Repair, Repair, Repair

By THÉRÈSE MARGOLIS

Who says you can’t turn back the hands of time?

Sure, at age 45 you are never going to have that same fresh glow as you did when you were 20.

But that doesn’t mean you have to resign yourself to saggy, wrinkly, dull skin and wearing a bob because your hair just won’t grow out.

Thanks to advances in modern beauty science, you can now outwit Father Time, or at least hold him at arm’s length for a few more decades.

The concept of age reversal is no longer the stuff of science fiction.

Researchers around the world are now diligently working to develop anti-aging treatments that not only keep you beautiful but also keep your healthier longer.

And while these Dorian Grey meds are still not readily available for most people, many of the complementary products that undo the outer effects of aging are.

Here, then, are some fantastic new products that can help you look and feel younger and more beautiful, no matter what age your passport says you are.

Bye-Bye Lines

Nowhere do the telltale signs of aging show more clearly than in your face.

And no concealer or makeup can completely diffuse the appearance of those little fine lines and tiny hints of crow’s feet that start appearing as early as age 25.

That is why Dior has just added a brand new serum to its customized age-defying Capture Youth Collection, a series of targeted expert serums that allow you to tailor your beauty regiment to your skin’s specific needs.

Dior Capture Youth Intense Rescue Serum is the first intensive, lipid-replenishing oil-serum that acts to strengthen skin’s natural barrier in order to help repair surface dryness and maintain hydration.

Used alone or in combination with Capture Youth Crème, this extraordinary treatment harnesses antioxidant technology that is capable of delaying fine lines and wrinkles even before they start to show.

Enriched with natural argon oil to nourish, revitalize and repair dry areas, Dior Capture Youth Intense Rescue is uniquely suitable for dehydrated and stressed skin.

It also contains rich fatty acids extracted from tamanu evergreen nuts to help fortify the skin barrier that protects against environmental aggressors, while softening skin’s texture.

And the antioxidant iris florentina helps preserve skin’s precious youth capital.

Intense Rescue joins Capture Youth’s other five targeted serums: Glow Booster Serum, which combats dullness with vitamin C and AHA to brighten and even skin tone; Plump Filler Serum for increased density and suppleness, with hyaluronic acid from fermented wheat; Lift Sculptor Serum for increased firmness, with polyphenols derived from a tea blend to boost elastin production; Matte Maximizer Serum for oily skin, with lactic acid derived from sugar cane to regulate excess sebum and help reduce shine and refine pores: and Redness Soother Serum, to soothe irritated skin with natural peptides from cotton.

The Dior Capture Youth line also has a new Age-Delay Antioxidant Eye Treatment, infused with antioxidant iris extract and crithmum, a smoothing and filling ingredient of natural origin with retinoic properties.

Age-Delay Antioxidant Eye Treatment helps densify and smooth the skin in the contours around the eye for a maximum diffusion of light.

It also helps to promote the delicate skin around the eyes’ internal resistance process to maintain a youthful appearance throughout the day and over time.

Age-Delay Antioxidant Eye Treatment’s botanical ingredients help decongest the eye, reversing the appearance of tired, swollen eyes.

In fact, this fast-absorbing fluid addresses practically every tired eye contour concern, including sagging skin, dark circles, discoloration and puffiness to instantly mask the signs of overindulgence and stress.

Hair Repair

Remember when, as a child, your hair would grow so long that your mother could braid it and your plaits would still reach below your waist?

Well, the fact is that your hair is still growing at a rate of about a centimeter each month, but the real reason that it seems to never get past shoulder length is that coloring, processing and that daily encounter with the hairdryer or straightening wand is destroying the ends and leaving them dry, split and raggedy.

And when split, broken ends diss your do, you resort to the dreaded scissors solution, chopping away any potential length gain you might have accomplished in the interim between haircuts.

Now, at last, L’Oréal Paris has come up with a four-pronged solution to the problem that lets you grow your locks as long as you want to finally obtain the hair of your dreams (move over Rapunzel).

L’Oréal Elvive Dream Long reconstructive shampoo, detangling conditioner, scissors-stopping styling cream serum and an ultra-intense, salon-worthy, self-heating hot mask to repair and nourish hair from the inside out, are all enriched with natural castor oil (packed with Omega 9 and fatty acids) to fight breakage and delay the need to trim by strengthening hair from root to end, vegetable keratin with botanical amino acids to mend hair’s natural fiber and undo past damage, and vitamins PP and B5 to leave hair follicles healthier and stronger, helping to stimulate growth.

Elvive Dream Long Shampoo Reconstructor has micro activators that, unlike in the case of ordinary shampoos, deposit nutrients evenly throughout your tresses, repairing them from root to ends for a healthier, more beautiful head of hair.

Elvive Dream Long Acondicionador helps detangle long hair instantly, leaving it silky smooth and knot-free with no greasy residue or feel.

Elvive Dream Long Crema Stop Tijeras not only protects your hair from the daily aggressions of the environment and heat styling, but also regenerates split ends and leaves hair shinier and more manageable so that your hairbrush becomes an ally instead of an enemy.

And, finally, L’Oréal Elvive Dream Long Hot Mask transforms hair with a deep-penetrating treatment previously only available in professional beauty salons.

The once-a-week, 10-minute, two-step mask comes with an intense combination balsamic treatment formulated with natural lipids to condition, nourish and repair hair shafts for a more bouncy, glowing appearance, plus a self-heating cloth hair cap that better distributes the beneficial effects of the balsamic treatment.

So put away those scissors and let your hair grow as long as you can dream it to be.

Deep Penetrating Hyaluronic Acid

Also new from L’Oréal is an entire line of Revitalift Hyaluronic Acid (Revitalift Ácido Hialurónico, in Spanish) skincare — including a day cream, a night cream and an eye contour cream — that’s not only packed with fountain-of-youth moisturizing hyaluronic acid to keep skin’s surface plump and hydrated up to 24 hours, but also has specially developed fragmented hyaluronic acid that can penetrate the top layers of your skin to get to the lower epidermis, where new cells (and natural hyaluronic acid) are produced.

Since normal hyaluronic acid molecules are too big to penetrate skin, their effect is limited to temporary, topical, top-surface hydration (and, believe me, they do a great job there by absorbing up to 1,000 times their weight in water to leave skin looking fuller, plumper and more toned, while also serving as an extra barrier to protect your complexion from the elements).

But fragmented hyaluronic molecules — developed by L’Oréal in its innovative scientific laboratories in Lyon, France, after 30 years of research in cooperation with medical specialists — actually manages to filtrate down and stimulate your body’s natural production of hyaluronic acid (which slows down as we grow older, starting at age 25).

And that production not only reduces the appearance of tiny wrinkles and fine lines, but actually helps to reverse them by plumping from the inside out (so you can stop paying your dermatologist to inject you with Juvéderm every four to six months).

Suitable for all skin types, each of the three new dermatologist-tested Revitalift Hyaluronic Acid products also has specific ingredients to nourish, protect and brighten skin round the clock.

Revitalift Hyaluronic Acid Day Cream has a gentle SPF 20 sunscreen and vitamin E to fend off the effects of free radicals and environmental pollution.

Revitalift Hyaluronic Acid Night Cream has special nutrients to help skin repair itself while you sleep.

And Revitalift Hyaluronic Acid Eye Cream has caffeine and apricot kernel oil to help reduce the appearance of dark circles and bags under the eyes. (After just four weeks of use, scientific testing revealed that 24 percent of women noticed less crow’s feet on the sides of their eyes and 25 percent reported less dark circles.)

Fronted by U.S. actress Eva Longoria, who spends the first half of the new line’s commercial trying to pronounce “hyaluronic acid” (something we all can relate to), this ground-breaking, wrinkle-fighting three-product collection is now available in Mexico and is a real gamechanger in the world of antiaging.