Why it's never too late to turn back time

FACIAL REJUVENATION FOR THE OVER-FIFTIES REALLY WORKS, SAYS LESLEY REYNOLDS, AKA THE QUEEN OF HARLEY STREET

- LYNNE HYLAND

 

Former Vogue model Sandra Howard hit the headlines in August for admitting she’d found losing her looks difficult. The author and former MP’s wife, now 82, spoke with disarming honesty about how she’s struggled with the ageing process.

“It’s not right, but I’m afraid life is easier when you’re pretty,” she said. “As my twenties gave way to my thirties and then to motherhood, the flow of compliments began to ebb – and I was surprised by how much I missed them. The ageing process is not a beautiful woman’s friend.”

I totally understand where she’s coming from, particularly as patients often come to our clinic at the point when they feel they are becoming invisible. I know this isn’t morally how we should be, but as a society we’ve never been more focused on youth and looks. We can’t change the world we live in, but we can change ourselves if we want to, and I don’t see that as bowing to pressure. I see that as a personal choice to get “you” back again, to look more like the youthful person you feel inside.

And that’s what the wonderful world of aesthetics is for. We really can turn back time, and even if you’ve left it late, it’s still possible to lose a decade or maybe even two. This year, around 30% of the patients in our clinic have been over 75 so it’s clearly a trend. Luckily for those clients, I don’t agree with Sandra when she said, “There comes a point when you have to bow to the laws of gravity and time.”