NEW GENERATION ANTI-AGING TECHNOLOGY FROM MEDIK8

Medik8, is the brand name for a collection of innovative skin products created by UK scientist Elliot Isaacs.

Originally the range begin with several core products aimed at people with worrying skin conditions such as rosacea. But the range recently added some new serious anti-aging products with optimum concentrations of all the major ingredients proven to help skin rejuvenation, packed so that they do not loose their potency and at fairly decent prices compared to bother cosmeceuticals on the market.

Isaacs knows his skin/ingredient science in depth - he is a graduate of
The University of Leeds - Pharmacology and Physiology Department. With nearly 10 years experience in cosmeceutical formulation, he was recently honoured with the prestigious Grade A Membership of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists.


Elliot has witnessed all the recent trends in anti-aging skincare including the rush for Retin-A® in his father's chemist shop when he was a small boy. This planted the seed early-on for developing a scientific skincare brand.

In the late 1990’s his sister began to develop a skin redness that would not go away. One skin cream she used appeared to contain the right anti-inflammatory actives but paradoxically seemed to be causing more irritation than it calmed. So he turned his own hand to making a product which turned out be and still is Medik* bestselling product Red Alert® in 2004.

The new range is available through expert doctor and other skin professionals but you can view online at the new website www.medik8.co.uk/



We particularly like the new Vitamin C serums C-Tetra (3%) and CE Tetra (7%) for stimulating collagen. The serum sinks into the skin immediately, leaving it softer looking immediately...CE Tetra which is aimed the older lady or man costs £60 (30ml). This product is unique as no other company offers Terahexadecyl Ascorbate in serum form and at such concentrations.

Use with the Hyra 8 moisturiser £49 (50ml:



Other new products include a great ani-cellulite cream £34 (90ml)


Also new is the Retinal 40 Boost Concentrate - a highly concentratedserum which you add to the Hydra8 Moisturiser - £75 (5ml.

DISCOVER SPIEZIA NATURAL ORGANICS FROM CORNWALL

Made in Cornwall and the passion of lovely Amanda Barlow (pictured), Spiezia, is a range of organic beauty products all made with care for the environment. The essential oils are extracted by cold pressing - so a very little goes a long way.

In particular the rose oil which is pressed from the finest rose buds from an organic farm in Iraq....and everything is bottled in recycled glass made locally.



Find out more on Amanda's website www.spieziaorganics.com

Dr Elisabeth Dancey creates the Bijoux Medi-Spa London's Belgravia

Bijoux, a jewel of a mini-spa opened last week in Belgravia. Created by Dr Elisabeth Dancey it offers high-tech anti-ageing treatments as well as holistic and organic treatments.

Only a stone's throw from master milliner Philip Treacy and the fab Italian restaurant Mimmo & Ischia, Bijoux is both discreet and welcoming. At the front is a beauty shop with exclusive organic face and body products from Spiezia (more about Spiezia in my next blog) and anti-ageing mineral make-up guru Susan Posnick, cosmeceuticals from SkinCeuticals, Dermaceutic, Mene and Moy.


"I wanted to create a unique and individual beauty experience for clients who want to enhance their looks thanks to the latest cosmeceuticals and offer a holistic, organic range of body treatments to achieve total well-being," says Elisabeth.

We recommend Vavelta - the live cell treatment for ageing, scarred and damaged skin and Dermaroller - this exciting little medical device created by a German metallurgist gives results equal to a fraxelated laser without the pain, expense and downtime!


Bijoux is at 149 Ebury Street London SW1W 9QN
T: + 44 (0)20 7730 0765
www.bijoux-medispa.co.uk
www.elisabethdancey.co.uk

MINERAL MAKE-UP: Susan Posnick's new collection

At ELIXIR we love mineral make-up. It sits on the skin beautifully without highlighting large pores and wrinkles. One of the best brands is by international celebrity make-up artist Susan Posnick.

Susan is passionate about her brand and insists that it contains the highest-quality minerals and the highest concentration of them.

The star-product in her collection is COLORFLO, a mineral-based, light-diffusing, SPF26 foundation (pictured above) in powder form that brightens the skin and makes beauty simple.

This self-dispensing, portable and refillable brush contains highly pigmented iron oxides, plus Vitamins A and E, providing beautiful, natural coverage. Micronized Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide provide the most powerful and natural sun protection available, SPF26.

The luxurious, natural goat hairs in the brush are considered to be the best fibres by make-up artists and help provide a flawless finish. Simple to apply, COLORFLO covers like a liquid or cream foundation, with the smooth finish of a powder. COLORFLO is sweat proof, water resistant, and gently floats on the skin, creating a radiant glow without looking shiny.

Light diffusing particles help soften fine lines and create a virtually invisible finish. COLORFLO is available in 13 shades – including a perfect shimmer and bronzer; shades to suit Asian skins and pinker tones for English rose complexions. The skin-loving minerals will not clog your pores or irritate sensitive skin; in fact, the ingredients are so gentle you can apply COLORFLO immediately after all skin treatments, including Microdermabrasion, to cover redness. Simply, CLICK. DUST. GO – refills are available which means you can change shade to suit the season!

COLORFLO retails for £39.95 in the UK with the refil costing £21.95

The range is available from premium salons and spas nationwide and all products are also available via mail order.

Look out for her new lipstick range which gives you moist sexy lips in colours which suit almost everyone - and they come with a magnetic cap so you won't loose it!

Stockist enquiries: 020 8997 8541 www.skinbrands.co.uk

MENTAL HEALTH - GAIL RUNDLE CAMPAIGNS FOR EQUALITY

Stand Up. Stand to Reason…

By Gail Rundle
Investment banker, wife and human being on her campaign to put mental health issues on an equal footing with other body health problems....

Hi. My name is Gail. Now let’s get one thing straight….I’m fifty years old. For those of you who succumb to contemporary myth, that makes me a ‘wizened’, menopausal old hag with a face as lined as a grid reference map, as I sit sipping luke-warm Ovaltine and tapping my pink furry mules to the lachrymose ballads of Val Doonican.

Nonsense, I say, and Hoorah for the menopause! This morning I decided to tidy the landslide of papers in my messy study. Yet here I am, relaxing with a gin and tonic and enjoying my favourite Led Zeppelin tracks while I chat with you. Yes, Mesdames, growing older disgracefully has many benefits, not least of which is the realisation of what’s important. And dusting isn’t.

And there’s more…On my fiftieth birthday last year I threw away my big knickers and treated myself to some serious lacy numbers. I also made three wishes for the coming decade, two of which have already come true. My first novel is now underway. It’s a comedy and so what if I laugh at my own jokes? However, my biggest wish was to work in mental health, as I have bipolar illness.

I was diagnosed in my early twenties and have spent the subsequent thirty years managing depression and hypomania. I say ‘managing’, because I was able to forge a career in investment banking which took me to over sixty countries. I have known times from the black hole and empty soul to the soaring ascent of hypomania….

But I digress. My wish came true when I read a newspaper article featuring Jonathan Naess, and ‘Stand to Reason’ the mental health charity he founded. It’s wonderful to be part of something so empowering for service-users. The charity campaigns for the rights of all who suffer mental ill health and that’s one in four of us at some point in our lives… Is there anyone out there who doesn’t know someone who has suffered depression, or anxiety? Somebody’s mother, somebody’s partner, somebody’s sister, somebody’s friend. It could even be you. And it is certainly me.

Stand to Reason is a service-user led organisation that works with and for people with mental ill health in the way that Stonewall has for gay people: raising the profile, fighting prejudice, establishing rights and achieving equality. We are committed to fighting discrimination and stigma, challenging stereotypes and changing attitudes.

We have a vision of a changed world, one in which it will be common sense or ‘stand to reason’ that people who have experience of mental distress and ill health deserve the same respect and consideration as those with physical ill health and problems.
Stand to Reason is tackling discrimination and stigma in the following broad areas: business and employment, politics, culture and media, education and health.

Why not read about our work at http://www.standtoreason.org.uk/ ? Or better still, join us? Membership is free and we are the fastest-growing membership-based mental health charity in the sector.

Dear Reader, delighted to meet you and I look forward to getting to know you better in the coming months when I address some of the issues raised in this column and share some of my experiences…

Gail K Rundle, Business Development Director, Stand to Reason.
http://www.standtoreason.org.uk/ 07747 105432 You can also email Gail at info@standtoreason.org.uk

BEAUTY MOST BEASTLY

Is it really possible to morph from this to this with cosmetic surgery?

Without having any concern for this?

WE LOVE THE ROLLER-BLADING PENSIONER

At ELIXIR magazine we love rollerblading pensioner Geoff Dornan.

He is the fantastically fit septuggenarian who was fined by a UK court for 'endangering the public' by skating through a shopping mall.

We at ELIXIR think Mr Dornan should be given an award. At the age of 71 years he skated with respect to others, unlike others half his age. We assume the only reason he was caught because he did respect the law and stopped when he was asked.

The retired youth worker, who says regular skating keeps him fit and healthy, had now had his rollerblades confiscated by police.

The truth is that the rather large people in our community are far more of a danger. For example, how many times has a public bus braked abruptly and the huge person next to you come dangerously near to squashing the nearest passenger.

Mr Dornan, who now has a 2,075-person Facebook group devoted to him, was rollerblading in the seaside town of Southport, Merseyside and CCTV footage from a Marks and Spencer camera recorded in October 2008.

Outside court Mr Dornan said: 'In the months during which I have been unjustly deprived of my blades, I was shocked to discover how swiftly the health of someone of my age can deteriorate.
'At the time of my arrest, I was as fit as a flea, and entirely free of pain. Yet by Christmas, I found myself confined to bed with severe back trouble.'

He added: "I would never want to put anybody in danger and always adopt a good skating practice, which means nobody should ever feel threatened. I don't believe I'm a danger to anyone. This case should never have been brought to court.'

We have all seen people, mostly young men in my experience, cycling on public pavements even past policemen who take no notice. Since most policemen and women on foot appear to be overweight maybe if they were given some rollerblades they might not only get fit but also be fast enough to catch the real criminals rather than OAPs?