There was a shorter version of this in the Mail today http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2072920/Can-raiding-fridge-years-face-The-diet-promises-leave-skin-clear-taut-glowing.html

this is the longer version

So, are you party-ready? Ask a working mother, and you’ll get short shrift. Any plans for self-improvement have long been shelved as the autumn goes into pre-Christmas free-fall, and we’re relying on caffeine [...]]]>

me and Alfie. pic by Juliette Neel

There was a shorter version of this in the Mail today http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2072920/Can-raiding-fridge-years-face-The-diet-promises-leave-skin-clear-taut-glowing.html

this is the longer version

So, are you party-ready? Ask a working mother, and you’ll get short shrift. Any plans for self-improvement have long been shelved as the autumn goes into pre-Christmas free-fall, and we’re relying on caffeine and Touche Eclat to make it through to the other side of the festive season.

But then, an email arrived encouraging me to try Dr Perricone’s Facelift from Your Fridge. No, not a yoghurt-and-mayo mask, but a quick-face-fix diet to make your skin clear, taut and glowing. “In just three days, see a dramatic result in the way your skin looks,” it promised.

Moreover, there was a quote from Eva Mendes:  “Before an event, I do Dr Perricone’s three-day anti-inflammatory diet based on red berries and salmon,” she declares. “It’s amazing the difference you see in your skin and body.”

Right, I thought, if it’s good enough for her…

Dr Nicholas Perricone is a well-known American dermatologist with a heap of celebrity clients and he is adamant that eating properly is crucial for skin health. That means packing in as many skin-boosting omega-3 oils and antioxidants as possible, and cutting out sugar, salt, alcohol and coffee to minimise the “inflammation” which he sees as the trigger to ageing in the skin. Omega-3 oils improve skin moisturisation by keeping the membrane around skin cells, which helps those cells hold water, in good shape. Antioxidants help the body clear away free radicals, which contribute to ageing. Drinking plenty of water, which Dr P also recommends, doesn’t hydrate the skin directly, but is good for general health and digestion, both factors which affect the appearance of the skin.

What was there to lose by trying it – except redness, puffiness and probably a bit of weight? As a face-check, I did before and after photos with no make-up save mascara, and as a body check, I jumped on the InBody Analyser at the Urban Retreat at Harrods, a sophisticated body-composition scanner, to find out precisely how much muscle (30.2kg)and fat (14.5kg) I was carrying along with my weight (68.5kg), BMI (22.4) and basal metabolic rate (1536 – that’s how many calories I would burn in a day if i sat still and did nothing). Then I stockpiled salmon, hid a heap of blueberries at the back of the fridge away from my grazing adolescents, and this is how it went…

Day one was easy, not least because breakfast is huge. A three-egg omelette, a 4oz salmon fillet, a small bowl of cooked porridge, a handful of blueberries. I can’t manage it all, and save half the omelette for snack-attacks later.  I’m not really hungry for my salmon-and-salad-and-berries  lunch, nor my salmon-and-green vegetables-and-berries supper, but eat the snacks (cantaloupe melon, very hydrating for the skin according to Dr P, and walnuts, a great source of fatty acids, plain yoghurt) anyway.

I’d love to report that this was a struggle, but it simply wasn’t. Some people might gag at the thought of eating salmon morning noon and night, but I love the stuff. Others might gag at the expense.  Wild Alaskan salmon, which Dr P prefers, doesn’t come cheap (though right now it’s on a half-price offer at Tesco, which at £9.17 a kilo, makes it cheaper than their ‘value’  packs of salmon), nor do blueberries, but then again, you won’t be spending anything on snacks, coffees or drinks on this regime.

What I did find difficult was the absence of tea and coffee. I usually drink buckets of each and green tea, which Dr P recommends to stave off caffeine withdrawal headaches, just doesn’t pack half the punch.

Day two wasn’t much different, though by day three I was getting hungry. Salmon is filling, but with so few carbs to go on, it was inevitable. My resolve did flicker when the children waved toast or brownies under my nose, but I reminded myself sternly that it was only for three days. They had no urge to join in though Alfie, our Jack Russell, scoffed all my discarded fish-skins and definitely looked more glossy as a result.

What did surprise and alarm me was realizing just how addictive sugar is. After three days without the stuff, I neither missed it nor wanted it, but just one square of chocolate afterwards, and I was desperate for more.

Back at the Urban Retreat, I was astonished to find that I had dropped 4.3kg (9 lbs). Had I just lost water? “No, you’ve lost a kilo and a half of fat, too,” said Dajana Prosnanova, queen of the Analyser, as she examined the results on the printout. “But you’ve also lost nearly two kilos of muscle, because you were consuming too few calories, and your metabolic rate has dropped, too, which isn’t ideal. So yes you have lost weight, but you have lost it too fast.”

The change in my skin isn’t so drastic, but it’s good. It looks pale and clear, even-toned and healthy. Dropping caffeine – which dilates blood vessels and makes skin look flushed – has helped, and all traces of puffiness are gone, especially around the eyes (all that water and lack of alcohol, no doubt) which means it looks firm and taut. My eyes look brighter, too, after all this healthy food.

Can three days make a difference? I asked Harley Street dermatologist Dr Sam Bunting. “To be honest, no,” she said.  “It takes up to six weeks to see a difference in skin so there won’t be any major change in three days, though avoiding salt will help prevent water retention.”

Hmm. But am I party-ready? You bet. Except I’m so hungry I might clear the buffet in one go. And then I’d be back to square one…

www.perriconemd.co.uk InBody Analyser, Urban Retreat, Harrods  020 7893 8333

It’s back to school, back to work, and a back to the blog. Why? Because this morning, along with other beauty writers and

Chanel invites you to Une Promenade

Chanel - entrance to the 2.55 room

Chanel bears - dressed by Karl Lagerfeld

Chanel couture

bloggers, I was squealing with delight at being [...]]]>

Chanel watering can

It’s back to school, back to work, and a back to the blog. Why? Because this morning, along with other beauty writers and

Chanel invites you to Une Promenade

Chanel - entrance to the 2.55 room

Chanel bears - dressed by Karl Lagerfeld

Chanel couture

bloggers, I was squealing with delight at being invited to see what Chanel has gone and done at Harrods. There’s the pop-up shop of clothes and accessories by door nine; the sweet-shop-themed pop up beauty bar – with, this morning, the fab Sophy Robson and Mary Greenwell doing manis and make-up – but even better, up on the third floor, is a 350 square-metres installation that Chanel simply calls “Une Promenade”. Across a mirrored floor, through a bead curtain made of over-sized pearls (of course) lies a “Coco in Wonderland” experience (that word,  “experience”, is much over-used for this sort of thing, but here I reckon it’s justified), starting with an intricate formal garden with white gravel and neat camellia trees – and the most wonderful black-quilted watering can. Off the garden lies a series of rooms; the 2.55 room, its entrance lined in black quilting, with a bank of screens showing how the iconic bag is made. A child’s bedroom, complete with Chanel dolls-house and teddies dressed by Karl Lagerfeld. Next, an atelier, a reconstruction of Gabrielle Chanel’s apartment at 31 rue Cambon, with the sort of fantastical couture dresses that only ever see the light of day in editorial shoots. Then there’s a room lined in black tweed, Lagerfeld’s library, the pop-art room full of giant No 5 bottles and silk-screen prints and finally, my favourite – the giant Chanel bag, which fills the last room from floor to ceiling.

the biggest Chanel bag in the world

The Promenade is open from tomorrow, 6^th September. If you’ve any interest in Chanel, you owe it to yourself to get along there soonest.

Chanel - the library

HOW big did you say that Chanel bag was?

Everyone at Glossy Blogs would like to offer our heartiest congratulations. Not that Alice had not arrived before, but this is the most wonderful recognition for her common sense approach to beauty [...]]]> Alice was one of a shortlist of three top beauty journalists for the Industry’s Choice Awards at the P&G Beauty and Grooming Awards 2011

Everyone at Glossy Blogs would like to offer our heartiest congratulations. Not that Alice had not arrived before, but this is the most wonderful recognition for her common sense approach to beauty – not untinged with serious personal glamour.