Eternally radiant Liz Hurley has let us in on the secret to her youthful glow. Before you say it, it’s not eight glasses of water and a good night’s sleep (or even botox). The 53-year-old actress told Woman & Home magazine, ‘I’ll moisturise my face about six times a day and my neck about 10 times a day. Lightly dab it over your face, and it instantly makes you glow.’
Ever since Glossier fed us the belief that we should be highlighted at all times, I get the desire to be glowy. But, this is a little batty. If, for the sake of argument, she’s awake between the hours of 8 am and 11 pm this means she’ll be reaching for the La Mer every hour and a half. Now, that's just plain excessive. And, let's not get started on how fast she must go through the product. Either Hurley is using the wrong moisturizer or the jokes on us.
To clear up whether this is a miracle elixir or modern-day snake oil, we asked Dr Imogen Bexfield, medical director of White Swan Aesthetic and skincare expert. ‘It’s a common misconception that the more moisturiser you use, the more effective it will be’, she tells us, ‘On average, our skin can only absorb up to 60% of what is put onto it - anything more than that will just sit on the surface, clogging up your pores, suffocating the skin and affecting its barrier and the way it works. This can cause a multitude of problems - just because the skin feels tight or dryer than usual you shouldn't be slathering it with moisturiser, this will only make conditions worse.’ Oh no, Hurley, we predict spots!
I asked her, is it bad for the skin to use this much moisturizer? ‘It certainly isn't good for the skin’, she says. Adding, ‘In fact, over moisturising will only worsen the majority of skin concerns, not only make your skin reliant on that additional hydration but it can also result in an overproduction of sebum; leading to inflammation, clogged pores, redness, flaking, pigmentation and acne’.
Now, Hurley, of course, looks wonderful and whatever she’s doing, keep doing it, but the rest of us? Maybe this is one celeb beauty tip we should pass on.