Creams not complications

Well happy new year!  Is 2012 looking good? Not perhaps, if ‘Implantgate’ has anything to do with it. Who doesn’t relish the frisson of long-held convictions vindicated? But hand on unaugmented breast, Crone is far from basking in schadenfreude after what must have been a harrowing week’s news for some.

Although I’m thankful it’s never been mine, I have always regarded cosmetic surgery entirely as a matter of choice.  Done expertly by conscientious and experienced surgeons, the uplift goes beyond physical. Yet now it appears that too many practitioners have confirmed the old stereotype of the venal, dilatory doc, cynically exploiting clients’ insecurities, bullshitting over slip-ups and surgical recalls and blatantly dodging the blame. Remember that wickedly wideboy portrayal of the plastic surgeon in Terry Gilliam’s eerily prophetic Brazil?  ‘Just a little complication….’ was the fob-off line swallowed by the gullible, bandaged Mrs Terrain, whose ‘complication had a little complication’ as her lift slid terminally south…

Crone so agrees with Times journalist Janice Turner, who last Saturday accused some cosmetic surgery clinics of behaving as irresponsibly as banks, cashing in on the boom with scant attention to long-term implications.  Now the spotlight’s turning on fillers (permanent ones for now, temporaries watch this space) Crone’s more convinced than ever that penury aside, we haven’t a clue what the ultimate effects of repeated procedures will be, because frankly we’re still in the guinea pig phase. As Turner says, we already know that ‘cosmetic surgery offers spectacular but unsustainable results.’  And if you can’t trust your surgeon’s judgement over what goes under your skin,  what’s the point of risking it anyway?

So as ever, Crone’s sticking to creams. OK, the results aren’t likely to be spectacular, but with a bit of dedication, skin looks and feels better both in the short and long term.

I don’t usually blog about products that haven’t hit the stores yet, but what’s a new year for if not forecasting? I’m particularly excited about soon-to-be-launched formulas from old favourite names, which exemplify the spirit of consolidation rippling through the cosmetics industry right now. Instead of rushing out ‘the next best thing’ on a half-baked theory and shoe-horning yet another ‘step’ into an already heaving regime, smart brands are upgrading their star performers with cutting edge research. For 2012, Clarins have done it with Extra-Firming Day and Night Creams - the UK’s anti-ageing best sellers. When they first launched in 19778, little was known about how chemical messaging can influence stem cells to boost protein links that keep skin firm and flexible - or how green banana extract (really!) boosts results. Inspired by the BB cream trend, Lancôme have multi-tasked their 20 year-old Rénergie range so each cream lifts, firms and de-wrinkles on all skin levels, and brightens too.  Love the 2-in-1 eye tightener with brightening concealer built into the lid! Then there’s Estée Lauder’s Revitalizing Supreme Global Anti-Ageing Creme - a ‘one stop pot’ formulated around Lauder’s research into SIRT-1, the ‘longevity’ gene. This time black bamboo’s the master switch that turns on ‘multiple anti-ageing pathways in the skin.’ Specially designed for European women who can’t be arsed with faddy routines for this and that, its easy melt-in-the-skin texture has a pleasure rating of 20 out of 10. Bang on the money?  Keep it simple is Crone’s 2012 mantra - and don’t trust what you can’t sustain.

• Clarins Extra Firming Day Wrinkle Lifting Cream - All Skin Types and Special for Dry Skin, £46; Extra Firming Day Lifting Lotion SPF15 - All Skin Types, £46; Extra-Firming Night Rejuvenating Cream - All Skin Types and Special for Dry Skin, £48 available from March.  Stockists: 0800 036 3558 or www.clarins.co.uk

• Lancôme Rénergie Multi-Lift Day Cream, SPF15, £60; Eclat Multi-Lift, £39; Yeux Multi-Lift, £46; Yeux, £39 and Nuit Multi-|Lift, £60, at Lancôme counters nationwide from 1^st April.

• Estée Lauder Revitalizing Supreme Global Anti-Ageing Creme, £56, at Estée Lauder counters nationwide and www.esteelauder.com from April.