Beauty routines throughout my life have focused on my face. And in summer, my legs. and feet. From time to time, my hands took a look. So it surprises me that now, what I notice the most are my arms.
Ah, for those heady days of halter necks, halter tops, spaghetti straps and sleeveless dresses. When I could wear them without looking at my arms and thinking, ‘What they need is a cardigan.’
The reason arms lose tone with age is that muscle mass naturally declines – about three to five percent per decade after age 30, especially if you’re relatively inactive, accelerating as you age. And lower estrogen levels during and after menopause don’t help either.
Is there an easy solution? I’m not going to lie, doing a few triceps exercises with a can of Heinz Beans doesn’t mean you’ll kiss bingo wings goodbye any faster than you can say two fat ladies (are they allowed to say bingo callers? that?). You also can’t reduce fat in a localized way: you have to optimize your total weight with a healthy diet and exercise and strength work to develop tone in specific areas.
However, there’s no question that since I’ve been attending Fight Klub, an exercise class that works both the upper and lower body, incorporating boxing moves, weight training, and push-ups (which I modify by doing them against a wall because my wrists are weak), my arms are in better shape than they have been in a long time. If you want to start, or change, an exercise routine at home, see a professional who can design a program and teach you how to do arm-strengthening exercises, such as overhead triceps presses, properly and safely.
Aside from muscle tone, the other issue with aging arms is skin texture. My elbows looked like a rough whirlwind of wrinkles and the insides of my arms had that dry parchment look that reminds me of my mother’s arms when she used to lament that they looked like my grandmother’s. As the baton of age passes, I like to remind myself that I am lucky to have lived long enough to notice collagen loss. Not everyone is that lucky.
But I still want my arms to look better. That means using a body scrub, especially on the backs of your upper arms and elbows, and I’ve been trying Biossance’s new Squalane + Enzyme Sugar Body Scrub (launching next month; £22, lookfantastic.com). Sugar crystals remove dead skin cells, while pomegranate enzymes offer additional exfoliating action.
Hydration can help, but you need to do it regularly, not just take a dip on occasion. I’ve heard positive feedback from many testers who opt for Sol de Janeiro’s Brazilian Bum Bum Cream (£46, cultbeauty.es) and they’re not talking about their butts because, yes, you can wear it on your arms. It’s packed with guarana, an Amazonian plant that contains caffeine, which can have a temporary tightening effect, and cupuaçu butter, a particularly nutritious ingredient.
However, my personal favorite is the new Firming Body Moisturizer from Olverum (£40). It’s a fancy lotion with collagen-promoting ingredients, and it helped with my pancake pretty quickly. If you prefer an oil, the brand’s firming body oil (£47.50) contains botanicals of grapefruit and black pepper to tone – it absorbs well and leaves a nice shine. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m throwing on a sleeveless number and throwing the cardigan on the back of my chair.
This week I’m mostly…
Enjoying the limited edition Onolla + Elixseri Fresh Start Duo (£129 for two serums), a restart program for your complexion. Opening Act loosens and removes dead skin cells overnight, while Rescue Diver delivers a wave of hydration that replenishes cells.
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