As temperatures plummet and daylight hours near their nadir, our bodies’ stores of  ‘sunshine’ Vitamin D are probably on the wane, only to be replenished next Summer, unless a Caribbean holiday is in the bag.  (Kindly refrain from bragging if so…) Vitamin D is essential for healthy bones and teeth, so is especially important for children.

However ROAD has learnt that an awful lot of Brits end up being deficient in Vitamin D by the end of the winter.  One tip to counter this is to expose our skin – even just hands and face – to 20 minutes of daylight each day during the winter months.  This is surprisingly difficult if you are either (A) Office based, in which case ‘outdoor time’ may only entail 30 seconds to and from the local deli – or - (B) A night worker – a far more common species than most people realise.  (Who bakes your bread, delivers your mail, puts breakfast news on the airwaves etc – ?)

The solution? Well it’s pink, it’s oily and it’s pretty much the best source of Vitamin D known to man and bear : Salmon.  Eat plenty of it and you should be fine.

With luck, this winter won’t last 8 months, unlike 2009’s.  It’d be nice if The Weatherman spared us the heavy snow which ground London to a halt, with all 8,000 buses unable to leave their sheltrs for the roads which had become ice rinks.  Remember this?

So, a little suggestion for the woman who left her home in the Scottish highlands last December to buy a turkey for Christmas but couldn’t get home for 30 days: Perhaps this year it’d be best to stick to a nice Lochmuir salmon.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8467242.stm

The desire for men and women to feel good about themselves has never been more in fashion, but fashions change – not least in the aesthetic cosmetic world.  Advancements in molecular science mean options for minor procedures such as filler injections are dramatically improving cosmetic outcomes.

A paradigm shift is happening in the minor cosmetic surgery world, with a move away from the ‘frozen face look’ towards considering ‘the whole face’ rather than simply filling lines or wrinkles.  Whilst toxins such as Botox and Dysport have become ubiquitous tools in the hands of every high street aeshetic salon, new technologies are placing ever-improving techniques in the hands of skilled doctors.  Injectable solutions are coming on the market which give aesthetic specialists the possibility of more subtle outcomes.  One such product is Aquamid, a brand ROAD is working with, produced by Denmark’s Contura.

As its name suggests, Aquamid consists of over 97.5% water, with the remaining molecules staying in the sub-dermis to age with the skin, as opposed to remaining on their own as a solid mass – an the issue with some of the older fillers.

If this is all new to you, just know that the ‘holy grail’ for scientists in this area is finding molecules small enough to be injected comfortably, but bulky enough to provide volume and lift.  Molecules aside, it’s obvious-but-true: A highly-skilled practitioner is key to achieving a natural look, and neither of these will ever go out of fashion.  http://www.contura.com/products/aquamid