Standing in front of the mirror, I pull the skin up from my eyes and towards my temples, imagining what I would look like if I had a facelift.
After being blessed with a clear complexion for most of my life, at the age of 50 I suddenly have that looks like it belongs to an elephant.
Not only is it covered in , it is also starting to sag and lose elasticity.
I began feeling concerned about ageing in my early forties, when I would take photos and zoom in around my eyes, comparing them to photos from five years earlier.
I blamed those first few wrinkles on having my three children, now aged 20, 17 and 12.
But I really noticed an acceleration around the age of 47, following perimenopause, which made me lose elastin in my skin.
Now, when I look at myself in the mirror, I see little lines everywhere, a smile where the corners turn down instead of up, and jowls.
Unlike my younger years, I now feel self-conscious and paranoid about my appearance.
I didn’t even know what jowls were until I reached my forties, but now I lose over them.
My husband of 20 years, Paul, 49, who works in recruitment, is incredibly active and looks after himself. He could pass for 45.
Sadly, unlike for women, everyone tells men they actually get better with age.
This makes me feel even more pressure not to, as the idiom goes, “let myself go”.
I constantly compare myself to other women my age, too, such as .
It’s all-consuming.
Sometimes, when we’re watching TV, Paul will comment: “Oh, she’s aged” about some actress or other and my heart will sink.
Does he think the same about me?
When I give myself that faux facelift in the mirror, I tell myself that I’m being ridiculous and that it should be acceptable for women to age naturally and to embrace it.
But there is so much pressure to look younger.
And if I’m completely honest, I’d love to go under the knife.
When you see the transformation of celebrities like 70-year-old , you think: “Well, why not?”
The matriarch famously had a deep plane facelift last year that most people agreed had knocked decades off her age.
She said she wanted to be “the best version” of herself and that the facelift she’d had 15 years previously needed a “refresh” – and who could blame her?
The problem is, it’s just too pricey.
According to reports, Kris’s cost $300,000 – that’s £223, 880.
Sadly, right now, I don’t have a spare quarter of a million to splash out on looking younger.
I’d also be worried that I’d get addicted and would never be satisfied.
That’s why I’ve also resisted having any tweakments such as Botox or filler up to this point.
I’ve tried lots of creams like Olay, L’Oreal and No 7 – all the ones that claim to reverse ageing – and edible collagen.
And while some have made a difference – Revive Collagen, which costs upwards of £30 for a 14-day subscription, was really good as it made my skin glow and feel firmer – I’ve never kept up with the financial investment.
Recently though, I came across a device on social media dubbed the ‘handbag facelift’.
The Magnitone Pebble Pro is small enough to fit into your handbag, as the name suggests, and is available for between £71 and £89.99 at or , respectively.
Just like more expensive options, such as the popular £379 Ziip , it uses microcurrent technology to lift, firm and contour the skin on the face and jawline.
Apparently, this works by delivering low-level electrical stimulation, which can trigger small contractions in the underlying facial muscles.
Before I started using it, I worked through the different settings.
There’s microcurrent, red LED, near-infrared LED and blue LED, as well as a massage and heat mode.
I mainly stuck with the microcurrent setting – which requires you to use a conductive gel, which is sold separately and costs £14.99 and feels like tiny electric shocks on the skin – and also the red LED.
Both of these functions are supposed to firm the skin, with the red LED also boosting circulation, which may help improve fine lines, skin texture and signs of ageing with regular use.
To use it, you slip your hand through a ring and hold it in the palm of your hand, gliding it over the skin.
The gadget gets quite warm and turns off after five minutes, but you just turn it on again in order to use it for the recommended ten minutes.
After using it on the first morning, I felt instantaneous results.
My skin was initially a little red and felt plumper and glowy.
The effect didn’t last all day, but it was enough of an incentive to do another ten minutes the following morning, and the day after that.
After a week, my skin was definitely feeling a little tighter, and after three weeks, I noticed some of the fine lines were starting to fade – and I felt a big boost of confidence.
I continued to use it every morning while having a and watching GMB but you can use it in the evening if you prefer.
And you can use the other settings.
Near Infrared LED is supposed to be beneficial for collagen and elastin production, while blue LED is believed to help refine pores.
Now, after two months of using it for ten minutes every day – I even took it on holiday with me – my wrinkles are definitely more subtle.
Paul and our kids have all told me that my skin has improved and that the Pebble is definitely ‘working’ – which is the biggest compliment you can get from a teenager and definitely made me feel good about myself.
Before I started using it, I was wearing sunglasses or reading glasses, just to disguise the lines around my eyes, but I’ve hardly had them on.
I’m also wearing my hair up a lot more, which feels more exposing.
I haven’t felt this good about my skin for years.
I feel like I look about five years younger than I did two months ago.
Where my complexion was dull, it’s now glowing.
I’m not sure you can ever fully reverse the sagging without a facelift, but my cheeks and neck area feel firmer, and I’m not noticing my jowls as much.
I will certainly be recommending this device to my friends.
We are constantly swapping notes about anti-ageing products.
While I don’t want to encourage any of us to be afraid of ageing, with this gadget you feel like you are repairing the skin from the inside out, unlike Botox or surgical procedures, which are much more invasive.
I can see why it’s called the ‘handbag facelift’, too.
It’s discreet, portable and you can use it anywhere.
Plus it tightens your skin without having to go under the knife.
It’s also a hell of a lot cheaper.
If you use it for two and a half months, the cost of the gadget works out to less than £1 a day.
For me, the incremental results each day were enough of a motivation to keep using it, and in the process my confidence has soared.
I’ll certainly be sticking with it.
