In a new column Inge van Lotringen, 46, one of Britain’s most outspoken beauty editors with over 20 years’ experience answers your most pressing anti-ageing questions.
Q: I’m 67 and have suddenly developed milia (small, white bumps) under my eyes. An eye cream from my local chemist that promised to get rid of them didn’t work. Is there anything non-invasive that will?
A: The manufacturer of that eye cream was talking nonsense: milia, tiny cysts filled with keratin (fibrous skin cells), sit so deep in the skin that you cannot squeeze them out yourself and no cream will remove them. Don’t despair, though, because you definitely can get rid of them.
An anonymous reader asked for beauty advice on removing milia (file image)
I’ve been a beauty journalist for 20 years and the industry has never been better at producing effective solutions for your beauty woes — particularly when it comes to anti-ageing face and body treatments, the area I will be focusing on in this column.
From thinning hair to knee wrinkles, every week I will be answering your questions on anti-ageing procedures in as frank and honest a way as I can.
I’ve tried a lot of this stuff and, over the years, suffered sores, burns and bruises in the quest for beauty.
So, I know which treatments will actually work and which ones should make you run a mile!
Which brings me back to your milia. The cream might have been useless, but there are several solutions to your problem — good thing, really, as milia are very common and can occur at any age due to build-up of product or cholesterol in the skin.
Inge van Lotringen (pictured) recommended having milia removed by a professional
They do eventually disappear thanks to the skin’s natural exfoliation process, but that can take years. So consider having them removed by an experienced and insured aesthetician or doctor. They will lance them with a thin, sterile needle, then push them out — you’ll only feel a little nip. It’s speedy and effective and usually costs from £50.
Dr Vicky Dondos of London’s Medicetics Clinic, in my book one of the UK’s best face-perfectors (her client list is packed with models and A-listers), prefers zapping them with radio-frequency waves, delivered via a needle (from £95).
‘Results are immediate, but always make sure that a medical supervisor is on hand to greenlight the procedure when near the eye — you don’t want to be zapped in the retina,’ she says.
As for skincare, Vicky suggests an eye cream with retinol (an active form of vitamin A that stimulates skin cell growth) or mandelic acid (an apple-derived acid that peels the skin’s top layers) may help prevent milia and slightly speed up their exfoliation. But start sparingly with these as they can cause irritation.
As a rule, everyone should avoid rich creams with mineral oil or silicones as they increase your chances of developing milia.
Ingeborg van Lotringen is the beauty director of Cosmopolitan magazine.
If you have a beauty problem and want no-nonsense advice you can trust, please email me at inge@dailymail.co.uk.