My New Fave

I was with my very wonderful skin guru, Peggy Stringer, a few days ago. She owns the Monkstown Laser Skin Clinic and she is solely responsible for sorting out my skin after I got adult acne at 29 years old. I was miserable after having clear skin for my teens and twenties only to be sabotaged just before I turned 30! I tried lots of the pharmacy brands to try to help at the time but nothing seemed to really work. My skin might improve somewhat after trying new products but then inevitably regress back to badness.

When I went to Peggy, I immediately trusted her; she knows what she's doing and it's obvious from the first few minutes with her. When your skin has broken out and you can't understand why, you feel pretty low. Makeup doesn't improve the situation, it only adds to the bumpiness and you are crying out for someone to swoop in like a skin angel and help!

Peggy put me on a new regime with the fantastic Jan Marini products which I followed religiously and she treated my skin with glycolic peels and micro-dermabrasion. Honestly, after a few treatments, my skin started to glow again.

The glycolic system is excellent for acne sufferers or those with dull skin. It gets in deep and soothes and exfoliates but chemically, not physically. Don't freak out! It's an alpha-hydroxy acid which is derived from sugar cane and it is very soothing; it just kick starts your cell rejuvenation and allows your moisturiser to get in and do it's work without getting blocked by dead skin cells. It is much more gentle than using abrasive exfoliants which can scratch and irritate your poor inflamed skin.

There are glycolics abounding on the mass market nowadays such as Neostrata but they are a much weaker concentration than the professional treatments so therefore they are fine if your skin is relatively ok but if your skin is in need of a serious overhaul, you need to find your skin angel too.

Anyway, I still go to Peggy every couple of months for a glycolic peel (and just to chat; she is a fountain of knowledge about skin!). My skin is so much improved with no acne at all for the past few years other than the occasional minor eruption which is always due to me not following my regime properly and testing too many new makeup products on myself!

So when I was with her this week I was complaining about the fine lines that are increasing on my cheeks when I smile. She told me it's because I used to smoke ( I know, my bad) and she gave me a new serum to add to my arsenal. It is the Jan Marini C-Esta Serum which I am using once a day on clean skin and under my moisturiser. I can't praise this enough... I adore it. It is chock full of stable vitamin C in a lipid formula, which means that 'it is able to create conditions in the skin that enable dramatic rejuvenation'.

Now, I kid you not... I swear that I can see the difference after only three days use! My skin looks brighter and firmer. It actually looks younger! I totally don't stand over ludicrous claims that the skincare industry makes...I think they are ridiculous and unfair as they play on women's insecurities. So please believe me when I tell you that this works.

Obviously, I will have to see how it works over time, and I will certainly keep you posted, but for the moment, I am happily amazed.