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Category Archives: Face
Products for Pale Skin: NARS Illuminator in ‘Orgasm’
It happened again last week.
I was out visiting family, and a casual acquaintance of theirs – a woman I’ve only met a few times – suddenly zeroed in on my pasty complexion.
“Are you feeling OK?” she asked, cutting across the conversation we’d all been having to address me. “Because, it’s just, you’re SO PALE! You really look ill!”
Embarrassed, I explained (with the help of the other people present, bless them, who agreed that my complexion looked the same as it always does) that I was feeling perfectly OK, thanks, but, like many other redheads, I have very pale skin, and that this is how it looks.
My questioner was not to be appeased, though.
“You really don’t look well at all,” she told me. And then, addressing the room at large, “She’d look a lot better with some colour in her cheeks.” (I was wearing my usual makeup, including blusher) at the time. “I’d like her better with some colour.”
Now, as some of you know, I am not ashamed of my pale skin. I firmly believe that pale skin can be just as beautiful as any other shade, and I am not going to apologise for the face I was born with. Or, as Lady Gaga might say, “I was born this way, baby!”
But.
With all of that said, there’s no denying that I was stung by this woman’s comments, as I always am when someone tells me that my natural skin colour is unattractive or, in this case, makes me look “ill”. I don’t expect any healthy person enjoys being told that, do they? Because saying someone “looks ill” is just another way of saying they look BAD. Unless you know a person very well (or they’ve told you that they actually ARE ill), I think it’s one of those things that are best left unsaid. Never ask someone if they’re pregnant unless you can see the baby crowning, and never tell someone they look ill unless the ambulance is on the way, or you’re sitting by their bedside. Some free Dollface advice for you, there.
Over the next few days, then, I found myself looking at myself even more critically than I normally do, and I had to acknowledge that while I don’t think I looked ill, I am certainly much paler at this time of year than I am during summer, say. This is something that always happens to me in winter. I wear sunblock all year round, but in Spring and Summer I find that my freckles will darken just from being in the sun, which gives me the appearance of “having a bit more colour” as my new friend would say. By January, however, I haven’t seen the sun for such a long time that my freckles fade completely and my face becomes almost paper white (er, not exactly, obviously, but you know what I mean) without so much of a hint of natural colour.
When that happens, my usual makeup just doesn’t cut it any more, so I dug around in my beauty box, and I came up with this:
NARS Iluminator, in ‘Orgasm’. As you may remember, I received this as part of a complimentary Glossybox a while back. After my initial experiments with it, though, I found I didn’t use it much, because it wasn’t particularly visible on my skin. That was back in August, though, and I’d had three weeks in the California sun, plus the “best” of the UK summer. Now that I’ve tried it again on my much paler face, I have to retract my original comments on this. Yes, it’s still very subtle. No, it doesn’t create the kind of difference that makes you go OMGLOVE! But, having been wearing it all over my face (with the exception of my forehead, which really doesn’t need to look any shinier, thanks, and is mostly hidden by my fringe anyway), I find that it does take the edge of my pallor, and gives me a slightly healthier “glow”, as much as I hate that word.
I’ve moved this from “occasional use, only when I remember it” to “daily essential”. For now, at least. Next time I see that particular acquaintance, I may just let my pale flag fly!
Dollface Reviews: Nanoblur Optical Cream
Nanoblur is possibly one of the most-hyped beauty products of the year so far: it’s one of those “quick fix” creams, which doesn’t offer long-lasting changes to your appearance, but DOES promise to make you look younger and better while you’re wearing it. In this case, Nanoblur claims to make you look “Up to ten years younger in 40 seconds or less.” Well, obviously I was going to have to try THAT…
Unlike many of the other products in this genre, Nanoblur is actually pretty cheap. It costs just £20 per tube (Mine was actually sent courtesy of price comparison website, Idealo.co.uk, which makes it even more tempting – and made me even more skeptical, I must admit. So, what is it?
This looks like skin cream, but is really a cosmetic product, which, according to the blurb, “Immediately reduces the appearance of skin ageing, including the look of lines, wrinkles, crow’s feet, sagginess and enlarged pores.” It comes in a white plastic tube, and looks much like any other cream:
There are a few different ways to use this, but the key to it is that it must always be the last step in your regime, so if you’re using it with makeup, you have to apply your makeup before using the Nanoblur. You can also use it on its own, however, and I decided to try that first, so I could give it a proper test.
Just like in the adverts I’ve seen for this, I decided to start off by applying the product to one side of my face only, so I could really see any difference it made. (No, I didn’t take photos of this: you have to be very unlucky to get to see me without my makeup!) I applied a thin layer over my skin, and waited for a few seconds to allow it to get to work.
Almost instantly, I felt a light tingling/tightening sensation on the surface of my skin, where I’d applied the cream. It’s not an unpleasant or painful sensation, and is much like the feeling you get with something like the Peter Thomas Roth Instant FirmX product I reviewed earlier this year. After about a minute, I looked in the mirror and…
…yes, there was a definite, visible difference between the side of the face I’d applied Nanoblur to, and the side I hadn’t. The main difference for me was that the Nanoblur side was now very, very matte. My skin has a tendency to shininess, and this product soaks up every last bit of it, so you’re left with a totally matte finish, which also has the effect of making my skin look paler and smoother. On the Nanoblur side, the pores were less visible, and the fine lines around the eyes were less pronounced, but not dramatically so.
Did I look ten years younger, though?
No, not really. Smoother and less shiny, yes, but not a whole ten years younger. Damn.
Having just told you that Nanoblur has to be used AFTER foundation, you can presumably guess what I did next. Yes, I tried to apply foundation over it. “Well, how hard can it be?” I thought. The answer? Very hard. Foundation just didn’t work over the top of it: unsurprisingly, given that the instructions specifically tell you not to do this. It won’t do you any harm, of course, it just goes on very patchy, and looks horrible, basically. I tried only in the name of research (I promise!), but didn’t repeat the experiment: instead, the next time I tried this, I used it OVER my foundation, as directed.
This attempt was a bit hit and miss. I find it quite difficult to apply the cream without it taking my foundation off, or making it look streaky, and when I do manage to get the application right, I have to use such a small amount of the product that I don’t really feel it makes a huge difference to my skin. That said, I don’t have a lot of deep lines yet, so I decided to take the test further, and took my trusty tube of Nanoblur to my mum, to let her have a go.
On my mum, the effect of this was much more apparent. As well as the mattifying effect I’d noticed, her frown lines looked softer (she also tried applying it to just one side of the face) and she really felt that it had made a difference. The difference it makes does seem to differ from person to person, however, because once my mum had tried it, Mr Dollface decided he had to have a go, too… On him, there wasn’t much difference to the frown lines, but we all noticed an improvement in the under-eye shadows and some of his other fine lines.
(Yeah, we have some fun times in our house, can you tell?)
Overall, I think this product DOES make a difference: just not a “ten years” younger, difference, although I do think there’s a knack to applying it properly, and I’m willing to admit that I may not just have found that knack yet! For me, I think the Peter Thomas Roth product I mentioned above has a much more obvious effect, and while it IS more expensive, it would still be my first choice above this: I think my best advice to anyone thinking of trying this would be to try to sample it first, so you can see exactly what kind of effect it will have on YOU, first. Oh, and be prepared to spend a little bit of time getting used to it: if you’re using it with makeup, it’s definitely not a “slap it on without even looking in the mirror” kind of thing!
This is available at Boots - or rather, is currently NOT available at Boots, because it’s been so popular that it keeps selling out. I got mine from Idealo.co.uk, which allows you to compare prices on lots of different products and then purchase direct from the retailer. You can check them out here.
Dollface Reviews: Lancome Genifique Soleil SPF 30
Just a very quick post today: I don’t have a huge amount to say about this product, but as sunscreen is such a big deal for me, especially at this time of year, I thought I’d just quickly show you what I’ve been wearing on my face all summer. (Or for the parts of it I’ve spent at home, anyway: I used a higher SPF when I went on vacation, as I got to experience actual sunshine then!)
This is Lancome’s Genifique Soleil: it’s a sunscreen designed for the face, and it comes in SPF 15 – 50. Mine was a PR sample, and, as you can see, I was sent the SPF 30 version: given the choice, I personally always go for the highest SPF available, as you just can’t be too careful, but SPF 30 is perfectly adequate for a Scottish summer, so this has become part of my morning beauty routine.
The reason I like this is simple: it feels more like a moisturiser than a sunscreen. My eternal complaint about sunscreen is that it tends to be thick, gloopy and hard to absorb, and that’s even more annoying on the face than is on the body, because it can be hard to apply makeup over some of particularly thick formulas.
There are no such issues with this, though: it’s lightweight, easily absorbed, and has only the faintest trace of that telltale “sunscreen” scent, so it’s really no different from applying a moisturiser. In fact, although you can obviously use moisturiser with it, I’ve dispensed with mine altogether for daytime, as this product keeps my skin soft, hydrated AND protected courtesy of the same Genifique formula you’ll find in the rest of the range.
This costs £22.98 per bottle, so it’s not cheap. It is, however, worth it, I think, and my bottle has lasted the full summer and is still going strong, so you will get your money’s worth. Click here to buy it at Boots.
Dollface Reviews: Dainty Doll liquid foundation in 02 – Light
This week, my continuing search for foundation for pake skin led me back to the Dainty Doll line, by Nicola Roberts, and specifically to the new liquid foundation, which is £22 at Harrods.
I was sent this as a review sample, and the colour I received was shade 02, “light”, which is the second palest in the line. Now, at first I was a little worried about this, because I haven’t worn the second palest shade in a foundation line in my life. In fact,while my search for pale foundation has been a long and hard one, it’s also been pretty straightfoward: for instance, I never have to spend ages standing around at a beauty counter, swatching lots of different shades of foundation. I only need to try one – the palest – and if it doesn’t work, then I simply move on.
I fully expected shade 02 to be too dark for me, then, but of course, I was forgetting that this is a range designed specifically for people with pale skin, and that means that the lightest option may not be the best. So I gave it a go, and, much to my surprise, it was perfect.
I found it really hard to photograph this properly, because, well, it’s pale. Here are a couple of swatches, though:
Not the greatest pictures in the world, obviously, but basically this is pale, with yellowish undertones, and it is definitely pale enough for my skin, which is the thing I was most interested in. (I’d be really interested to see the palest version as a comparison!)
I was also really pleased with the consistency of this, which is your basic, mid-to-heavy coverage liquid foundation. Some of you may remember that the very first version of Dainty Doll’s foundation was a thick, cakey consistency, which was an absolute pain to apply: so much so that I gave up completely. This is much better, and while it’s still not the most blendable foundation I’ve ever tried, it’s a huge improvement, and the coverage is pretty good, too, and builds up well.
The finish is fairly matte, which means that the shininess in this photo is all my own, unfortunately:
Overall, I would recommend this for anyone who sturuggles to find foundation pale enough for them: and if you’re paler than me, I’d love to hear what you think of the lighter shade!
I have some other Dainty Doll products to swatch for you soon, so keep an eye out for those, too!
Click here to buy this from Harrods.
Dollface Reviews: NARS Illuminator in Orgasm
NARS Illuminator is a product I’ve been wanting to try for a long time now, so I was really pleased to find one inside the Glossybox I was sent to try out a couple of months ago. I was sent the ‘Orgasm’ shade, which was just fine by me, because I already use NARS Orgasm blush, and swear by it, so this is the shade I’d have picked for myself. (It’s also available in Laguna, Copacabana, and Super Orgasm, which, on reflection, may actually be a better shade for me, as it has a bit of golden shimmer to it, and I’m partial to a bit of shimmer.)
I’m sure most of you are perfectly familiar with the concept of illuminators, but just in case you’re not, this can be used in a number of different ways: you can apply it as a highlighter, either on its own, or on top of foundation; you can apply it all over the face, for a healthy “glow”, or you can mix it in with your moisturiser or foundation for a more subtle look.
When I first received it, I assumed I’d probably use it on top of my foundation, to highlight the brow and cheekbones, in much the same way I use my beloved Benefit HighBeam. In practice, however, I found that this product didn’t really make much of a difference used like that: it pretty much melts into the skin, and isn’t particularly visible on my brow bone, which is why I haven’t included any photos of me actually wearing it: I did try, but you wouldn’t have been able to see it!
Instead, then, I’ve been mostly using it all over my face, on top of my foundation. Again, this isn’t something I could photograph very easily, because it’s not like you’d look at me and think, “Oh, yes, she’s wearing an illuminator!” but it does make a subtle difference, and as much as I hate the vagueness of the word, I think “glow” is really the only way to describe it. You don’t see shimmer, or glitter, or anything like that, and it’s certainly not greasy or shiny, but it does add a certain something to the skin, and it’s a certain something which I think is quite summery, and natural looking. It would probably also look good on its own, but I wouldn’t know, because I haven’t seen myself without foundation since I was 15.
Overall, would I buy it? Probably not, to be honest. It does make a difference, but it’s not such a huge one that I’d be willing to spend £21 on it, and I prefer the more obvious effect of Benefit Highbeam. As I said in my first paragraph, though, I would be interested in trying the Super Orgasm version, which sounds like it would have a little more shimmer to it, and possibly suit me better.
Want to try it for yourself? Click here to buy it direct from NARS.
Dollface Reviews: The Save My Face Pillow
Remember the Save My Face Pillow I wrote about earlier this year?
I couldn’t resist buying one.
I mean, I say “I couldn’t resist”. I kinda felt like I had no option: I was waking up every morning looking like someone had taken a Stanley knife to my forehead during the night and craved two deep grooves into it. The lines weren’t disappearing during the day, either, so something had to be done.
As I mentioned in my previous post, these two sleep lines on my forehead are the result of me always sleeping on my left-hand side, with my face smooched into the pillow. I tried training myself to sleep on my back, and I tried Frownies, but having had limited success with the Frownsies, and no success at all with the back-sleeping, this pillow was the next step in my plan of action.
I actually bought my pillow from eBay, where it was only about £20, compared to the £50 charged by the official website. I went for the small pillow (the “pillowette”) because I have a fairly small face, and I opted for the satin finish because I’ve read that satin pillowcases are less likely to leave you with sleep lines.
I’ve been using the pillow every night for about two months now – I even took it on vacation with me last month – and from that you can probably tell that I’m pretty happy with it. As soon as I removed it from the packaging, I took it to the mirror in the bedroom and did some experimental face-pressing with it, and it’s easy to see why this works. The pillow is basically designed to support your head at the forehead and chin – they rest on the two “prongs” you see on the side – while the rest of the face is suspended between the two ends, meaning that the skin isn’t pressing against anything, and therefore doesn’t crease. You can also fold it in half and put it at the back of your neck, like a travel pillow, if you want to sleep on your back, or sitting up.
The concept is simple, but it does work: when I use this, I mostly wake up without those two sleep lines on my forehead, which is exactly the result I was hoping for.
I say “mostly”. I have just two issues with this, and one of them is more about ME than it is about the pillow, to be fair:
1. Although this is the small version of the pillow, it’s still just a little too big for my head: I feel like it would support me better if the two ends were just a little closer together. As it is, I sometimes feel like my face is going to slip through the gap.
2. Sometimes during the night I will move around and push the pillow away without realising, meaning I wake up with the sleep lines. (I use it on top of my regular pillow, so I don’t notice it’s gone.) Or I’ll adjust my position in such a way that my head is lying on the middle part of the pillow rather than on the end, which means y skin is still getting creased. I don’t think there’s much I can do about that, though, although I have been combining it with my Frownies, as an extra precaution. Bedtime in my house sounds fun, no?
Anyway, all things considered, I’m pleased I bought this, and will continue to use it unless something even better comes along!
Click here to visit the brand’s website.
Dollface Reviews: Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation in Alabaster (Foundation for pale skin)
Some of you may remember me talking about Bobbi Brown’s Long Lasting Foundation last month, and wondering if the ‘Alabaster’ shade might be a good match for my pale skin. Well, this month I decided it was time to stop wondering and find out: the Bobbi Brown corrector I use had reached critical levels, and while I was replacing it, why, a bottle of the Natural Finish Foundation just so happened to slip into my online shopping cart along with it. Fancy that!
It arrived a couple of weeks ago, and I’m just going to answer the critical question right away: YES. It’s a perfect match for my skin. I hardly ever get to say that, so this is kind of a big deal for me. I’d actually been worried that it would be TOO pale: I already use Bobbi Brown concealer/corrector in the shade up from this, which is Porcelain/Porcelain Bisque. It’s very pale as it is, so I wondered if Alabaster might turn out to be one of those pure white shades that are really only useful for editorial looks, or mixing in with existing foundation to lighten it. I needn’t have worried, though, because as I said above, it’s pretty much perfect:
This was really hard to photograph, so apologies for the quality of these swatches. The first one is the “right out of the bottle” product, the second shows – or tries to show – it once it’s been blended in. As you can see (or, er, can’t see), it blends in so well it’s almost indistinguishable from the surrounding skin. What you may or may not also notice from these photos is the yellow undertones. I’d worried a bit about this, too, as my skin is pink toned, but it’s actually worked out really well for me: yellow is great at cancelling out dark shadows under the eyes and other areas of discolouration, so it’s helped with that, while not being yellow enough to make me look sallow.
For the benefit of my pale skinned friends, I did a couple of comparison shots with some of my other foundations:
L-R: Bobbi Brown, Dainty Doll in Ivory, Lancome Renergie Lift Foundation in Porcelain, Revlon ColorStay in 110 Ivory, Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation in RF120. (Some of these are swatched here.)
And swatched:
These have all come out a little darker than they are in real life, with the exception of the Dainty Doll, which is pretty true to colour. As you can see, though, this isn’t quite as pale as Dainty Doll but it is paler than the other three, and the difference is much more pronounced in real life. I was actually wearing it in yesterday’s photos , so I won’t bore you with more photos of my face, but if you’ve arrived at this post via a Google search and want to see what it looks like on, you can see it here.
Enough about the colour, though, what about the foundation itself? Well, in that respect, it’s very true to its name: a natural finish. The bottle has a pump dispenser, and when I first used it, I didn’t think I was going to like it, as it’s runnier and lighter than I’m used to: lately I’ve been using my own mixture of Revlon ColorStay combined with Illamasqua 105 (a pure white) to make it pale enough to wear. Those are both heavy duty, thick coverage foundations, and, in comparison, this is more of a medium coverage, although it does layer up nicely. What I noticed as soon as I started to apply it, however, is that it truly does have a natural finish: it basically seems to melt into the skin, so you don’t look like you’re wearing foundation – there’s none of that “caked on” look, and it doesn’t settle into fine lines either. I was really impressed with how natural it looks on, and that, combined with the great colour match has really made a difference to me – I feel like my foundation looks much less like “makeup”, and more like skin, which obviously a big point in this product’s favour.
My one small criticism of this would be that it’s not quite as matte a finish as I usually like. My personal preference is for very matte foundations, and my usual ColorStay/Illamasqua combination really soaks up any excess oil on the t-zone. I don’t normally have to use powder with Revlon, but I have been having to use it with this from time to time, depending on just how shiny my skin decides it wants to be of a morning. This is a small price to pay for such an otherwise fantastic foundation, though: to be honest, I can’t really think of a good reason for me to want to switch from this, although, in the interests of “research” I’ll probably try some of the other foundations from the Bobbi Brown line too, as they all come in this Alabaster shade.
This is £29 at Bobbi Brown. Expensive, yes, but worth every penny for the colour match alone…
Beauty Wish List: Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation in Alabaster
My foundation supplies are starting to run a little low, so I’ve been looking around for my next purchase, and think I may have found it: Bobbi Brown’s Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation in Alabaster – a shade paler than pale!
This particular shades is actually available across all of Bobbi Brown’s foundations (I picked this one to add to my Wish List because it has a matt finish, and promises to soak up moisture – perfect for my shiny t-zone!), and is the main reason for my interest in this product. I’ve written before about the difficulty of finding foundation pale enough for my skin, but this shade is designed with us palefaces in mind. In fact, my only concern is that it may actually be too pale: I have a Bobbi Brown concealer in Porcelain, which is the next shade up (and used to be the palest Bobbi Brown offered. It’s actually about to run out too. Why must all of my products choose to die simultaneously?), and it’s very pale itself, so I’m both very impressed that the brand has thought to release a shade even paler than that, and a little worried that it might be pure white!
I don’t have a Bobbi Brown counter near me, unfortunately, so it may take me a bit of time to get round to testing this. Anyone else tried it and care to give me your opinion?
(Click here to buy it for £29)
Dollface Reviews: Frownies Forehead and Between Eyes anti-wrinkle patches
As I mentioned earlier this month, I’m currently engaged in a fight to the death with the attractive (not) set of pillow lines I’ve managed to acquire through years of sleeping in the same position every night, with my forehead crushed against the pillow. My first line of defence in this ongoing battle was the purchase of a box of Frownies Forehead and Between Eye Patches, which I’ve been diligently applying to my forehead (almost) every night since they arrived.
Now, for those of you who aren’t familiar with Frownies, they’re little cardboard stickers, as shown above, which you tear off, dampen, and stick to your head. Yes, I know that sounds a bit bizarre, and, indeed, it looks a bit bizarre, too – in fact, even although I’ve been using these for a couple of weeks now, Mr Dollface still has to stifle a laugh every time he sees me with one stuck to my temple. The idea, though, is a good ‘un: once attached to the skin on top of the wrinkle you’re trying to remove, the Frownie will keep the skin taught, and prevent the line from forming while you sleep, simply by preventing your face from forming the expression that caused the line in the first place. Over time, they claim to remove lines altogether, making them a much less intrusive/expensive alternative to treatments like Botox.
So, do they work?
In a word, yes. And no. Let me explain…
I’m mostly interested in using these to smooth out the pillow lines on my forehead, and prevent me from waking up every morning with a couple of train tracks on my face. (I’m also going to be trying them on the dreaded “11s” between my eyes, but for now I’ve been sticking to the pillow lines). Every night, I apply my Frownie before bed. When I wake up, as promised, the two lines that have become the bane of my life aren’t there: this is very, very good news for me, because previous to this, those two lines were very visible first thing in the morning, and still visible (although much less so) for the rest of the day. Now, while I can still see a very faint trace of them, they’re no longer visible at first glance, which is great.
The problem is, however, that instead of my usual two lines, I’ve been waking up in the morning with a NEW line. This is another pillow line, and it forms where one edge of the Frownie makes contact with the skin on my forehead. What’s obviously happening is that while I’m sleeping my head is pressing against the pillow, and that’s forcing the skin up against the edge of the Frownie, thus creating an all-new pillow line. This line, to be fair, is one that vanishes almost right away, so it’s not a big deal right now, but I tend to think that if I keep on using the Frownies, it will deepen over time, and I’ll have simply succeeded in moving the pillow lines to a different part of my face. This leads me to suspect that while Frownies do seem to be pretty good at erasing lines (at least for a little while), they may be more effective for expression lines, such as “the elevens”, than they are for the type of pillow lines that are caused by lying on your side. I’ve also noticed that if I miss a night, the lines will be back with a vengeance: Frownies say that once the line has completely disappeared, you can stop using the patches, but in this case I think the lines would just re-f0rm as soon as I stopped.
To break it down:
THE PROS:
- Successful at getting rid of lines overnight.
- Much less expensive than treatments like Botox, etc.
- Easy to use.
THE CONS:
- Created a different (albeit temporary) line where the patch meets the skin.
- Would require continuous use to keep my particular lines at bay.
- Not the most attractive thing to wear, especially for those of you who don’t sleep alone.
Dollface’s verdict: A good quick-fix for expression lines, although they’d probably be most effective as a preventative measure.
I bought my Frowies direct from the manufacturers website, where they’re currently £17.50 per box. This is a box of 144 patches, though, and I normally only use one or two per night, so they’ll last a long time, making them very good value. You can click here to buy a box.
Anyone else tried these? What did you think?
Pillow lines and how to avoid them
When I was on holiday in December, I was putting my makeup on one morning when I noticed two huge creases on my forehead. These creases were diagonal, and ran from my hairline down my temple, unlike the other lines littering my forehead, which are all either horizontal or vertical (the “elevens” between the eyes).
“Pillow lines!” I thought with relief. “They’re just pillow lines, which means they’ll go away in a few minutes - thank goodness for that!”
Except, the lines didn’t go away. Sure, they faded a little over the course of the day, but they didn’t disappear entirely, like the pillow lines of the past. Huh. I figured the hotel’s pillow cases were probably much starchier than the ones I use at home, so I ignored the two diagonal lines (which, after a bit of prodding, I could see were, indeed, the lines the skin on my forehead falls into when it’s pressed against the pillow) until I got home. And they were still there. They weren’t as bad as they’d been on holiday, so I’m guessing the pillow probably did have something to do with it, but as I always sleep on the same side (and can ONLY sleep on that side), they’re only going to get worse. So I did some investigating and came up with the following options:
1. Anti-Wrinkle Pillows
As lying in the same position night after night is what causes pillow lines, it makes sense to try and modify your sleeping position to avoid making them worse (or to stop them before they start, if you’re lucky enough not to have any). Unfortunately for me, this seems to be an impossible task: I’ve been trying my best to sleep on my back, or even on my other side (so I develop a matching set of pillow lines on the other side of my face!), but I just can’t do it. I’m a creature of habit, and my habit is to sleep on my left side, so even if I start off in some other position, I’ll always end up with the left side of my face crushed into the pillow, developing more lines. These pillows are designed to stop you doing that. You can still lie on your side, but they support your head in such a way as to stop the skin creasing. Sounds fabulous, but unfortunately it doesn’t come cheap: the one shown above is the Grande Pillowette, which is £65, while La Petite will set you back £40. Still, if it works, then I’d consider that pretty cheap, so it could be well worth it. There are various other pillows like this on the market: I suspect I’ll be investing in one of them soon!
2. Silk pillowcases
Sleeping on a creased pillow is a great way to make sure you wake up with those same creases on your face the next morning, so for years now people have been marketing silk pillowcases as beauty aids, on the basis that they’re much less likely to crease your skin. (They’re also kinder to your hair than a normal pillow, too.) One company I’ve written about before is Silkskin although, again, there are plenty of other sources of silk pillowcases out there too.
3. Frownies
Ah, Frownies! The sticky patches which you apply to your lines last thing at night, on the premise that they’ll prevent your skin from creasing during the night, and allow you to wake up looking at least a little less lines that you were the night before! They won’t make the lines go away for good, of course, but they claim to make them less visible, and prevent them getting worse. I’ve decided to make Frownies my first line of defence in the war against my diagonal forehead lines, and I have a brand new bow of them sitting on my desk right now, which I’ll start using this week, and will report back on in due course.
Anyone else got any other suggestions on how to deal with the dreaded pillow lines?
