How Are British Brands Rewriting The Rules On Ageing?

Celia Walden investigates the British brands who are heralding a new era of ageing – gracefully, joyfully and with evidence on our side

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My obsession with health and all-round physical improvement has long been a source of amusement to my two older brothers. But when, on Boxing Day, they caught me in the midst of a wellness binge – knocking back a pint of Ancient + Brave wild collagen while wearing a CurrentBody LED chest bib and under-eye patches (111SKIN Black Diamond, since you ask) – I thought they might pass out with mirth. 

‘I don’t understand,’ the youngest whimpered once he was able to speak again. ‘Why do you do all this stuff?’ I thought about it. ‘I just like the idea of everything getting better over time.’ This did not make him laugh. Instead his eyes filled with a mixture of pity and embarrassment as he reached over, squeezed my shoulder and murmured: ‘You don’t understand how ageing works, do you?’ 

Oh, I understand – and far better than someone who still thinks cereal is a healthy breakfast choice. I understand that we’re living in a time of new frontiers in wellness, a time when innovators are coming up with new ways of optimising – if not improving – our beauty, health and performance every single day. And just the idea of that gives me a zing of joy. 

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Multi-Functionality

Ask the experts what those new frontiers look like, and the word multi-functionality comes up repeatedly. We’re already seeing examples of that in high-end British skincare. Brands such as Oskia – which uses clinical, bioavailable, cellular nutrients and complex actives not just to revive tired complexions but to promote overall health – packs hero products like its Midnight elixir (£165, oskiaskincare.com) with 30 active ingredients and five biotech growth factors. ‘Because women my age really want things to work,’ explains 50-year-old founder Georgie Cleeve. ‘Women are now looking for grown-up, clinically proven products – not products designed purely on a new trending ingredient or with showstopping packaging.’ 

Dr Yannis Alexandrides’ 111SKIN is based on the same ethos. His transformative Exosome Face Lift serum-mask duo (£655, 111skin.com) was an instant hit at launch because, again, it shows visible results over a short time (four weeks). He and ‘tweakment’ queen Alice Henshaw – whose Skincycles ExoYouth range (skincycles.com) is also powered by plant-based stem cell growth factors – have understood that it’s about high but realistic expectations; about ageing well rather than anti-ageing.

Skincare innovators are right to be focusing on the crossovers between beauty, health and performance, says Dr Liliana Sytnyk, a dermatologist to the A-list at Harley Street clinic Devonshire Dermatology – not least because the skin is our largest organ. ‘Take microcirculation, for example, which is a crucial part of collagen-stimulating treatments today. Blood supply to the tiny, detailed parts of the skin is the focus of many treatments, but it’s also key for longevity and the brain,’ she explains. ‘Whereas in the brain, amyloid deposits lead to dementia, in the skin, it is the result of solar radiation and glycation that damages collagen. While interventional skin treatments are aiming to improve collagen quality in the skin, longevity medicine helps to improve the quality of the vessel walls in the whole body, preventing age-related changes in different organs.’ Both of those things, she insists, can and should be combined.

New-Age Gut Supplements

At the intersection of beauty, health and performance is, of course, the gut. Quite how it has taken the wellness world so long to prioritise its importance remains a mystery to Dr Madusha Peiris and Dr Rubina Aktar, two British-born neuroscientist sisters who have developed a gamechanging gut supplement that may well spell the end of Ozempic. I was lucky enough to trial an early course of Elcella, a magical, nutrient-based appetite suppressant containing very high-grade fats in a unique delivery system. I found that the three kilo weight loss over 12 weeks was just a pleasant side effect, far outweighed by the benefits to my hair (thicker), skin and brain (both clearer) and sleep (deeper).

Infusions

This doesn’t just go for pills and powders but IV drips too, which will continue to become ever more state-of-the-art, says Dr Wendy Denning, who runs a private clinic on Harley Street. Although the science behind these hasn’t always held up to scrutiny in the past, Denning insists that today’s intravenous infusions ‘really can quickly increase your body’s intake of water-soluble vitamins, minerals and amino acids, thus boosting people while they wait for their lifestyle improvements to kick in’.

Global leader in the field REVIV has been offering multi-functional wellness infusions for years, but its newest launch, the Methylene Blue IV – available at The Wellness Clinic at Harrods – is a ‘super drip’. Over the course of 45 opulent minutes, the brand claims this IV will biohack your wellness baseline by imbuing your bloodstream with £249 worth of methylene blue, an organic chloride salt that exhibits antioxidant, antimalarial, antidepressant and cardioprotective properties. According to REVIV, the drip potentially supports mitochondrial function, oxidative balance, brain performance and mood balance all at once. Talk about multitasking.

Partly because of our new understanding of bioavailability, patches are also going to become a key feature of our new beauty and wellness frontiers. Founder of 001 London, Ada Ooi has developed a self-heating, thermal hormone balance Acu-Patch (£35, 001london.co.uk) which delivers astonishing results to women suffering from anything from lower backache (me) to endometriosis, menopausal symptoms to stress. It’s all natural, too, combining herbs used in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Blood Purification

Perhaps, though, the biggest swerve we’re likely to see in this arena is a change in focus from putting all the good stuff into neutralising or even removing the bad stuff. Certainly, it’s the most exciting. Because right now, as most experts would agree, even the most wondrous innovations can’t negate the damage done to us by modern life.

Leading health longevity pioneer Viavi – a Harley Street clinic favoured by business leaders, entrepreneurs and celebrities – has introduced Apherix, a groundbreaking service that removes harmful toxins such as mycotoxins, plastics and herbicides from our blood. And OK, it’s pricey (£3,800), but according to the clinic’s founder, Dr Sabine Donnai, the clinic’s ‘extensive biomarker data shows that the body’s natural detoxification mechanisms are not adequate to remove the increased levels of toxicity and in ammation in our systems today’.

Viavi is the first longevity clinic in the UK to offer this specific purification service, explains Dr Donnai. As one of the wisest women I’ve ever met, I can’t imagine anyone better to answer a question that remains at the back of our minds while marvelling at these new frontiers. When it comes to the endless capabilities of science in wellness and beauty, where do we draw the line? ‘The line between innovation and intrusion is becoming increasingly blurred in the worlds of beauty, wellness and longevity,’ Dr Donnai confirms, referring to stem cell use and the various genetic data scandals in recent years (where companies have misused sensitive genetic information originally compiled for personalised products). ‘So for me, the line needs to be drawn where there is scientific evidence that the benefits outweigh any possible side effects – at least, for the vast majority of us.’

Donnai isn’t just talking about physical side effects, either, but the potentially more important psychological side effects. ‘The need to do the latest, look the youngest and have the latest health tech can and is becoming an obsession for many.’ I’m nodding, knowing that it’s people like me she’s talking about; that I am obsessed and that my brothers would agree with her. But as far as manias and fixations go, isn’t future-proofing your mind and body a pretty great one to have?