Hallelujah I have been saying this for years, and it's so patently obvious by anyone who has some knowledge of anatomy and physiology and understands the skin and how it works.

FACT the skin is impenetrable to substances including water, else if it was possible if you sat in a bath long enough you'd act like a sponge, the only things that can be absorbed into the skin are MEDICATIONS and ESSENTIAL OILS. The skin is designed to keep substances out to protect your internal body and it does a pretty good job, so you are wasting your money on expensive creams. If cosmetics could do all these claims, they would have to be licensed as Medications.

Prevention is the key to prevent ageing of the skin, a balanced diet, so it has all the nutrients it needs, plenty of water, to prevent dehydration, keep out of strong sunlight as UVA rays CAN penetrate the skin into the dermis and damage collagen and elastin, the support structure of the skin. Don't smoke, it causes vaso constriction (Nicotine) so restricts blood flow to the skin so it doesn't get oxygen and nutrients not to mention all the toxins induced into the body as well. Don't over indulge on alcohol as it is after all a toxin but it can cause vaso dilation and broken capillaries, likewise, going from hot to cold such as centrally heated homes to cold out doors without a good moisturiser, and having the car's heating blasting in your face when driving. Avoid stress or find a way to cope with it and take time to relax as stress hormones such as adrenaline cause vaso constriction of blood vessels to the skin thus depriving it of nutrients and oxygen and the other stress hormone cortisol damages collagen and elastin. And always use a moisturiser with a SPF of at least 12. Lastly don't screw your eyes up nor squint, so use sunglasses in bright sunlight and have your eyes tested regularly, so you can see properly.

If you can manage this I guarantee you will look younger than those who do the above. Prevention is the cure, however it's never too late to start.

Myself this is my favourite moisturiser of all time, and one of the best I've ever come across, and I used to be a college lecturer in beauty therapy and holistic therapies

Aqua Moisture Cream

£1. 99 each

(50ml, £3.98 per 100ml )

Even the most expensive cosmetic creams can't live up to claims that they repair skin from within, study finds

Cosmetic skin creams cannot ‘penetrate’ the skin as claimed by many manufacturers, a study found today.

Many pharmaceutical brands claim that nanoparticles in their products give their creams a ‘deep penetrating action’.

But scientists at the University of Bath found that such claims are 'patently' untrue and that even the tiniest of nanoparticles do not penetrate the skin’s surface.

Beauty creams that claim to penetrate the skin have been hailed as miracle workers for women of a certain age

Their work suggests that creams are simply deposited into creases in the skin and do not carry nutrients deep under the surface.

Professor Richard Guy, a professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences who led the research, said: 'Previous studies have reached conflicting conclusions over whether nanoparticles can penetrate the skin or not.

'Using confocal microscopy has allowed us to unambiguously visualise and objectively assess what happens to nanoparticles on an uneven skin surface.

'Whereas earlier work has suggested that nanoparticles appear to penetrate the skin, our results indicate that they may in fact have simply been deposited into a deep crease within the skin sample.

'The skin’s role is to act as a barrier to potentially dangerous chemicals and to reduce water loss from the body. Our study shows that it is doing a good job of this.

'So, while an unsuspecting consumer may draw the conclusion that nanoparticles in their skin creams, are ‘carrying’ an active ingredient deep into the skin, our research shows this is patently not the case.'

The research, published in the Journal of Controlled Release, studied particles less than one hundredth of the thickness of a human hair which are used in sunscreens and some cosmetic and pharmaceutical creams.

The scientists used a technique called laser scanning confocal microscopy to examine whether fluorescently-tagged polystyrene beads, ranging in size from 20 to 200 nanometers, were absorbed into the skin.

They found that even when the skin sample had been partially compromised by stripping away layers, the nanoparticles still did not penetrate the skin’s outer layer, known as the stratum corneum.

Professor Guy added: 'We did the study very carefully but not once we were able to determine that that were able to cross the outside layer of the skin which is out protective layer.

'There is no magic associated with particles being able to wriggle across the skin, they are just too big to do that,

'We actually have lots of nanoparticles inside us that don’t get out.'

He said that the research did however help to prove that potentially harmful ingredients, such as those used in sunscreens, can not be absorbed into the body, alleviating fears.

He also suggested that it may be possible to design a new type of nanoparticle-based drug that can be applied to the skin to give a controlled release of a drug over a long period of time.

Even the most expensive creams were found no to actively penetrate the skin

Professor Richard Guy (left) who led the research at the University of Bath found that the skin actually acts as a barrier against face creams that promise to penetrate the outer layer