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You look in the mirror and notice a sudden new sagging that seems to have appeared overnight. Dark circles lurk beneath the eyes that weren’t there yesterday. A third wrinkle, deeper than ever, concertinas the forehead…
Ageing always feels like an unfair business but, in the sniper’s alley of midlife, it seems to stop occurring in a purely linear fashion and instead comes in all-at-once bursts.
As stressful events pile up – from divorce to menopause and illness – each one seems to trigger some change to your appearance.
But these ‘ageing cliff-edges’ needn’t spell disaster. There’s nothing we can do to prevent life’s ups and downs, but we can combat their impact on our face.
Here, leading anti-ageing experts reveal what you can do to life-proof your looks…
YES, YOU CAN FIX DIVORCE FACE
‘The extreme stress of a divorce, whether wanted or not, will release the hormone cortisol, damaging the structure and architecture of skin,’ says GP and aesthetic doctor Priya Verma.
‘Lack of sleep further impacts the degradation of collagen and you’ll experience dark under-eye circles and a sunken or gaunt looking face that appears exhausted. The ageing effect of divorce isn’t as extreme as other life events, but it can be chronic and linger for years.’
Many of Dr Verma’s patients are over 50 and going through menopause too. ‘Add that to divorce and you’ve got a double whammy of oestrogen decline and loss of collagen, too, plus changes to the skin barrier which makes it more dehydrated. Many say their skin has lost its glow.’
GP and aesthetic doctor Priya Verma says: ‘We need to ensure your hormones are balanced, you’re well-nourished and you have the mental and practical toolkit to deal with your home and work life’
Don’t despair – small changes can have a seismic impact. Be consistent with bedtime, says Dr Verma.
Don’t use your phone for the hour beforehand, have a calming chamomile tea or a True Nightcap tonic by Ancient + Brave (£19.20 for 15 servings), and use lavender drops on your pillow (which should be silk to reduce skin friction).
‘Sleepy Head Pillow Spray from Made By Coopers [£19, 60ml] is effective,’ she adds. ‘Make going to sleep an enjoyable endeavour. And supercharge your skincare.
Use a serum such as the Alastin Hyaluronic Acid Immerse Serum [£122, 30ml], and an anti-oxidant serum like the Revision D.E.J Daily Boosting Serum [£265, 30ml] to reduce inflammation. Then a ceramide and lipids-rich moisturiser to hydrate.
‘I would recommend the Murad Cellular Hydration Barrier Repair Cream [£51.75, 50ml].’
If you want to go down the treatment route, the best for skin sagging and to restore volume to the face is Endolift, a laser that places heat under the skin to stimulate collagen production. One session is usually enough, with results appearing over three months and lasting two to three years.
Prices start from £1,500, but most women treat the lower face, under chin and neck (£2,500). It’s increasingly popular on the body, too, to tighten the abdomen, inner arms, thighs and above the knees.
Dr Paris Acharya says: ‘Botox continues to be very popular because it delivers such good instant results, but regenerative treatments that work with our body’s ability to repair itself are surging in popularity’
‘We see women from their 40s to their 70s – the ageing damage caused by divorce is huge,’ says Dr Paris Acharya, founder of The Ardour Clinic in London. ‘It’s not just the external effect, but the lack of hope and confidence that these women arrive with.
‘They’re exhausted from the loss of control and desperately want to find themselves again.’
But aesthetics alone will not help, she says. ‘We need to ensure your hormones are balanced, you’re well-nourished and you have the mental and practical toolkit to deal with your home and work life.’
Together with nurse and life coach Anna Miller, Dr Acharya offers a Renewal And Resilience programme specifically designed for divorcees.
‘There’s no quick fix. It takes time and it’s an investment in yourself to help you through what can be a really challenging time.
‘Botox continues to be very popular because it delivers such good instant results, but regenerative treatments that work with our body’s ability to repair itself are surging in popularity.’
One such treatment is Dr Acharya’s GlowGetter Luxe medical facial that boosts collagen and elastin production at a cellular level. Known as the ‘ultimate glass skin transformation’, it treats the face and neck and costs £950.
GRIEF REALLY DOES TAKE ITS TOLL
‘When I look at pictures of patients taken before and after a bereavement, it’s like looking at two different women,’ says Dr Christine Hall, a GP in medical aesthetics at the Taktouk Clinic in London. ‘The experience can age you ten years and is without doubt the most ageing of all life experiences.
‘When you go from a stable mental and physical state to a sudden surge in stress hormones, it is very visible on your face. All the volume will go, and eyes will be sunken or puffy.
‘We had one patient in her 40s who lost her sister and her hair went grey overnight. Her face literally dropped, everything shifted downwards. Often when you are stressed, you hold yourself in an unnatural way and that extends to the face.
‘Crying forces the face into unnatural positions too. This patient had lost all definition around her jawline and lower face.’
Dr Hall realises that grief is a process and if women want to tackle the effect it’s having on their looks, she suggests the least invasive options first: facials, good skincare and high-performance anti-ageing products.
‘Those I recommend include the Medik8 Liquid Peptides Advanced MP Serum [£79, 30ml], the SkinCeuticals Ce Ferulic Vitamin C Serum [£165, 30ml] and Kiehl’s Retinol Skin Renewing Daily Micro-dose Serum [£72, 50ml].’
Then there are injectable skin boosters such as Profhilo – ‘a glass of water for the face’, as Dr Hall puts it. Targeting the fat just below the skin’s surface, it helps to restore volume, give lift and soften lines.
At the Taktouk Clinic, they cost £495 each – with three needed over four months and effects lasting up to a year. They won’t change the structure of the face, but they will improve the texture, so skin doesn’t look hollow or thin.
Exion, which combines radio frequency and ultrasound to restore skin tone and volume, is another popular option with absolutely no downtime. It costs from £550 per session for the whole face and you’ll need between four and six, spaced one to two weeks apart. Results last up to two years.
‘The advice is slow and steady, one treatment at a time,’ says Dr Hall. ‘The last thing you need is a big treatment programme to manage.’
MENOPAUSE HAS AN IMPACT ON EVERYTHING
‘The only way to avoid menopausal ageing is to have HRT [hormone replacement therapy],’ says Dr Sophie Shotter, medical director at Illuminate Skin & Wellness Clinic. ‘Otherwise, you will age much more rapidly. You can soften it, but you can’t eradicate it.
‘The menopause is up there with serious illness in terms of its ageing effects on a woman’s face and body. That’s because it’s impacting on every body system. Every tissue has hormone receptors and during menopause every tissue will start to work less efficiently.
‘If you have a younger menopause and don’t take HRT then, by the time you hit 50, you can look a decade older than your peers. Skin may have more pigmentation, more lines and wrinkles and dullness. Many women develop sensitivity like rosacea and adult acne, and excess hair growth. You lose so much collagen – 30 per cent in the first five years of perimenopause. Facial skin is thinner and laxer and body skin is crepier.’
How to combat it if you don’t want to take HRT? ‘The most effective way is with regenerative medicine – treatments like skin boosters that stimulate your own collagen and elastin production.’
A range of products from menopause specialists such as Emepelle, which include a powerful blend of oestrogen analogues, retinol, peptides, antioxidants and hyaluronic acid, can be truly transformative. You’ll pay £279 for a serum and a night cream starter set. ‘HRT should be viewed as health preservation,’ adds Dr Shotter.
‘A reduction in bone density is linked to declining oestrogen levels and oestrogen is a big driver of mobility in later life.
‘You want to be as robust and resilient as possible in the decade before you die and bone density is key to that.’
YOU DON’T HAVE TO PICK FACE OR FIGURE
‘The rapid weight loss you get from taking drugs like Ozempic can be incredibly ageing and often the biggest toll is on the face,’ says Olivia Falcon, founder of The Editor’s List, a service that offers expert advice on the latest cosmetic procedures. ‘Most people I see have lost between ten and 20 kilos on it.’
The problem is when fat cells in your face atrophy, they cause lax skin and fast-track the ageing process. Eyes look sunken, jowls droop and people often get
‘bulldog folds’ around the mouth, making them look about five years older.
‘Menopausal women who take Ozempic to counteract middle-aged spread create the perfect storm,’ says Olivia. ‘A drop in oestrogen also expedites fat cell atrophy and makes skin texture look dull.
‘In many cases people complain they look a decade older.
‘In the past year the number of women needing post-Ozempic anti-ageing treatments has risen to 40 per cent of my total business.
‘At the same time,’ she continues, ‘a lot of women have filler-fatigue because they don’t want to look overdone or puffy. If you lose ten kilos, under-eye filler can get displaced as fat pads and tissues descend. This can result in unattractive and very noticeable bulging in the upper-cheek area.
‘What my clients want is polynucleotides. They’re bio-stimulating injectables made from purified fish DNA fragments. They’re not fillers and they’re not volumising, but they signal to your body to create more collagen and elastin.
‘It’s strengthening the scaffolding of the skin with no swelling.’
Polynucleotide injections can increase microcirculation under the eyes to improve dark circles and give skin refinement.
The most popular brand now is Plinest and treatments cost around £500 and can be used to treat the face, neck and body areas. You’ll need two treatments about three weeks apart and the effects will last about six months.
BREAST CANCER – THE TRIPLE HIT OF AGEING
Of course, getting older means running the gauntlet in lots of ways, not least in terms of illness. One in seven women in the UK will get breast cancer in their lives, for example.
Looks may well seem a trivial concern at the time of a diagnosis, but many women find mitigating the effects gives them renewed confidence.
‘With any major illness, the face looks older due to loss of soft tissue volume and sometimes also loss of bone size,’ says plastic surgeon Rajiv Grover. ‘This is typically focused on the parts of the jaw that support the teeth. When that bone shrinks back, the lower part of the face starts to disappear, which is very ageing.’
Breast cancer delivers a triple hit of ageing, he says. ‘You’ve got the trauma of illness-induced inflammation, a loss of oestrogen [most breast cancers are oestrogen-positive preventing HRT] and the psychological impact. I’ve seen it add five years to a woman’s face.’
The signs can include loose skin on the neck and jowls, laxity in the mid-face, loose eyelid skin, a drooping of the brow and asymmetry in the face because women rarely lose weight in the same way on both sides.
The treatment most likely to address these changes is a facelift. You’ll spend two nights in hospital, two weeks not doing very much – and be restaurant-ready in three weeks.
However, a full facelift will set you back upwards of £10,000.
If you want to avoid illness-related ageing, these are the seven things you can aim to do, according to Dr Grover. Look after your gut health. Reduce causes of inflammation (smoking, alcohol, UV light). Keep your muscles strong. Work on your balance.
Keep your brain fit – it’s a muscle too. Give more attention to your sleep (get more than six hours a night to protect against dementia). Have healthy relationships because ‘loneliness is also a disease’.