on my neck to rid me of all crepiness – not even close to the price (never mind all the complications) of a face-lift.
There’s an overall firmness to my face and for someone with such sensitive skin, I didn’t break out (even a week later), or experience reddening after the treatment. I also put this down to the aftercare from Christina; gentle massage, a customised face mask to cool and soothe, and even an application of mineral make up so I could face the world without a naked face. There really is no downtime to this procedure, you can get on with your day as normal afterwards.
2. What other treatments are you interested in & why?
I feel confident enough to at least try a patch test for
IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) treatment to tackle the appearance of my rosacea and shrink the dilated blood vessels. From what I’ve read, this can sometimes be a quite uncomfortable treatment and even though I know all EF MEDISPA staff are trained and constantly re-trained so they’re up to date with the latest techniques and equipment, I’d want Christina to carry it out.
3. What’s your home skincare routine?
![Taking care of my skin](https://ef-medispa.imgix.net/storage/uploads/posts/iStock_000020630479_XXXLarge-683x1024.jpg?fm=pjpg&auto=format)
My skincare regime varies because I trial a lot of skincare products for my blog
www.unfadingbeauty.co.uk. The routine and order stay the same though: I wash my face with a soap free liquid cleanser, then apply serum, tap on eye cream, apply a non greasy SPF/HELV cream (to face, neck and chest) and finish with moisturiser.
Before my make up, I apply a thick layer of Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturiser (never the gel formula) over my lips and just over my lip line. Sure it looks odd, but when I wipe it off my lips are not only moisturised, they’re plumped up and vertical lip lines are much softer.
At night, I always take my eye make up off with Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish. The formula changed slightly due to European regulations - they were no longer able to use one of the preservative ingredients, but it’s still one of the only cream cleansers that I can work into my eyes (I use waterproof mascara) without any irritation.
Three times a week I’ll use a gentle exfoliating toner or Pixi pads. Quick tip, after using the pad, turn it over and clean the creases of your ears, they’re often neglected! Then it’s a serum locked in by mosituriser, not forgetting to apply to my neck chest and hands.
4. Lastly, what’s your top beauty tip?
I’ve got 5 and they’re all free!
- Try not to sleep on your side, not only will it give you deep chest creases which will come back to haunt you in later years, but the side of your face that hits the pillow will wrinkle faster than the other side.
- Never use a straw. It creates the same ‘puckering pull’ on your lips as smoking does and will encourage vertical lip lines. If you don’t want lipstick all over the glass, find a way to wet the glass first (a discreet lick will do), this creates a barrier as you sip and will prevent lipstick transfer.
- Before you take a selfie, use your fingertips to gently lift your eyebrows and hold for 30 seconds, this creates a temporary lifting effect and will open up the eyes.
- For another eye opening illusion, try tightlining. Take a waterproof eye pencil and gently line the upper inside lids to make your lashes look fuller and eyes more defined and wider looking.
- For mature eyes, don’t use a shimmer eye shadow above the crease or on the inner corners, it’ll just accentuate any crepiness. It’s more flattering to apply a little shimmer in the middle of the eyelid or just above your eyeliner.