DEFY TIME from The Face and Body Clinic

We live in a world in which we are not really allowed to grow old gracefully.  We're bombarded with anti-aging messages all day, girls are using Botox as a preventative measure from their early twenties, and the latest present to give yourself on your fiftieth birthday is a facelift.  Even hard nosed news journalists such as Kay Burley has recently been talking about her transformation.

I'm definitely of the opinion that you should never say never, although my fear of needles may well keep me away from anything invasive.  But as I said, never say never; let's see what I feel (and look!) like in ten-fifteen years time!

Creams and serums are the first defence against ageing, so I've been testing out the DEFY TIME cream  from The Face and Body Clinic on Harley Street.  It's a rich luxurious cream that feels very grown up and glamourous when you smell and touch it. Its active ingredient is an anti-wrinkle peptide called Syn-ake which mimics the paralysing effect of a peptide found in the venom of the Brazilian Templar Viper.  Yikes!!  While this sounds uber-dramatic, don't worry, it doesn't leave you with frozen face.  In a very gentle way, it blocks the neuromuscular contractions, thereby reducing wrinkles and fine lines.  Clinical trials have shown a reduction in wrinkles of 52% and an 80% increase in smoothness of skin after 28 days of use.

I've been using for two months now and can honestly say I love it.  My skin never feels overloaded or greasy, yet it feels perfectly moisturised throughout the day, without the usual dry feeling late afternoon. I'll definitely keep using it - so many friends have commented on how glow-y my skin looks, fresher, younger and radiant and I really feel that the finer lines have softened.  It's my little Botox in a pot.  A 50ml tub costs £49.95 and lasts for ages.

And with Joanna Lumley a huge fan of the cream, that's enough of a recommendation for me!