Super Supplements

Our bathroom shelves may be lined with the latest wonder-in-a-jar, miracle-promising products, packed with antioxidants, herbs and vitamins – but trust me: it's only half the battle. True beauty is more than skin deep and over the years I have come to believe that for truly amazing skin, it's also what you put inside your system that really counts.

Hands down, experts agree that healthy skin is the product of good nutrition. Why? Epidermal tissue – which makes up the outer body – is synthesised from proteins (collagen and elastin), fats, vitamins and minerals. Skimp on those and you'll short-change skin. Recently, I saw for myself just what a difference diet can make, during a five-day pop-up shop at Selfridges for the launch of my latest book, The Anti-Ageing Beauty Bible (co-written with Sarah Stacey and published by Kyle Cathie, price £19.99). We did 160 back-to-back anti-ageing consultations with real women – and there's no question: in those who ate well and supplemented their diet, this literally shone out through their healthy complexions. (By contrast, fascinatingly, one woman who came to see us – I'd call her fat-phobic, as she's eaten a virtually entirely fat-free diet for the past 20 years – looked a good 20 years older than she is, with deep wrinkles. And no, she doesn't sunbathe: it can only be her fat-restricted diet that is the culprit.) In a perfect world, of course, we'd get all the nutrients we need for healthy skin (and a healthy body) from our daily diet. But life isn't like that. We skip meals, rush around from A to B grabbing snacks, and rarely manage to sit down for three wholesome platefuls each day. Supplements, then, are like an insurance policy – and frankly, even if I did eat a perfect diet, I'd still take this 'magnificent 7'…

Ideal Omega 3, £23.70 for 60 capsules. Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids are – well, essential for good skin, keeping it supple and well-nourished, lubricated from within. As dermatologist Dr. Mary Lupo observes: 'When taken orally, Essential Fatty Acids travel to skin cells and act as a barrier against allergens and irritants, often improving skin texture.' So beyond that, omega-3s may also prove extremely helpful for anyone who suffers from eczema or other skin conditions. (They're just as essential for brain efficiency: an estimated 8% of the brain is made up of omega-3s.) This version is based on pharmaceutical grade fish oils, but (unlike some) doesn't 'repeat' fishily.

Viridian Ultimate Beauty Oil, from £9.50 for 200 ml. The vegan alternative to fish oil EFAs: an excellent organic blend, packed with golden flaxseed oil, hemp oil, avocado oil, evening primrose oil and pumpkin seed oil. Sarah and I both slosh this onto food (it's great on salads), as well as taking spoonfuls of it.

 

Sibergin, £13.40 for 30 capsules. When you feel energetic, your skin looks more radiant. End. Of. Sarah and I discovered this extraordinary energiser when we were nearly exhausted writing our last book, The Green Beauty Bible. It contains Siberian Ginseng, which stimulates the adrenal glands to produce enzymes which give you more energy. It also helps you deal with stress factors of all kinds – physical, mental and environmental. You won't go into rocket mode – but, if you're like us, you will find you can do what you need without getting exhausted. It's also brilliant if you've been ill, particularly with an infection of any kind.

NHS Labs Hyaluronic Acid Capsules High Strength, £35 for 30 capsules. Hyaluronic acid frequently crops up in skin creams as a topical – but taken from within, it's a super-booster for the complexion. 'HA' is found in virtually every part of the body, and scientific studies have shown that it improves skin hydration, boosts collagen production, works as an anti-free radical scavenger (mopping up UV/pollution damage), cushions nerves and joints and maintains fluid in the eyes, too. By the time we're 40, HA production is around half of what we need – so it makes sense to supplement, and this is a super-high-quality version. In an article by nutrition author Bill Sardi called 'HA: How To Live To 100 Years Without Growing Old', HA was referred to as 'the modern day fountain of youth'. Go figure.

Sun Chlorella, £21.95 for 300 tablets. This 'green food' from Japan is a very ancient – over five billions years old - algae (like seaweed and spirulina), which contains a range of vital nutrients our bodies need. As well as helping energy levels, it helps upset tummies (with irritable bowel syndrome symptoms), and both Sarah Stacey and I have seen with our own eyes how this improves skin condition (as well as hair and nails) quite remarkably.  Actually, it also seems to give you a mini facelift: one practitioner of Chinese medicine says this may be through its stomach-calming action as the stomach meridians run down either side of your face and from under your eyes to your jawline. Start at 15 tiny green tablets a day, then build up to 40. (P.S. Don't fret about the fact it's sourced in Japan; all Japanese foodstuffs are undergoing compulsory testing before they're allowed to be imported.)

Ferrosan Imedeen Time Perfection, £38.75 for 60 capsules. Imedeen was the original 'skin supplement', and just celebrated its 20th birthday. It's truly impressive for skin density: I have taken it for years, and regularly get my skin assessed by Imedeen at press events – where they're constantly blown away by the 'integrity' of my skin barrier, which in turn helps keep skin's natural moisture locked in.

Vitamin B-12, £5.07 for 100 tablets. Not a skin vit, as such: a stress-buster, invaluable for helping 'rebalance' us. I include it here because so many skin woes are stress-related (outbreaks of acne, sensitivities, etc.), so if taking vitamin B-12 can help relieve irritability, it should have a positive knock-on effect on your skin's general health.

N.B. If you're not currently taking any vitamins, don't start on this lot all at once; perhaps go for Ideal Omega-3 or Ultimate Beauty Oil, with HA, and then add in Sun Chlorella, and take it from there. It's true that 'beauty supplementation' isn't cheap, but remember: if a nutrient is reaching your skin, it's also bathing every cell in your body in its goodness, first – because the skin's generally the last organ on the receiving line. Always follow manufacturer's instructions and warnings, too. Remember: it takes at least 28 days for skin cells to turn over, so results may take a while to become visible.

And yes, maybe sometimes you'll feel like you rattle. But your skin will thank you for it…

I source all my supplements through www.victoriahealth.com, which has a resident pharmacist, the super-knowledgeable Shabir Daya, and offers terrific, swift service. The Anti-Ageing Beauty Bible features over 45 categories of anti-ageing products, and is published by Kyle Cathie at £19.99. Do also visit www.beautybible.com.

Once upon a time, men smelled of sweat. And the fur of their loincloths. And barbecue smoke (or its Stone Age equivalent). Not to mention all sorts of other less-than-desirable odours, as they went through life hunting mammoths to feed (and impress) their womenfolk. Now the closest most men get to those fight-or-flight situations is standing on a packed commuter train as it chugs painfully slowly into Charing Cross, or cheering on England in the World Cup. And happily, even in those stressful situations, men tend to smell of eau de cologne, or aftershave, rather than B.O. or raw pheromones. In order to smell sexy, or powerful, or sporty, men now lavish over £350 million a year on scent – and counting.

What's more, it has now been definitively established that fragrance really can make men more attractive to the opposite sex. According to Kate Fox, who's a social anthropologist and bestselling author of Watching The English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour, a nice smell on a chap can change the way we perceive him. Or at least, an average-looking chap – rather than George Clooney (who clearly doesn't need any help), or Quasimodo. Psychologists have found: 'If a person is clearly outstandingly beautiful or extremely ugly, fragrance does not affect our judgment. But if the person is just average, a pleasant fragrance will tip the balance of our evaluation in his or her favour.'

Now, I've always found that in the world of men's fragrances, even more than women's scents, there are countless 'me-too' (and therefore ho-hum) scents out there; fewer categories of fragrances, and fewer 'stars' within those categories. So as someone who is now blogging several times a week on the subject of fragrance – at www.thescentcritic.com – I thought I'd bring you my run-down of the Top 10 Scents for Men. All worth slipping under the Christmas tree or (working on the basis that at least 50‰ of the men out there will have a birthday between now and then), gift-wrapped on the breakfast table to mark a special occasion. Or – if you happen to be a chap and tend to get home after a hard day at the office/coal face smelling a bit too like you've been chasing a mammoth for comfort, to treat yourself…

4711, £10.95 for 50ml. OK, so this is a simple unisex eau de cologne. (One which you are likely to have borrowed by any women in your household, so don't say you weren't warned.) But they don't get much better than this: all citrus-refreshment and aromatic notes of lavender and rosemary, at the heart. The bottom line is that this is as cooling and uplifting and almost as good as a G & T when you're knackered.

Guerlain Vetiver, from £38 for 75ml eau de toilette. Prepare to light the blue (or rather green) touch paper, and wait for the fireworks to go off when you splash this on: a smoulderingly woodsy fragrance with delicious notes of tobacco, nutmeg, pepper, tonka bean and capsicum that emerge as it's skin-warmed. The vetiver and cedar notes are the fragrance's real signature, though. Very masculine and elegant, and the 'gold standard' of vetiver fragrances (of which there are now many).

Pour Monsieur by Chanel, £40 for 100ml aftershave. A masculine fresh 'chypre' fragrance (these are considered the most complicated and sophisticated of fragrance creations) – I'd say the quintessential men's scent (created by perfumer Henri Robert), fusing airy citrussy top notes with fleeting whispers of jasmine and rose at its heart, on a base of labdanum, oakmoss and patchouli. Yummy.

Eau Sauvage by Christian Dior, £58 for 100ml eau de toilette spray. Whoosh! Dig those citrus notes. Eau Sauvage is every bit as modern and fascinating as when it first dazzled in 1966. There are resinous, pine-y notes in its heart, and sexy woods beneath. Every man's side of the bathroom shelf should have a bottle of this.

Boss Platinum, £45 for 200ml Collector's Edition eau de toilette. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Hugo Boss's Boss bestseller (50 million bottles say everything, don't they…?) This landmark fragrance now comes in a Collector's Edition chrome-plated flacon: inside, delectably edible apple, cinnamon and vanilla notes inspired by – yes! – apple strudel. (And what man doesn't love that…?)

Dolce & Gabbana The One Men, from £29 for 30ml eau de toilette. Elegant and sensual, distinctly modern – but timelessly classic and unique, too. This is for any man who likes to think of himself as charismatic, elegant, seductive – stay alert for the vibrance of spicy Oriental elements, the harmony of tobacco with refined boisé wood notes…

Gucci by Gucci Pour Homme, from £40 for 50ml eau de toilette. As everyone knows, Gucci = luxury. So apparently this was inspired by the design house's luxury tradition: a masculine floral for a hip dude (of any age). Unstopper it to enjoy its smooth, crisp freshness, warm incense and leather sweetness, with subtle whispers of violet and bergamot.

Jean-Paul Gaultier Le Male, from £36.50 for 75ml eau de toilette. A modern classic, for sure: this is power and sensuality in an iconic 'torso' bottle. Inside? A fresh, sexy fragrance with notes of fougère, mint and vanilla – perfectly balanced. (Sort of the fragrant equivalent of a tender-hearted rebel meets attractive rogue – a bit like Monsieur Gaultier himself, of course…)

Davidoff Hot Water, from £35 for 60ml eau de toilette. Following on from the huge success of bestselling Cool Water, we can now thrill to Davidoff's latest. New and modern, sexy and spicy Oriental opens with a thrilling freshness, and ends on a smouldering finale of warm notes. Everyone from hip teens to granddads seem to love this new classic.

Patchouli essential oil. OK, so this is a cheat. Not a fragrance, but a single note essential oil. I included it because it's what my own husband wears – the only fragrance that my husband wears, actually, a hark-back to his hippie days. I was never averse to dabbing a touch of patchouli oil on my pulse-points, myself, before my dressing table became cluttered with commercial fragrances. It's as sexy as it gets, in my book, and any man wearing it who gets within nuzzling distance of my nostrils had better have his fight-or-flight mechanism primed, or be prepared to accept the consequences.

Josephine Fairley's fragrance reviews can be enjoyed at www.thescentcritic.com.