Keeping up appearances

Hold up:  Senior Crones will appreciate the reference to the bulldog clip

First, apologies for a summer of silence.  Crone has been deep in the throes of ministering to her nonagenarian mother, who sadly fell and broke her arm in July. Senior Crone is now doing tolerably well, but things remain a tad delicate.  Hey, well.  There comes a time in almost all our lives when mothercare takes on a poignant new spin. All the more reason then, to exploit instant and easy ways of putting a brave face on it, eh?

So I’m amused, but not surprised to read Mintel’s latest research has found that (daffy Liz Jones apart) UK women prefer skincare to surgery -  just a teensy 2% resort to the knife these days. Six in 10 women over 65 use products to look better for their age says Mintel, who conclude that taking pride in your looks isn’t just a youth thing.  Well, duh!!!  What planet do they live on? Every Crone worth her creams could have told them that. They go on to share that 57% of women aged 55-64 use skincare to sort out their wrinkles and fine lines and that anti-ageing moisturisers are top of the to-do list . Double duh!!! (Actually, in all my years of beauty writing, I’ve never actually embraced the physiological difference between a line and a wrinkle. Especially when they call them ‘fine’ lines. Are they posher than your bog-standard creases - sort of Waitrose-grade facial fissures? Is a line just wrinkle-in-waiting, like it’s queuing to star in its own close-up? Is one straight and deep and the other, well… crinkly?  Or is it all just marketing semantics…)

Whatever. The range that’s been helping to raise Crone’s spirits (and jowls) over the past weeks is Estée Lauder’s Resilience Lift Firming/Sculpting Collection.  The anti-sagging technology purports to tweak skin’s Sirtuins (so-called longevity genes) into ‘supporting’ collagen, laminin and elastin - proteins which keep skin firm and smooth. Whether Sirtuins actually do increase cell life is controversial - a new study at University College London now suggests they may not. But what Crone finds so uplifting is that Lauder’s refreshing pink Face and Neck Lotion feels reassuringly substantial. The Eye Cream brightens and de-bags without attacking her contact lenses - a rare thing, believe me!  But the real genius is Instant Action Lift Treatment - extra-tightening help dispensed from a flexy rubber spatula which, stroked over your worst nightmares, really does shrink them - albeit temporarily - like cling-film for your wrinkles. Or fine lines. And I swear it keeps my makeup looking braver for longer. Because let’s face it, Crone needs all the help she can get right now… 

• Estée Lauder Resilience Lift Firming/Sculpting Collection. Face and Neck Creme SPF15, and Lotion, both £58. Sculpting Eye Creme, £40. Night Face and Neck Creme, £60. Instant Lift Action Treatment, £45. At Estée Lauder counters nationwide and www.esteelauder.co.uk