Looking Younger Longer : What To Do

From new wrinkle relaxers to DIY at-home anti-aging, a cache of new "youth tools" promise we'll look younger faster and easier than ever. But do they work? RedDressDiary talked to the experts to find out!

By Colette Bouchez

So... here's what they say: Take all your vitamins, eat all your fruits and veggies and down a glass of red wine a day, and you too could live to 100 or more!

If this is true, then it can only mean one thing: In 50 more years we will be a planet of shrinking, wrinkling little Yodas!

The antidote: A cache of anti-aging “miracles” - treatments designed to make us look as young as we feel. Well, as young as we'd like to feel, at least.

Indeed, if maintaining the glow of youth is on your lifetime agenda, you certainly won't have any trouble filling your dance card : The sheer number of anti-aging products and services is enough to throw even your DNA into a cold sweat.

So how do you know what to try, what to buy and what not to wish on your worst “frenemy” ? To help you decide here's what a few experts say about what 's new right now and what it can do!

Dysport : The New Wrinkle Relaxing Frontier

The big news this month is the FDA approval of Dysport – the new “Botox alternative” for un-crinkling your furrowed brow. Similar to Botox, Dysport also utilizes a purified form of botulism toxin ( yeah, the kind you get from bad potatoe salad) to paralyze tiny muscles underneath facial lines and creases.And the result is similar as well : Much like pressing out those wrinkles from your white linen pants, both Dysport and Botox seem to smooth way the years.

So why reinvent the wheel? Well Dysport isn't exactly the same as Botox - and it does appear to last a tad longer - 4 months vs 2.5 to 3 months for Botox. But having a second alternative on the market also means market competition – and that can sometimes drive the price down. Currently doctors are reporting treatments with Dysport cost about 10% less than with Botox
( $ 450 per injection nationwide average vs $375-$400 average) with equally good or better results.

" I've been using it now for a couple of weeks with excellent results in about 25 patients. In my preliminary review, it seems extraordinarily similar to Botox Cosmetic except that it costs about 10% less, says dermatologist Charles E. Crutchfield III, MD, director of Crutchfield Dermatology in Egan, Minnesota.

The Bottom Line: It's another option for the anti-aging tool box, but to avoid being disappointed make sure its' what you really want and need. Sometimes a wrinkle filler ( like Restylane or JuvaDerm) will do the job better.

The Neckline Slim

You've all seen those catalog and Internet ads: The “before” picture sports a double chin, sagging jowls and that age-giveaway jiggly turkey neck; the “after” shows a smooth and youthfully firm neck. All of it is courtesy of a tiny device you hold under your chin to offer gentle resistance to the muscular structure – at a total cost of less than $30.00 But does it work?

“As with any exercise, strengthening of those muscles will be apparent, however by overall facial exercises show no proven results when it comes to curing sagging skin in these regions, “ says Sam Naficy, MD, a double board certified plastic surgeon and director of the Naficy Plastic Surgery and Rejuvenation Center in Seattle.

The Bottom Line: The cost is low but the result is minimal - and you can probably get a similar effect by smiling broadly , tightening your neck muscles, holding and releasing.

Glowelle Beauty Drink

They say beauty starts from within – and that's precisely the philosophy behind Glowelle, a “drink of beauty “ with claims that include nourishing and hydrating skin from the inside out. Using a powerful blend of antioxidants and vitamins plus botanical & fruit extracts in a powder you mix into water or any fruit drink or smoothie, the goal is to fight free radical damage ( a leading cause of aging skin) and rejuvenate that glow of youth – all for around $110 for a 30 day supply. But does it work?

Dr. Naficy says: "Adding extra anti-oxidants into ones daily diet is not a bad idea, however women who expect to see true anti-aging results from a beauty drink will be disappointed. Also, most beauty drinks contain calories, therefore are not suitable for all diets."

The Bottom Line: For a less costly but similar effect just eat all your fruits and veggies, take your vitamins, get plenty of beauty sleep , stay out of the sun, and drink lots of water – the original ( and free!) beauty drink!

The Oxygenating Face Shot

WARNING! Don't try this at home! :) In this treatment, a high powered atomizer fueled by a stream of pressurized oxygen blast- pumps moisturizers into your skin. The reported effect is immediate hydration – and a firm, plumper, smoother look for a cost of around $500. But does it work?

" This treatment is nothing more than a passing spa trend as there is no strong evidence of oxygen’s effectiveness when it comes to anti-aging. Additionally, the treatments are extremely costly and at least six treatments are recommended for optimal results, “ says Naficy.

NYU professor of dermatology Dr. Rhoda Narins says never underestimate the power of a good moisturizer – but you can get good effects by simply applying one daily onto your skin using your fingertips!

"Sometimes all you really need is a good moisturizer and a mild cleanser and you can take years off your face, " she says, adding that when skin is dry every single wrinkle is accentuated making you look much older.

The Bottom Line: Apply a moisturizer twice daily – or anytime skin looks dry to keep your complexion hydrated and plumped. If you've got big bucks to spend , skip the Face Shot and go for proven treatments like wrinkle relaxing injections or even Dysport or Botox. Better still, grab some sunscreen and blow the cost of the treatments on a fabulous vacation the south of France. You may not come back looking any younger but the memories will be so great, you won't care! :)

The Lunchtime Face Lift

It used to be that if you were lucky if you could squeeze in the time to buy a new pair of shoes on your lunch hour. Now, you can buy a whole new face, courtesy of a growing trend called the “Lunch Time Lift”. Here, you select from a “menu” of 30 minute treatments that offer (almost) immediate results with virtually no down town. Treatments include any number of wrinkle filling injections in combination with a mini face massage to stimulate collagen growth and improve skin's thickness and resiliency – and they start at around $550 per treatment. But do they work?

Dr. Naficy says: “Filler face-lifts are nothing new, however are becoming easier and easier to fit into a woman’s active lifestyle. Although, not for everyone, ( the cost is high) most of my patients do see a difference, with effects lasting up to two years."

Dr.Narins adds that the latest wrinkle fillers can also offer some permanent results by stimulating collagen production so as time passes you may need less to look young.

The Bottom Line: Lunchtime Lifts do work – but the lunch part will have to consist of lettuce and water for a long time in order to pay for it!

You might also enjoy reading:
The DNA of Looking Young
Chocolate- The New Botox?

For a steady stream of non-stop health and beauty advice visit RedDressDiary.com : The Source for Fabulous Women Over 40!

Copyright by Colette Bouchez 2009 - All Rights Reserved.
In addition to US Copyright, the text of this RedDressDiary article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. All formatting and style elements of this page are not available under this license, and Colette Bouchez retains all rights in those elements.

Babies & Anti-Aging; A Curious New Link

How far are you willing to go to look young? The latest treatment employs collagen derived from circumcised foreskin. Here’s what you need to know.

by Colette Bouchez -

Heard the term “smooth as a baby’s behind “? Well that phrase might soon include another related part of the anatomy – at least if one group of anti-aging scientists have their way.

Indeed, hot on the heels of an FDA committee report questioning the safety of anti-aging wrinkle fillers, comes news of yet another hot new “injectable” wrinkle filling ingredient – this one derived from the foreskin of circumcised baby boys.

Developed by British biomedical firm InterCytex, the new injectable is known as Vavelta. According to the manufacturer the “ magic” in the foreskin is the proliferation of budding collagen cells known as “fibroblasts. These are “collagen sprouts” that ultimately help the body produce collagen – the natural substance that keeps skin looking smooth, firm and wrinkle-free.

The Magic Of Collagen
When we are young, our body produces a continued supply of fibroblasts – so new collagen is always being made. That’s why young skin looks smooth, firm, supple and wrinkle-free.

But as we grow older, the combination of the natural aging process, along with environmental exposures (like too much sun) reduce or damage the number of active fibroblasts able to churn out collagen.

The end result, we have less collagen available to “prop up” skin’s underlying support structure. Without that support, our facial contours begins to slowly droop and the loosened skin on top begins to wrinkle.

For a while, skin experts believed topically applied collagen suspended in creams and lotions was the key to keeping skin looking young. But it wasn’t long before medical science began to prove that the collagen we apply externally simply doesn’t get down deep enough into the layer of skin where our collagen cells reside.

The next idea was to fill the wrinkles with collagen – or another collagen-like material. That gave birth to the popular wrinkle filling injections we have today. The results were great – albeit most often temporary, with little to no stimulation of fibroblast formation.

But now, scientists at InterCytex say they have the best of both worlds with the new collagen injections derived from a baby’s foreskin.

Not only the does injection fill the depressed area ( a wrinkle or a scar) but the fibroblast cells in the injection itself help stimulate the body to begin manufacturing more of it’s own collagen.

The end result: A wrinkle injection that offers both immediate and long term results.

Currently there is some evidence that all wrinkle filling injections can, over time, stimulate some collagen production. There is also another permanent filler on the market that involves the use of micro sized Plexi-glass-like beads which, when injected into the wrinkle causes the body to rush wound-healing peptides and collagen to the area, creating a permanent fill.

That said, the science behind Vavelta suggests that because the stimulation provided by the fibroblast activity of the foreskin cells is closest to what the body does naturally when we are young - it could prove to be the most effective minimally invasive anti aging injection treatment to date.

The New Wrinkle Injections: A Caution
But before you go scouring the local birth registry looking for the fountain of youth, you should know that, while the company is aggressively seeking FDA approval for use in the US, at the moment, only a select group of British physicians are using Vavelta – and clinical trials are ongoing.

Moreover, so far, the main drawback to the treatment is not so much one of safety, but one of cost. Although mothers must approve the use of their baby’s foreskin for clinical treatment – and many do - it’s still said to be in short supply. And that, of course, pushes the cost of the injections far past those of other wrinkle fillers and probably closer to the cost of traditional plastic surgery.

On the flip side, if the results are, as the company claims, permanent, so one injection could go a long way in helping you look young for a long time. And do it without the risks associated with traditional plastic surgery.

What’s important to recognize, however, is that while the Vavelta “fill” for any one particular wrinkle may be permanent, the procedure itself does nothing to keep other wrinkles from forming. So unless you have special access to Peter Pan’s colony of Lost Boys, you could go bankrupt long before you achieve the look of eternal youth.

You might also be interested in reading:
Hope or Hype? Can You Really Look Younger ?
The Return of the Face Lift & Other Ways To Avoid Growing Old!

For more health and beauty news visit RedDressDiary.com - The Source for Fabulous Women Over 40!

Old & Original vs. New & Improved

Is it just me? Or have you also noticed that the very moment you find something you really, really love - a shampoo that doesn't make it look like you slept in a food service hair net, a lipstick in the perfect shade of red, a laundry detergent that doesn't leave your clothes smelling like fertilizer ... the company goes and changes the formula?

Like me, do you now live in fear of the words "New and Improved"? Do you shake your head and wonder, where is the "new" and heaven help us, where is the "improved"?

Case in point: I have been buying Columbo Low Fat Plain yogurt in 32 ounce containers since, well, for so long I can't even remember when I started. So I hit the grocery store this week to pick up my weekly 4 container stash, and here I discover that the cool little label with the old fashioned barn and the friendly looking cow has changed. It's still a barn and it's still a cow, but it looks somehow different - kind of like a high tech barn and some sort of automated looking high tech cow. But I figure hey, it's a label change, what could be the harm? So naive.

Once at home, I taste the yogurt. My BLEECH was heard across the neighborhood. I flipped the container and looked at the ingredient label. I wasn't sure. It looked like similar ingredients ...but maybe not.

I dug into the kitchen garbage where just this morning I tossed the empty container from last week and I had, as Oprah would call it, my A HA moment! There was my proof. They had changed the formula. There it was again ...new and improved.

Not only that, but in the process they added a half gram of fat per serving and more saturated fat. And, ended up with a taste remarkably reminiscent of chalky diarrhea medicine only in semi-solid form . With more acid. Go figure.

But yucky tasting breakfast food and disappointed taste buds aside, this experience did get me thinking about this whole new and improved thing, which, as you know, isn't really just about yogurt. Or shampoo. Or laundry detergent. In a strange kind of way it's also about what each of us is doing every single day when we turn away from that fabulous 40 something face in the mirror, deciding "new and improved" would be better.

Wrinkle injections. Line fillers. Plastic surgery. Face peels. New and improved? Sometimes. But not always.

Which is not to say I'm against self improvement. Heaven's no! When improvement is what you really get.

But just like in aisle four or the frozen food section, sometimes "new and improved" isn't really new and improved at all - maybe just a little bit different. And sometimes, like my beloved Columbo yogurt, not better at all.

So I guess what I'm really saying here is that as you stand on that threshold of deciding whether to spend your hard earned dollars on temporary wrinkle injections aimed at giving you that "new and improved " look for a few months - OR - taking that fabulous summer vacation bound to net you a pocketful of memories to last a lifetime, give a little extra thought to taking that vacation looking just the way you are.

Because the truth is, as it goes in the supermarket, so too it goes in life: Sometimes, "old and original" is just as good as "new and improved". And sometimes even better.