Eye lift in the tube: Is this £30 gel from Boots the secret to Elizabeth Hurley's beauty?

• Award-winning Transformulas cream releases advanced formula...with waiting list of 8,845
• 90% of trial users saw reduction in wrinkles
• Other celebrity fans include Jemma Kidd

Elizabeth Hurley and Jemma Kidd are ardent fans.

And it is branded a 'wake me up wonder' and the 'no-needle eye lift in a tube', while picking up awards at various beauty product prize-givings and being raved about by industry specialists.

No wonder it has a waiting list of over 8000.

But good news for beauty fans is that the newest formula of Transformulas Eye Lifting Gel lands in Boots across the country tomorrow.

Promising to rid the world of tired and puffy eyes by lifting, tightening and firming the thin skin around them, the cooling gel claims to work immediately, improving moisture levels while tackling the effects of both short and long-term anti-ageing.

The gel also vows to give strained computer eyes (and strained party eyes) the essential relief.

And it appears to actually work.

During trials of the new formula 100 per cent of users found the gel provided an instant lifting effect; 90 per cent saw a significant reduction in fine lines and wrinkles; 70 per cent felt their skin was softer after use, and the same percentage saw a significant reduction in puffiness around the eyes.

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SOURCE: Martha de Lacey, Daily Mail

Clue to male baldness discovered

A biological clue to male baldness has been discovered, raising the prospect of a treatment to stop or even reverse thinning hair.

In studies of bald men and laboratory mice, US scientists pinpointed a protein that triggers hair loss.
Drugs that target the pathway are already in development, they report in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The research could lead to a cream to treat baldness.

Most men start to go bald in middle age, with about 80% of men having some hair loss by the age of 70.
The male sex hormone testosterone plays a key role, as do genetic factors. They cause the hair follicles to shrink, eventually becoming so small that they are invisible, leading to the appearance of baldness.
  
Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have analysed which genes are switched on when men start to go bald. They found levels of a key protein called prostaglandin D synthase are elevated in the cells of hair follicles located in bald patches on the scalp, but not in hairy areas.

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SOURCE  Helen Briggs Health editor, BBC News website

Pain-free laser that banishes toenail fungus

Doctors are using ‘cold’ laser beams to vaporise nail fungus, a common cause of painful, unsightly toenails. Unlike conventional lasers, which use heat, the new handheld device relies on a special type of intense light to kill the fungus.

The painless therapy — which takes ten minutes to treat each foot — does not harm the surrounding tissue of the toe and nail bed. Furthermore, researchers say that the laser therapy does not have the  side-effects that have been associated with drug therapy.

Nail fungus, or onychomycosis, affects between 3 and 9 per cent of the population. Toenails are four times more likely to be affected than finger nails, and men are more likely to suffer than women.

The problem is also more common with advancing age. The infection, which is similar to athlete’s foot, is caused when tiny spores of fungus infect the skin.

Wearing sweaty trainers or suffering  from hot, perspiring feet provide the perfect breeding ground for the fungal spores. The risk of getting nail fungus is also greater if there is nail damage (people with conditions such as psoriasis and diabetes are particularly vulnerable).

As the fungus spreads deeper into the nail, it may cause discolouration, thickening and the development of crumbling edges. The nail can turn white, black, yellow or green, and even break away from the toe.

The nail bed and surrounding skin can become inflamed and painful, and in extreme cases it can make walking difficult.

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SOURCE Daily Mail

Why Superdrug’s £150 Botox jabs may be too cheap

Would you consider popping into Superdrug for a spot of Botox or laser hair-removal?

Now you can, as the High Street chain rolls out its  in-store Pro Skin clinics, offering anti-wrinkle injections, laser hair-removal and microdermabrasion.

Prices start at £49 for laser hair-removal and rise to £149 for Botox or fillers, with peels for £69 and Dermaroller treatments at £138.

In Harley Street, you’ll pay around £250 for Botox, upwards of £350 for fillers, and £325 for Dermaroller.

Superdrug’s Lisa Pellizzon says they can offer treatments at such a low price because they’ve slashed the mark-up.  At Superdrug prices start at £49 for laser hair-removal and rise to £149 for Botox or fillers

It’s also because, with the exception of Botox and fillers, treatments are carried out by beauticians, not medical personnel.

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SOURCE Daily Mail

‘Miracle’ spot cure beloved by U.S. celebs set to cause a storm when it goes on sale at Boots this week

• Katy Perry, Elle Macpherson and Justin Bieber among celebrity clients
• £39.99 treatment launches for the first time in the UK

For most women it is a problem they hope to leave behind in their teenage years.

But recent studies have revealed that more and more are suffering with embarrassing spots and pimples in adult life.

Now a skin care treatment favoured by American celebrities, which claims to banish blemishes in days, is set to revolutionise the lives of acne sufferers when it is launched in Britain this week.


The Proactiv range promises to leave skin looking healthier in just 14 days

The three 120ml bottles of Proactiv cleanser, toner and repair lotion claim to clear away spots and leave skin looking healthier in just 14 days.

Formulated by two US female dermatologists, the solution contains salicylic acid, a natural plant extract which helps clear blocked pores by eliminating dead skin cells.

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SOURCE Daily Mail

Cruelty-free? Avon and Estée Lauder under fire as Peta reveals cosmetic brands 'ordered animal testing'

Peta is calling on supporters to boycott Avon and Estée Lauder after discovering the cosmetic giants are paying for animal testing.

The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals revealed on their website today that the skincare brands are no longer 'cruelty-free' as they are being forced to follow regulations enforced by the Chinese government.

U.S. brand Mary Kay was also included in the list of companies that are said to harm animals in the Asian country.

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SOURCE Daily Mail

How plastic surgery can shave nine years from your appearance - but that's only if you have three procedures

A new study has found that plastic surgery can shave up to an average of nine years from an person's age appearance.

Not only do the University of Toronto results quantify, for the first time, the youth-giving surgery's effects, but researchers found that the findings held true even when patients were younger to begin with and despite other factors potentially influencing looks.

And, the more plastic surgery procedures an individual had had, the greater the number of years between real and perceived age, according to the report published yesterday in the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery.

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SOURCE Daily Mail

Go for red light From wrinkles to cold sores, red light therapy is the latest trick to save your face

The weather may be freezing, the days still short, but there is now light — red light — at the end of the tunnel. The power of red light was originally harnessed by NASA, which proved that it helped to heal wounds and burns, and it has been used — successfully — for the treatment of skin cancer.

As with many medical breakthroughs, the cosmetic benefits of red light subsequently emerged and it’s now becoming widely available in High Street salons and shops.

We’ve all heard of infra-red light, which is invisible. But the fast-growing trend is for visible red light — a gentle and effective way of healing and rejuvenating skin.

‘Red light easily penetrates the dermis and can help with a variety of skin conditions, such as acne, rosacea, scarring and eczema, as well as improving skin quality,’ says Jo Martin, clinical director of Mapperley Park Clinic and an expert in light therapy and laser treatments.

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SOURCE Daily Mail

Plastic Surgery Simulator Available on iPhone, iPad and Mac OS

PARIS, Jan. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaeria EURL recently released Plastic Surgery Simulator 1.1 for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users and version 1.3 for Mac users. The application helps people to envision how they might look like if they undergo a cosmetic surgery procedure by allowing users to stretch, shrink, or move different parts of their body on photos, then view before and after pictures of themselves. Although the application can be used for fun, real plastic surgery results are never guaranteed and this simulation tool can help balance the decision process.

"People want to be beautiful," says Kaeria CEO, Benjamin Melki. "With this app, users can distort their picture to see how they would look with a differently shaped nose, breasts, chin, buttocks, and so on. Sometimes, just a slight modification makes a tremendous difference to one's appearance. It can be shocking to see the before and after photos."

The application provides realistic, high quality plastic surgery simulations for a number of procedures, in an easy-to-use interface.

Five percent of Plastic Surgery Simulator users are doctors, and although the application can be used for serious simulation, it can also be used for fun to distort people and pets in the most hilarious grimacing way.

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SOURCE PR Newswire

The rising trend for 'Bro-tox': Meet the men becoming hooked on cosmetic fillers

As far as Simon Cowell and David Hasselhoff are concerned, Botox is de rigueur if one is in the public eye. But now it seems more and more non-famous men are turning to the needle in an effort to slow the ageing process too.

Dubbed 'Bro-tox', this new age of male grooming is not limited to image-conscious metrosexual types - indeed, 300,000 men in the U.S. had Botox injections last year alone.

In a feature on Good Morning America today, a group of rather unlikely male candidates revealed why they were bucking stereotypes and had elected to use cosmetic fillers.

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SOURCE Daily Mail