It’s a fact of life that skin starts to sag as we get older. The upper arms are no exception. If this is one of your sensitive spots, try this massage oil.

Exercise such as walking, running and swimming, can help tone and firm, and gentle upward massage will help banish cellulite by encouraging lymphatic drainage.

Massage oil for the upper arms
45ml (3 tbspn) jojoba oil
10ml (1 dspn) rose masqueta oil
1 capsule wheatgerm oil
1 capsule evening primrose oil
3 drops essential oil of either rose or jasmine
5 drops essential oil of lavender
4 drops essential oil of either bois de rose or lemon
100ml bottle

Mix together in the bottle. After a bath or shower, use the oil to massage the triceps muscle from the elbow upwards. This oil will keep for up to two months.

Adapted from “Secrets of Youth and Beauty” by Daniele Ryman.

When scientists declared that a $35 (£17) anti-aging face cream actually worked, the response was immense. Women stormed the UK High Street stores of popular chemist and retailer Boots, and emptied the shelves of the beauty treatment.

Now Boots is witnessing yet more hysteria after launching a cream that promises to work the same magic on the body. Boots No7 Protect & Perfect Body Serum is designed for use on a much wider area than the original wonder serum, No7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum.

The experts claim that the serum will work best on more exposed parts such as the neck and decolletage, including arms and legs.

Steve Barton, Boots’s skincare scientific adviser, who developed the product, says he “whooped with delight” when told about the tests on the face serum.

The cream made it onto BBC2’s flagship science show Horizon in March this year. Initially, the manufacturer was producing around 10,000 bottles a month and had maintained steady sales for three years. After the BBC showing, thousands of women swooped on Boots stores up and down the UK, some waiting outside from dawn to be sure of getting their hands on the serum.

Production at the Boots Nottingham factory doubled to more than 24,000 a day to keep up with demand. Since March 4.15million bottles have been sold — the equivalent to one every four seconds. Boots says it has sold the equivalent of 62 years worth of stock in six months.

If “youth is wasted on the young”, why shouldn’t older women get their share too?

There are a number of answers to that question, of course. It all depends on which one, being the most obvious.

This website doesn’t test beauty or rejuvenating products, so we can’t give a definite reply. Here’s one such product, newly on the market, though.

Col-Pure’s Rejuvenating Face Mask is described as “incredibly refreshing” and said to visibly reduces fine lines and wrinkles, while plumping and nourishing the skin.

“Its formula of bio-active ingredients quickly absorb into skin’s underlying tissue, immediately plumping the skin to reduce the look of wrinkles, while improving the tone and texture of your skin for an overall radiant complexion and also boosts collagen production and improves circulation.”

The press release says :

Here’s the quick and easy secret: The face mask contains Decorinyl, a tetrapeptide shown to help control collagen fibril growth, improving firmness and elasticity of the skin. A recent study showed an increase in skin’s elasticity after just 28 days of use. Green Tea is a soothing anti-oxidant that helps skin fight off damaging free-radical cells and is one of the main ingredients. Finally, Tripeptide-3, an advanced anti-aging ingredient, mimics the body’s own mechanism to help produce collagen giving skin a more youthful appearance.

As always, you must make up your own mind.

A leading U.S. dermatologist claims that by ditching sugar from your diet, you can look ten years younger in ten days.

And it isn’t just by losing weight but because : “In a nutshell, sugar hastens the degradation of elastin and collagen, both key skin proteins. In other words, it actively ages you,” he says.

In his new book, 10 Minutes/Ten Years: Your Definitive Guide to a Better and Youthful Appearance, Dr Fredric Brandt says he saw a remarkable change in his own skin when he dropped sugar from his diet. He lost 20lb in weight, but also saw a new glow, radiance and elasticity in his face. Within a year, his body had changed as well.

“I’m really lean and have the body of a teenager, although I’m in my 40s. … Believe me, it’s cheaper than a facelift.”

He continues, “The sugar triggers a process in the body called glycation. This is where the sugar molecules bind to your protein fibres — those wonderfully springy and resilient collagen and elastin fibres — which are the building blocks of skin.”

But it gets worse. Just by overheating starchy foods or grilling them, the sugar content mutates producing Advanced Glycation End products, AGEs, which do immense harm to the skin.

A word to the wise.