At the end of October I shared a short post about a pretty different new product I’d been sent to trial.
The product was Seven Seas ‘Perfect7 Renewal Advanced’. Essentially a 3 part supplement for your skin including a multivitamin, Omega 3 capsule and the important part, a Ceramosides™ capsule which is a natural source of ceramides, a key skin building block.
Skincare expert Abigail James has this to say about Ceramides….
Ceramides are a type of lipid that forms 50% part of the skin’s essential barrier responsible for keeping the moisture in and irritants out. So you can think of them like the mortar between bricks if the bricks are your skin cells.
So when our ceramide levels start to deplete, all that moisture that once kept our skin soft and supple reduces – and event worse, toxins can get in easily. Ultimately this leads to drier, rougher and a more wrinkles complexion.
So it’s really important that we’re topping up our ceramide levels as we age – and rather than just trying to address this with topical creams (which aren’t always that effective) we should be aiming to do this from within….
The blurb about this product was that in studies women reported it made their skin smoother and reduced the visible appearance of wrinkles, so I tried it out for 60 days to see exactly what *I* thought of it.
During the 60 day trial I kept tablets near my workspace so I could take them with a glass of cold water each morning, rather than with my morning coffee. Assessing the effectiveness of supplements when you try them out is sometimes tricky. Skin, particularly, can be so susceptible to changing weather, hormones, how hydrated you are and what you’ve been eating. I was determined to give this the best go I possibly could, so I didn’t change anything else that was within my control! Hormones and weather I can do nothing about, but my diet and hydration I did my best not to change (if anything it got worse, it’s been a tough few months ok!)
In my last post someone asked if I’d be providing a warts and all before and after photo. The answer is no, because I forgot to take a proper before photo. However, for those of you who like to see me with no makeup on, here’s what I looked like after 60 days taking the product.
Here is my entirely subjective opinion of any changes I noticed in my skin. I can’t tell you that I am suddenly wrinkle free. Most of the wrinkles on my face are around my eyes and I’m afraid I didn’t notice any difference in the appearance of those. What I did notice was that one day I got up and looked in the mirror and felt like my skin looked a bit more “glowy”. It looked smoother and plumper and felt smoother to touch, my make up also felt like it went on more smoothly. It felt nice. I also noticed that the dry skin I often get on my arms hadn’t been an issue during my 60-day trial. I often notice scaly and bumpy skin on my forearms and moisturise them at least twice a day, but I could mostly get away with just using a body lotion after a shower, apart from a few days where I’d been in an air-conditioned room for a long time.
Can I tell you definitely that it was down to the supplements, of course not, but I would certainly buy them again. I take an Omega 3 and a multi-vitamin supplement anyway, so buying them bundled in together is handy. The 30-day trio pack works out pricier than what I currently use, but with added Ceramides capsule I feel its worth it, budget allowing.
Of course, there are other ways you can help improve your skin. Eating well, drinking plenty of water and getting lots of sleep are a few good examples. The Seven Seas website has some great resources on skin care for those of us over 30, so is well worth checking out.
