THE INBETWEENERS

'Prejuvenation' is the buzzy new anti-ageing approach aimed at preventing rather than correcting the signs of ageing in your 30s. Perhaps the answer to looking younger lies somewhere between non-surgical interventions and high-tech skincare?

- FIONA EMBLETON

There's a certain kind of frustration that comes with the first sign of an angry forehead crease. But, sometimes our dog-eared approach to anti-ageing needs a shake-up. Even creams and serums with an ingredients roll call that reads like a science journal can't single-handedly hold back the hands of time. Certainly not if left too late, given skin starts to lose one per cent of collagen each year after the age of 25 and bone loss becomes significant by 35. "Bone loss means your face loses the underlying structure and foundations that support the fat tissues, muscles, and ligaments," says Dr Karim Sayed, aesthetic doctor at the Ouronyx Clinic in Dubai. "The skin becomes too large for the overall face scaffolding and starts to sag, making wrinkles more obvious."

Rather than stage an intervention further along in the ageing journey, the victory blow against slack skin and deeply etched wrinkles is early preemptive prevention, or what beauty insiders are dubbing "prejuvenation." 

The premise is simple: combine skincare infused with the best that science has to offer with "tweakments" that smooth, restore a youthful plumpness and shore up a bank of collagen while your body is still efficient enough at making it. "Prevention is better than cure," says Dr Marwa Ali, resident aesthetic doctor at The Wellness Clinic at Harrods in London, who regularly treats patients in Dubai. "Performing prejuvenation treatments at a younger age to boost levels of collagen and hyaluronic acid in the skin, as well as replenishing the volume of facial fat pads, which gradually diminish over time, will undoubtedly mean that we can slow down the ageing process."