Ask Alison Young
Alison Young is a well respected beauty consultant with loyal fans throughout the UK.
Every month we receive hundreds of skincare, hair care and make-up questions for Alison, and this month we are focussing on eye care, here is her advice.
My husband suffers very badly from in-grown hairs particularly on his chin. He already cleanses, tones and exfoliates, what else can he do for it?
If he's already cleansing, toning and exfoliating that's good, but if it's not getting a result lets go to a liquid exfoliant which will get into the nooks and cranies. Get him to wipe Alpha-H Liquid Gold over his skin twice a day. It helps to unclog pores and dissolve the glue that holds the dead skin cells together, which helps to prevent in-grown hairs.
My niece is nearly two and has recently has surgery. She has been in plaster from her chest to her ankles. What would be the best product to use on her skin, as it will be very dry and sensitive and she has four large scars.
It's brilliant that you're concerned. I would avoid using products with sodium laurel sulphate because as her skin is in an irritated state it may cause more irritation. Things that would work as a cleansing agent would be the Elemis milk bath (available in Elemis collections) and the MOP pear body wash or the Liz Earle body wash. Those three are non-drying and fantastic on children as a topical application. I good moisturiser would be the L'Occitane pure shea butter - melt it in your hands before popping it on - although it may be a bit tricky on a two-year-old if she's wriggling around. You could also use the Liz Earle body lotion.
I am 62 and use mainly Gatineau - which I love - but Im always looking for the ultimate body moisturiser as I have very dry legs. I exfoiliate regularly and use SBC Collagen Gel with moisturisers, but I just feel my legs could be better. Many of my aunties have had ulcerated legs so I want to avoid dryness at all costs. Any suggestions?
It's right to exfoliate because the better you exfoliate the better your moisturiser will sink in. Using a collagen product with a body lotion is the right way to go, but we need to step up that routine with a body oil. You could use any of the pure natural Decleor body oils or Elemis body oils. Applying the oils on damp skin after a bath or shower will give more dryness relief than a creamier water-based gel and then you can put your gel and cream on top.
I am looking for different make-up, I'm not very good at applying eye shadow and want one that is easy to apply. I have been looking at Models Prefer, is that a good brand to start of on?.
Models Prefer make-up is easy to apply and comes with instruction books. The colours aren't strong so beginners can blend them easily without making a dramatic mistake. You could also choose a colour that suits you from Bare Escentuals; use it on its own without trying to do socket lines or anything complicated and use your make-up book from Models Prefer to help you apply it.
I am 56 and my skin condition is not too bad, however I have enlarged pores on my nose, can you help?
With enlarged pores on the nose we want to make sure of two things, firstly that they're not congested. Use a gentle exfoliant, a good one for you would be the Gatineau Effervescent Formula and you could just use half or a quarter of the packet on the nose area to make sure it's clean. After that you need to make sure that your moisturiser has good firming agents to tighten up the look of pores which can become more open with the ageing process. If you're finding problems with make-up sinking into those pores use a primer first such as Smashbox Photo Finish primer with dermaxyl.
