I was doing a woman's makeup the other day and I couldn't help but notice that her skin was beautiful. It was glowing. The woman was in her late 40's and I had to ask her what she used or did to her skin, and she said the only thing that she did really was red light therapy. ( Red light therapy was discovered by NASA astronauts when they were attempting to grow plants in space! ) It involves LED lights (light emitting diodes) . It is a light source that emits heat from an infrared light. And this light jump starts the process of increasing blood flow, the skin producing collagen, and basically rejuvenation of the skin. Its great for fine lines and wrinkles, improved complexion and skin tone, and has even been known to help with rosacea. It works by the infra red light penetrating the skin and repairing any damaged nerves or cells under the skin. You can get this treatment done at a salon or you can buy the small handheld units and do it yourself. Being the beauty junkie that I am , I have an endless supply of creams and gadgets to smooth and tone, and I remembered that I actually had the NuFace Trinity that had the red light attachment on loan to a friend! Time to get that back and start using it again I thought. So I have been using it every other night (while I watch Netflix ) for two weeks now and my skin is starting to look better ! It takes that long to start noticing a difference. My complexion looks smoother and the fine lines are less noticeable. (never going to disappear tho I know that .) I have a few sunspots that I'm hoping will fade and I am also trialling it on my chest as well as it is meant to be good for fading sun damage... I would be so happy if I could erase some of the damage of a youth spent lying on the beach for hours! That is still a work in progress as I have just started but will add a postscript in a couple of weeks to report any change. Definitely a treatment I would recommend . I just want to add that the Nu Face Trinity comes as a pack with a firming attachment as well as the infra red attachment.... click on products for deets . :)

As you can tell by my last post and now this that I am obsessed with keeping my skin looking dewy! I refuse to let age get in the way of great skin ! It's no great secret that as we age we lose the dewiness in our skin. There are a lot of factors involved... lack of sleep , poor diet, alcohol , and as we approach menopause we start to lose our hormones , oestrogen especially being needed to keep our skin plump and dewy. Sebum production slows down too due to the lack of hormones and this starts to make our skin dry. 
Fortunately it is not all doom and gloom and we can reclaim our  dewy with a few products and a few tricks. 

1. Stay hydrated. Keeping our bodies hydrated is important to flush out all the toxins. The first place that shows a build up is our skin, so if we want to keep it clear looking keep up your intake of water. I drink alkaline water - Kangen water - and I swear by it. It is not only alkaline but it also contains hydrogen ions that act as an anti oxidant  to fight the free radicals in your body that cause it to age.

2. Use Retinol products. They can help speed up production of new skin cells and collagen production. A few of my favourites  Sunday Riley Good Genes , Chantecaille Retinol Intense and Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Extra Strength Daily Peel.    ( I swear by the Dr Dennis Gross peel pads. They leave my skin looking brighter instantly!  I use them twice a week. ) Used in conjunction with Glycolic products which slough the dead skin cells and leave the skin looking brighter.

3. Use cream products on your skin instead of powders. Powders on the skin as we age tends to settle in the lines and exaggerate them , leaving the skin looking dry. If you have to use a setting powder over your foundation I prefer to use a very light no pigment powder that doesn't cake. My two favourites are the Mac Prep & Prime powder in the compact and By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra Powder. 
For blushers I use Hourglass Illume Sheer Colour Trio. This pack has a cheek blush, bronzer (which I often use as a blush ) and a highlighter all in one. Perfect for keeping the skin looking dewy. Another fave is the RMS Beauty Lip2cheek , which as it says can be used on lips too.

4. Mix a tinted moisturiser and a foundation together. This is my winning combo these days. I was finding that my foundation was making me look old. It just wasn't sitting right on my face - and I had tried 3 different foundations to see if it was the formulas but they all made my face look dull. So I decided to mix in my tinted moisturiser one day. The tinted moisturiser was just not lasting enough on its own anymore. I would find by lunch time it had all but disappeared and I was reapplying ... so it was sat with all the other unused beauty products in my bathroom until I stumbled on the winning formula. Now I get comments on my skin and I swear it is because of these two products together. I use Shu Uemura Petal Skin and Eve Lom Tinted Moisturiser.  And for the record, I have no problem mixing different products with different brands. Sometimes there are no rules!

5. Use serums and oils on your face. Because serums are made up of finer molecules and penetrate deeper into the skin to do their magic. And oils hydrate the skin deeper too and leave it looking more plump and juicy. Try the Darphin range of oils... chamomile and the 8 Flower Nectar are divine. ( My last blog post talks about them ) or Josie Maran 100% Argan Oil .
And serums... Drunk Elephant C Firma Day Serum , Codage Serum No.1 Intense Moisturising Serum & Nude Skincare ProGenius Omega Treatment Milk.
 (scroll over products for deets. :)