Despite the warnings, I never used to worry too much that my lifestyle might one day show on my face. After all, there was always make-up, moisturiser, even a touch of Botox as the years advanced. Surely my guilty habits couldn’t make that much difference to my looks, could they?
And what habits would those be? Well, like most women, I crave chocolate and have been known to scoff three bars of Galaxy in one go if I desperately need a sugar fix. I smoked in my 20s and, although I officially quit at 30, I still succumb to the odd puff after a night on the merlot.
Ah, the merlot: my biggest downfall. While I may have cut out the cigarettes, my taste for wine has not diminished. I like a glass of red every other night, and every couple of weeks I go out and get a little tipsy — OK, very tipsy — with my friends.
But now, at the age of 42, a fascinating experiment has made me rethink the whole way I live. For I have seen the future of my face. Or, rather, I have been given a glimpse of how it would look in ten years if I continue to ply my body with alcohol and excess sugar, or take up smoking again. The results were not a pretty sight and will serve as a stark warning to women who regularly enjoy a couple of glasses of wine a night or the odd sugary doughnut, and think it won’t do them any harm.
The process was made possible by Auriole Prince, a forensic artist specialising in age progression. Using key information about a person’s lifestyle she can manipulate an image to predict how they will look in the future.
So I submitted my picture and talked to experts in ageing, dermatology and plastic surgery about the effects smoking, drinking and a poor diet can have on our looks — and how to minimise the damage.
ALCOHOL
(Based on two or more standard glasses of wine a night — twice the recommended level for women)
I was horrified by this bloated, flushed, red-eyed and tooth-stained monster, an illustration of what drinking could do to my face in only ten years from now.
I’ve woken up sporting one or two of these aesthetic features after certain nights out in the past, but they have always subsided within a day or two. Imagining I could stay like that was frightening.
The cost of reversing all this damage was a wake-up call, too. Broken capillaries on the cheeks would require thousands of pounds in light treatment, the teeth-staining hundreds in whitening, not to mention liposuction on that double chin.
The only way to ensure this image doesn’t become a reality would be to cut out alcohol altogether. But there are ways to cut down. Switch to a non-alcoholic wine. Eisberg (￡3.20 from supermarkets) is wine with the alcohol removed, so it’s closest to the real thing without the damage.
REDNESS: ‘Drinking causes enlargement of the blood vessels,’ says dermatologist Dr Nicholas Lowe of London’s Cranley Clinic. ‘This leads to flushing and, if you’re prone to rosacea, could exacerbate it.’
DAMAGE CONTROL: If cutting out booze altogether isn’t an option, try an instant fix such as Dr Nick Lowe’s Redness Relief Correcting Cream (￡15.31, Boots).
THREAD VEINS: ‘If you’re prone to flushed-looking skin, alcohol will only make it worse as excess drinking means your blood vessels lose tone, leaving you with permanent thread veins,’ says Dr Lowe.
DAMAGE CONTROL: Intense pulsed light (IPL) with a dermatologist will help the redness, but it will cost you: Five sessions with Dr Lowe at his Cranley Clinic cost around ￡2,000.
‘One to two sessions of the more intense yellow dye laser will help remove broken blood vessels,’ he says. ‘But be ready for two days of increased reddening.’
FOREHEAD LINES: Drinking dehydrates the skin, which can lead to sallowness, deepening of wrinkles and dryness.
DAMAGE CONTROL: You don’t have to sacrifice your night out. Just fill your glass with sparkling or natural mineral water in between your regular tipple.
FAINT ‘NECKLACE’ LINES: These go horizontally across the neck. Anti-ageing physician Dr Lynette Yong says: ‘These lines are hereditary — but drinking certainly makes them worse.’
DAMAGE CONTROL: Try a specialist moisturiser such as Clarins Advanced Extra-Firming Neck Cream (￡41 for 50ml, Debenhams).
CROW’S FEET: ‘Big drinkers are chronically deficient in vitamin A, which is essential to collagen and elastin formation,’ says plastic surgeon Dr Jonathan Staiano, of the Liberate Cosmetic Surgery Group.
DAMAGE CONTROL: A gentle hyaluronic acid filler such as Juvederm could help. Fillers start from ￡275, and you can find a practitioner at cosmeticdoctors.co.uk or juvedermultra.co.uk.
SMOKING
(Based on a 20-a-day habit)
This horrendous image definitely made me think twice about enjoying the occasional cigarette.
The deep-set lines in my forehead, cheeks and around my mouth are terrifying — it makes me look as if I’ve had a very hard life.
Worse still, it’s not even an exaggeration. I know plenty of older ladies who have smoked for years and they look like this.
The greyness and flatness of my skin is what really stood out — something no amount of pricey make-up could fix.
For those struggling to give up using will-power alone, try Nicorette Quickmist Mouthspray (￡17.99, from pharmacies) — said to double your chances of quitting.
The biggest problem with smoking is the habit you get into, so instead of reaching for a cigarette, try going for a ten-minute walk. Recent research at Exeter University found ten minutes of physical activity could help reduce cravings.
Otherwise, Love Not Smoking?.?.?.?Do Something Different (Hay House, ￡8.99) is a six-week programme from behavioural modification experts Professors Karen Pine and Ben Fletcher, with an app from iTunes.
DEEP WRINKLES: ‘Smoking makes all lines worse by damaging the collagen and elastin in the skin that give it its plumpness,’ says Dr Yong.
DAMAGE CONTROL: ‘Vitamin C helps the re-formation of collagen,’ she says. ‘All my smoker patients are advised to apply Skinceuticals C-Ferrulic morning and night (￡129, stockists 05603 141 956). Hyaluronic acid fillers work on visible wrinkles and help re-grow collagen.’
TOOTH DAMAGE: ‘Smoking stains teeth,’ says Harley Street dental surgeon Dr Simon Darfoor. ‘It also leads to gum disease and tooth loss: 42 per cent of smokers over 60 have lost all their teeth.’
DAMAGE CONTROL: Colgate Total Whitening (￡1.55, nationwide) is more gentle than older abrasive smoker’s toothpastes, but still removes stains.
‘New cleaning systems, available at most dentists, can remove tooth staining without the need for scraping,’ says Dr Darfoor. ‘One called Air Flow uses bicarbonate of soda and a power-jet instrument that cleans deeper than manual scaling.’ Airflow starts at ￡85.
SAGGING EYELIDS AND CHEEKS: ‘With age, the muscles, fat and bones under the skin shrink and this can lead to sagging,’ says Dr Yong. ‘Smoking deoxygenates the blood so you get less nutrients going to the skin, dramatically accelerating this sagging.’
DAMAGE CONTROL: Dermaroller micro-needling (genuinedermaroller.co.uk) uses tiny pin-pricks to help bring blood, and so nutrients, to the skin.
‘In theory it might help, but if you keep smoking after the age of 40 the sagging will get severe and surgery may be the only option,’ says Dr Yong.
DARK CIRCLES: ‘Reduced circulation makes skin sluggish and dark circles become more prominent,’ says Dr Yong.
DAMAGE CONTROL: Eat circulation-boosting food. Add garlic and grated ginger to stir-fries and sprinkle ground cayenne pepper and turmeric in curries.
HIGH SUGAR DIET
(Based on a diet high in sugar and refined carbohydrates, such as those found in white bread and pasta)
Who was this bloated woman with the ashen, waxy skin staring back at me from this photo? And could a decade of junk food really destroy my face this much?
More than any of the other pictures this gave me the biggest fright. It was enough to make me rethink Galaxy bars for ever.
More than anyone, I know how difficult it is to give up the sweet treats, but if you want to cut down, try replacing sugar with Truvia — a powder sweetener made from stevia, a South American plant that has no calories or artificial ingredients.
LINES AND SAGGING: ‘A diet high in sugar and high-glycaemic carbohydrates such as bread, rice, potatoes, baked goods, pasta, desserts and soft drinks can lead to glycation in the skin,’ says Dr Nicholas Perricone, a dermatologist and leading authority on diet and ageing.
‘This is where sugar molecules attach to collagen fibres and cause them to lose their strength and flexibility so the skin becomes less elastic and more vulnerable to sun damage, lines and sagging.’
DAMAGE CONTROL: Help your body repair the damage by boosting your diet with Omega 3.
James Duigan, celebrity trainer and author of Clean & Lean Diet, recommends a diet rich in oily fish, avocados, olive oil, nuts, sunflower and flaxseeds.
Or you could try a fish oil supplement taken daily with meals, such as Bodyism’s Omega Brilliance (￡40 for 60 capsules, bodyism.com).
WAXY, BLOATED FACE: ‘Too much sugar and white, refined carbs can give skin a soft, doughy look,’ says Dr Perricone.
‘The contoured cheekbones and crisp jawline become blurred because carbs create an inflammatory response that causes more inflexible skin, puffiness and a loss of radiance.’
DAMAGE CONTROL: ‘Alpha lipoic acid is one of the most potent proven anti-ageing, anti-inflammatory antioxidants available and will help you avoid that waxy look,’ says Dr Perricone. Take 50mg twice daily (Perricone Alpha Lipoic Acid, ￡25, perriconemd.co.uk).
PIMPLES: ‘A high-sugar diet makes you more prone to infection,’ says Dr Staiano. ‘So the more sugar you eat the more pimples you may have.’
DAMAGE CONTROL: If you find it impossible to cut sugar out of your diet, nutritionist Kim Pearson suggests taking the amino acid tyrosine in the morning to help prevent cravings. Take 500mg of Lambert’s L-Tyrosine (￡10.71, nutricentre.com) with your breakfast.
GREY, THIN SKIN: ‘Eating a low protein diet makes the epidermis, or outer layer of the skin, thin and crepey, leaving it looking grey and sallow,’ says Dr Staiano.
DAMAGE CONTROL: Protein can’t be stored in the body, says Dr Perricone, so you need to top up your supply by having some at every meal. Star sources for skin, he says, include fish, shellfish, lean organic free-range poultry and eggs, grass-fed beef or lamb, and for veggies, legumes and quinoa (from health food stores).
.?.?.?AND MY VERDICT
Nothing prepared me for these images.
My husband Kevin was walking past the computer and caught a glimpse of the picture that showed the effects of a high sugar diet.
He said: ‘One word: divorce.’
I’m not sure he was joking.
I am grateful I gave up smoking 12 years ago, and since seeing these images, I’ve given up sugar and cut back on my drinking, even managing a night out on mineral water in a wine glass (no one noticed).
Yes, there is still the odd night out on the tiles, but I slap on vitamin C moisturised before bed, swallow pints of water and have vitamin pills at the ready
So how will you protect the future of your face?
