Skin my mother taught me!
An alternative guide to modern skin care.
Lilly is the mother of two daughter’s in their twenties. Those who don’t know them often think the three of them are sisters.
Lilly has had to contend with various skin disorders and allergies through-out her life but has still managed to preserve her youthful skin. Here she tells Verity how she has looked after this “sick” skin and explains why it seems to look better than most healthy skin.
First describe your skin condition Acne Rosacea?
It gives me red lumpy cheeks. And affects my nose too. It hurts in the heat and can be aggravated by stress, weather, anything – red wine etc. I’ve had the condition since I was 14. And stupidly always felt ugly because of it! It has improved hugely in the last five years though since I stopped eating tomatoes! I was waiting for some one in a shop in Mullingar (a town in Ireland) when I stumbled on a diet book which turned out to be on food allergies. I gave up tomatoes as a result and it worked! And I used to eat tons of tomatoes – fresh, tinned and sun-dried.
What about the rest of your body?
My hands peel if they are in contact with detergent so I always have to wear gloves when I do housework. I never use soap on my hands or in the bath and I don’t sit in the sun because I can’t! I think that’s been one of the main reasons I’ve very few wrinkles! I don’t need to use deodorant, and I never use hand or body creams.
Describe your skin life as a teen:
Apart from my AR, I was pretty lucky; I never had acne on my body or face, just the odd spot with a period. I was called slimey hands in school because of my soft skin. I never used much make-up. I wasn't a foundation person. I just wore liner and mascara, a bit of blusher and some lipstick.
I never smoked. Well, in fact I did smoke one pack of black Russian cigarettes all in one night when I was 14 but I never smoked again! Smoking dehydrates you. I actually think the whole skin thing is about dehydration. We only had a couple of radiators in my family home, but no central heating.
My mother is from a Syrian background – so I think we ate more vegetables than the average Irish family. And maybe my skin has survived so well because of my ancestry. My other grandparents were Russian, so I’m a bit of a cultural mix. Sallow with rosey cheeks!
As a mum:
When I had my first baby I wanted to know the best way to feed her, so I used the cult cookbook of the early seventies Adel Davis’ Let’s have healthy children. At a very young age I took responsibility for the family having a healthy diet. It was different then, no one knew about food.
I took a lot of vitamins in my twenties too. I was a bit of a vitamin junkie,
Up until I was 35 I ate really healthily, but now...
What products did you use?
I used Clinique – but I didn’t find it suited me that well. At one point my AR got really bad and I found an American skin care range called Erno Lazlo – it improved my skin enormously.
What makes your skin worse?
Stress, heat from anywhere, too much weathering. Anything perfumed, anything not really natural like bubble bath balls, they all upset my skin balance.
Alcohol! – Fortunately when I was 23 I got Hepatitis, so I can’t drink very much, say 2 glasses maximum, which means my skin has never really suffered the effects of alcahol.
Any outside influences working against our skin?
These days if you stay indoors with too much central heating or air-conditioning you dry up like a prune. If I’m indoors for too long I have to splash my face with water three to four times a day and apply oil to rehydrate.
Tips
Lots of rest. If my skin looks bad, I go to bed, I always look better when I’m rested, intellectually stimulated or having good sex. Strenuous sport never did much for my skin.
General words of wisdom
-My Acne Rosacea may have saved me in the long run – no sunbathing and very few skin products.
- I also recently started a Blood type diet...eating the right foods for your blood type, I really think it works!
Your wash routine?
I don’t use cleanser or any anti –wrinkle creams. I wash my face with warm water and then apply Weleda Rose or Almond oil.
Sometimes I might use Cetaphil – it’s a soap free face wash.
Contents of wash bag
La Roche – Posay, Hydraphase XL UVA 12 – I was advised to get this by a skin specialist, it’s really nice uv protection cream.
Cetaphil
Weleda Rose oil and Almond oil
Clarins Eau Dynamisante
Estee lauder Pleasure
Rosex (on prescription)
The Contents of the make-up bag
Clinique – glosswear for lips and lipstick city compact palette
Chantcaille foundation stick
Princess Marcella Borghese –Sienna Lipstick (I’ve had that for years. I love it!)
|
