The A-list secrets that will fix dull, crepey skin
This year's Oscars red carpet will feature the usual parade of sumptuous décolletages and sculpted arms – displayed, more than ever, by actresses well over 40. With Nicole Kidman and Pamela Anderson leading the charge of midlife actresses bearing glorious flesh on the big and small screen, it's obvious, at last, that mature women can give the young ones a run for their money.
As ever, it takes some commitment and maintenance. Personally, as a lifelong exercise fan, I was incensed to discover loose skin on my body at age 54: no cardio or weight-bearing training can halt the collagen loss and subsequent thinning skin that comes with age. It will show up as crepey, less-than taut bits all over your body.
That's life – but of course, Hollywood has antidotes for it, and so does the beauty industry. Luxuriant flesh, it seems, can be maintained – but how? We asked the skin gurus of the rich and famous.
Nourished glow
Asked how she maintains her flawless porcelain limbs, Kidman claimed 'oil baths and sunscreen'. Glib as that sounds, it makes sense to Dr Anna Persaud, the chief executive of ThisWorks. 'The heat will help any oils in your bath penetrate the skin and prevent it drying out overnight when trans-epidermal water loss is at its highest,' she says. She regards essential fatty acid oil-rich products with 'gold-standard skincare vitamins A, B3 (niacinamide) C and E' as key for nourished, stretchmark-free skin that glows naturally.
Nichola Joss, face and body sculptor to Kate Moss and Gwyneth Paltrow, favours rich oils with lymph-stimulating castor oil for massage that contours and improves tone and texture. 'A quick and simple daily technique will pay dividends,' she says, advising to start at the ankle and work up the leg. 'Don't be afraid to use deeper sweeping and circular movements upwards from the thighs, downwards from the belly button and inwards on the arms.' If it's good enough for Meghan Markle (another one of Joss's fans), it's worth a go.
UV ages the skin more than anything else, so sunscreen is key. As a strawberry-blonde Aussie, Kidman will have been slathered in it from before she could walk, and the result is clear in the quality of her skin.
Try...
ThisWorks Deep Sleep Beauty Oil has fatty acid-rich blackcurrant seed oil, bakuchiol (a retinol alternative) and terpenes for their cell-regenerating properties, and a clinically proven sleep-promoting scent.
Dr Organic 100% Pure Castor Oil can be used neat or with added drops of essential oils for a powerful lymph drainage massage.
Smooth operator
Joanna Czech, a Hollywood aesthetician with Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett on her books, begins any red carpet or on-set body prep with intensive but non-aggressive micro-exfoliation. Using pastes featuring ultra-fine sapphire or diamond particles, plus a 'water peel spatula' (an ultrasonic tool with a metal spatula that dislodges dead skin and debris) on particularly rough areas, she refines skin and ensures it absorbs subsequent products perfectly.
But you can slay chicken skin, brighten dullness and drain away puff all at once, she admits, with regular dry body brushing sessions, starting, like massage, at your feet and making long upward sweeps towards your heart.
Try...
Sapphire Dust Skin Activator offers deeply smoothing dermabrasion and hydration at the same time, thanks to sapphire dust and glycerin.
Dermaflash Dermapore Ultrasonic Pore Extractor is great for working on especially rough patches.
Quenched flesh
If you've spotted an Oscar-level A-lister slinking down Harley Street this week, don't be surprised: they may have had to pop over for a body booster that's unavailable in the States. 'Profhilo (the popular quenching and smoothing injectable skin booster) has still not been FDA-approved in the US,' says cosmetic physician Dr Sophie Shotter. That hasn't stopped half of La-La land getting it injected into their faces (the radiant glow is the giveaway) by London's premier cosmetic doctors – and now they're getting it in their bodies too.
Profhilo Body, which comes in larger units than face Profhilo and is charged from £400 per session nationwide, will visibly and almost instantly smooth and plump crepey, loose skin on the décolletage, arms, knees and even tummy. But doctors admit that for really good results, you need to have it often. Shotter likes to inject a chosen area every six months after the initial two-session protocol, while Dr Preema Vig has clients that get it every three months 'for really significant results'.
Collagen control
Supermodel Yasmin Le Bon once stated: 'If I don't like an anti-ageing potion on my face, I put it on my butt.' She was well ahead of her time, because today's body lotions teem with face-care staples such as hydroxy acids, ceramides, niacinamide and peptides.
Most reliable for results are retinoids (vitamin A derivatives). Expect them to smooth rough texture in less than two weeks. Plumping crepey skin and tackling discolouration (and regulating oil production, which should help get rid of the scourge of the backless dress: bacne) will happen with a good two months' use.
Try...
Nescens Anti-Skin Slackening Complex is a tightening retinoid, vitamin C and niacinamide serum Joss massages with before red-carpet events.
Naturium Retinol Body Lotion has the maximum (in a body product) level of 0.05 per cent retinol plus a host of calming and nourishing agents.
See the light
For the famous (and civilians) who don't jump at the chance of being lasered or injected, red and near-infrared light therapy is as gentle as it is science-backed for increasing hydration, calming redness and softening wrinkles. Long-term and consistent use (four times a week at least, recommends Czech) is key but, she says, 'I've had celebrities see and feel a difference in their skin before a red carpet event in just a week.'
That requires pro-strength sessions (The Light Salon, from £50 for 30 minutes) but there are LED panels that therapists and dermatologists use and that are (semi) accessible, price-wise, to the public as well. The Celluma Pro (£1,995) is a favourite of cosmetic doctors and 'yields tremendous results', says Czech.
Flawless canvas
Getting a Hollywood celeb to admit to having anything more drastic than a body scrub is like squeezing water from a stone, but Jennifer Aniston, Victoria Beckham and Drew Barrymore have admitted to relying on lasers for tackling skin pigmentation and textural issues. A particular favourite of Jen-An and (who else) Kim Kardashian, is the one-two sucker punch of BBL Heroic pulsed light and Moxi laser to magic years off their embonpoints and other body parts in no time.
The first, explains cosmetic physician Dr Maryam Zamani, zaps redness, broken capillaries and pigment patches (they will fade away in the days and weeks after treatment) ultra-fast, leaving skin far more pristinely even-toned. The speed makes it easy to tackle larger areas anywhere on the body, and downtime amounts to mild redness for a day or two.
Canny Oscar-nominated celebs like to team this with Moxi laser, which punctures tiny channels just under the skin to kick-start noticeable tightening, plumping and smoothing. The skin surface is unaffected after treatment, but will then peel for up to a week to replace gnarly old cells with plump ones.
Three to four treatments, four weeks apart, are needed for optimal results from both treatments, making them a rather perfect combo. Zamani charges from £700 per session for BBL Heroic and £1250 for Moxi.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
3 hours ago
- Daily Record
Psychological thriller hailed as a 'masterpiece' now available to stream for free on BBC iPlayer
This film with an all-star cast is now available to stream for free on BBC iPlayer - and it's not one to miss with fans branding it as a 'masterpiece' Released in 2021, The Power of the Dog is a haunting and slow-burning psychological thriller set in Montana in the 1920s. Directed by Jane Campion and based on Thomas Savage's 1967 novel of the same name, the film features a star-studded cast including Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunset and Kodi Smit-Mcphee. The film follows Phil and George Burbank, wealthy ranching brothers played by Cumberbatch and Plemons, whose lives are disturbed when they meet a widow, Rose (Dunst) and her son (Smit-McPhee) during a cattle drive. While George forms a romantic relationship with Rose, eventually marrying her, Phil's hostility towards her intensifies, creating a tense and awkward atmosphere when she and her son move into the Burbank ranch house. As Phil taunts Rose, he surprisingly begins to take Peter under his wing. But what seems like an innocent gesture of goodwill seems to unravel more complex motivations on Phil's end, leaving Rose extremely uneasy. The story is full of tension, drama and uneasiness making it a must watch for movie lovers. For those who haven't watched the award-winning hit, or just want to rewatch the film, it is now available to stream for free on BBC iPlayer, as well as being available on Netflix to watch now. The Power of the Dog was an instant hit following its premiere at the 2021 Venice Film Festival, as well as being nominated for 12 Oscars and seven Golden Globes. It has been hailed as the best film of 2021 by the American Film Institute and it currently holds a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. One viewer reviewed the film on Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 4.5 out of 5 stars, writing: "When you don't know nothing about it and you are slowly surprised is nice! Everything is slow about this film (the good way) and after some hours, days and weeks still grows on you." Another view praised the acting skills, giving it a 4.5 out of 5 stars, stating: "Strong performances from Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst." A third hailed it as 'captivating' giving it 4 out of 5 stars, as they said: "Definitely a slow burn movie, and quite odd. But captivating and mysterious. It will leave you wondering long after the credits roll." Critics have also reviewed the film, with the New York Times stating: "The Power of the Dog builds tremendous force, gaining its momentum through the harmonious discord of its performances, the nervous rhythms of Jonny Greenwood's score and the grandeur of its visuals." And USA Today called The Power of the Dog a "picturesque, enthralling exploration of male ego and toxic masculinity, crafted by an extremely talented woman and offering enough nuanced bite to keep it interesting till the very end." The Power of the Dog is now available to stream on BBC iPlayer for free, as well as Netflix.
Daily Mirror
18 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Four Weddings and a Funeral secrets from Hugh Grant row to Liz Hurley's dress
It's been over three decades since Four Weddings and a Funeral was released on the big screen, and the Richard Curtis rom-com still holds a special place in the hearts of audiences everywhere For over thirty years, Four Weddings and a Funeral has shown that a film with a lot of heart can go a long way. Despite being one of the most beloved romantic comedies out there, and helping catapult some of its stars to new levels of fame, it was actually a really low-budget project. It cost only £3 million to make - which might sound like a lot, but in Hollywood terms is as cheap as chips - and was shot over just six weeks. But despite being a small movie, Four Weddings is still one of the British public's favourite rom-coms after all these years, and it cemented Hugh Grant as a household name in the UK, along with his girlfriend Liz Hurley. Her stunning and risque Versace dress - the barely-there piece was held together with safety pins - captured serious attention at the Four Weddings premiere, and has become an iconic moment in fashion history. The movie's producer, Duncan Kenworthy, remembered discussing what Liz might wear when going for lunch with her and Hugh the week before the premiere, "Liz said, 'I have absolutely no idea at this point'," he said, adding that "With every piece about Liz came a mention of the film, so it was great publicity. The premiere was an extraordinary event." After the film's release on March 11, 1994, even the movie's theme song - Love is All Around by Wet, Wet, Wet - found major success, and spent 15 weeks at the top of the charts. Pretty much every character in the film has become totally beloved by audiences, from the floppy-haired Charles as lead, to his quirky flatmate Scarlet, and the laugh-a-minute, over-the-top Gareth. Duncan, 73, has said that they were totally consumed by their "little film" during the two years production took and that due to issues finding finance for the film, "We were making it for a long time in our heads before we actually made it in reality". However, even though they were working on a budget, everyone around them really believed that Four Weddings would go the distance. "I remember sitting and watching the Oscars on telly with friends the year before we made Four Weddings and they all said, 'You'll be there next year' and laughed," Duncan explained. "Literally a year later, there I was, at the Oscars, with a Best Picture nomination. It was unthinkable, really. In those days there were only five nominees for best picture at the Oscars. It shows what a big impact the film made – not just with the public but within the film world, too." Despite its popularity, Four Weddings and a Funeral didn't take home Best Picture, but to be fair, they faced some pretty stiff competition that year, with other nominees in 1995 including Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption, and Forrest Gump - with the latter taking home the statue. Four Weddings did manage to score a host of BAFTAs, however, for its depiction of Hugh Grant as the slightly-hopeless Charles attending a series of landmark occasions in his loved one's lives - and falling in love with American socialite, Carrie - played by Andie MacDowell. Casting the film presented the production team with a few challenges, particularly when it came to the lead role of Charles. Whilst it might seem impossible to imagine anyone else playing him now, Richard Curtis is said to have had more than few doubts about his ability to carry the role. Over 70 people were auditioned for the role, but in the end it came down to Hugh Grant and one other choice. "It sounds odd now but the other actor in the frame was Alan Rickman, who'd really cut through in the Robin Hood movie. Mike, Richard and I simply couldn't agree which of them to cast, so we voted in secret," Duncan explained. "We were an odd number, and it came out 2 to 1 in favour of Hugh Grant. It's a cause of enormous delight to me that it was Richard who nearly ended Hugh's romcom career before it even started." Hugh Grant has also revealed that Richard Curtis definitely was not a fan of him during the auditioning process, saying "[My audition] was in front of Mike Newell, the director, who seemed to quite like me, and Richard Curtis, who seemed to want me dead. He really hated me. Apparently there was a bit of a fight between them.... and Richard didn't want me at all." The actor also revealed that before the movie's release, he thought it would be a total flop, and he said as much to his friend Sam Neil over dinner one night. Later, Hugh said about his initial impression of the rom-com "I was clearly wrong and the film changed my life. It was the beginning of a happy friendship with Richard Curtis, and I've always had the greatest respect for Mike Newell who taught me things I use to this day." Despite the rocky start to Richard's impression of Hugh, the pair went on to make two other iconic rom-coms together, Notting Hill and Love Actually, so the actor obviously convinced him eventually that he had it in him. Finding someone to play Carrie also presented some challenges, Duncan explained, and after an extensive auditioning process in the US, they offered the role to two actresses - both of whom turned it down. Back in the UK, they heard on the grapevine that established actress Andie MacDowell was in town, and quickly arranged a meeting, "We found out Andie MacDowell was staying at The Dorchester, so Mike and I arranged to meet her in the bar. As soon as we met her, Mike knew she was the one," the producer said. And it was Andie who would end up delivering probably the film's most famous - and cheesy - line after Hugh Grant's character declared his undying love for her as the pair stood in the pouring rain. "Is it still raining? I hadn't noticed," Carrie deadpans, a delivery that Duncan thinks in hindsight might have missed the mark. "Of course Carrie knows it's raining! She's drenched, he's drenched. She means it ironically,' he explained. 'If Andie had said it with a smile, no one would have mentioned it!' Four Weddings and a Funeral is packed with laughs - and at the funeral of Gareth more than a few tears - and it's popularity is such that it has even born a TV show. Created by Mindy Kaling, the show over ten episodes followed the framework of the film - but it didn't resonate with the public in the same way the film had. When it comes to the continued love for Four Weddings, and its longstanding legacy, Duncan said: "To think there's still interest in the film, all these years later, is surprising but lovely."
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
Nibbling parmesan and pears with film stars
As a former film journalist, I enjoyed Catherine Shoard's piece on the discredited Clint Eastwood 'interview' and the craft of film journalism (The good, the bad and the ugly, 4 June) – and can only recommend readers to the interview scene in Notting Hill. The truth really is stranger than even that fiction. My own career included, on the one hand, a genuine, solo, hour-long interview with Clint Eastwood for an Oscars supplement of this very paper in 1993, but, on the other, too many of the film festival roundtable interviews that Shoard describes. I can remember only three things in their favour. First, that sometimes another member of the ill-assorted international crew would ask a question you could never have brought yourself to pose ('So, Nicole Kidman, why did you and Tom Cruise not have children of your own?'). Second, that they could occasionally throw up a good experience, as in Venice, when Donald Sutherland swept the entire group up to his hotel bedroom, to sprawl on the rumpled sheets nibbling his favourite parmesan and pears. Third, that there could have been no better training for my present role as a historical biographer, assembling profiles of celebrities who, being on average some 400 years dead, are in no position to answer any questions at GristwoodDeal, Kent Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
