Anti-ageing pills, using the UV index for tanning and is cellulite cream a scam?

Each week I share a mix of beauty launches, explainers and articles that stick in my head. It’s a slower, calmer way to keep up with beauty – and a bit of a diary of what’s going on behind the scenes at mamabella.

🧪 The truth about anti-ageing pills: what’s real and what’s hype

🌞 Stop using the UV index as a tanning guide (please!)

💄 Why everyone’s obsessed with tubing mascara – and which ones to buy

🎁 New beauty launches this week: Glow Recipe’s cactus serum, NARS’s new blush, an e.l.f. mist to fix your skin barrier, and a Beauty of Joseon sun stick

👌 What I’m loving this week: Olaplex Plus 3 Hair Repair Treatment

📰 If you only read one thing: The 8 body care products that are a scam

The idea of a pill that slows ageing sounds like science fiction but in the last few years, anti-ageing supplements have moved out of influencer circles and into proper, peer-reviewed scientific journals.

I’ve spent time looking into this for my latest 👉 mamabella deep dive and the truth is: some of these compounds probably do something, in some people. The most credible ones – NAD+ precursors like NR and NMN, senolytics like fisetin and quercetin and spermidine – all have real human data behind them, even if none of it is definitive yet. The others focused on animal trials so the gap between “works in mice” and “works in you” is still huge.

What I found most interesting is how different the evidence actually is across compounds. Resveratrol, which had enormous buzz a decade ago, has never lived up to its early promise. NAD+ precursors, by contrast, have consistently raised cellular energy in human trials, even if longevity data doesn’t exist yet.

None of this is a reason to spend a fortune on supplements but it is a reason to read the science rather than the marketing.

👉 Read the full anti-ageing pills guide on mamabella →

I’m pretty militant about the importance of SPF so when I 👉 learned this week that a growing number of people are looking up things like “best UV index for tanning” and “how much UV index to tan,” I was so sad.

The searches suggest people are essentially trying to find the sweet spot where they’ll go brown without burning. The problem is that the UV index was never designed for that. It’s a measure of how quickly skin will be damaged, not a tanning tool.

A tan is a defence response. Your body gets attacked by the UV and produces melanin to absorb UV radiation because skin cells are under threat. The higher the UV index, the faster that process is triggered, and the faster you’ll burn before a tan even has a chance to develop. There is no UV level where tanning is safe and damage isn’t happening simultaneously.

In the UK, UV index 3 is the practical threshold at which sun protection becomes necessary – and that level is regularly hit between April and September, including on cloudy days. But even then, any UV damage is dangerous so if you want a better understanding of what the numbers actually mean and how to use them, I’ve written it all up properly on the site.

👉 Read the full UV index guide on mamabella →

I’ve got a whole series on TikTok looking for the 👉 best mascara for short lashes so any new trend in this space instantly piques my interest. The latest I’ve seen is tubing mascara.

👉 Tubing mascaras aren’t new but they’ve recently gone from a niche recommendation to mainstream launch almost overnight. Maybelline, Tarte, e.l.f. and more have all released or updated formulas in the past year and they’re now gaining traction on social.

The short version is that, instead of coating your lashes with wax and pigment (like a traditional mascara), tubing formulas wrap each lash in tiny polymer tubes. They hold their shape all day and come off with warm water and light pressure.

The result is no smudging, flaking or panda eyes and, in theory at least, more gentle removal. The trade-off is that tubing mascaras have historically been less dramatic than wax-based formulas. They don’t hold their curl, for example. Newer launches are closing that gap but if you rely on maximum volume, you may find them underwhelming.

They’re particularly good for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers. I’ve tested the 👉 best tubing mascaras currently on sale in the UK – from the £8 e.l.f. to the £25 Tarte – and written up what each one delivers.

👉 Read the full tubing mascara guide on mamabella →

Here are some of the beauty launches that have caught my eye this week:

Glow Recipe Prickly Pear Peptide Serum (£38): This is Glow Recipe’s vegan take on snail mucin. It uses prickly pear from cacti combined with peptides for hydration and to help fix your skin barrier. Available now at 👉 Sephora.

NARS Insatiable Liquid Blush (£35.50): NARS has been building out its liquid blush lineup and its new Insatiable formula adds peptides and ceramides alongside the pigment. It’s easy to place and blend and lasts all day. Available now at 👉 Space NK.

e.l.f. Save Your e.l.f. Hypochlorous Mist (£12): Hypochlorous acid is what your immune system produces to fight infection and in skincare it’s been used for wounds and rosacea for years. e.l.f has now added it to its latest mist and, at £12, it’s an affordable way to calm redness and purify. Available now at 👉 e.l.f.

Beauty of Joseon Glow Sun Stick SPF50+ PA++++ (£18): Beauty of Joseon was recently named the best K-beauty SPF brand in the world and this stick version contains mugwort and camellia to soothe and protect. Available now at 👉 Space NK.

The 👉 Olaplex No.3 Plus Complete Repair Treatment has been in my shower this week. The original No.3 has been a cult favourite for years but leaving it on for 15 minutes before washing my hair means I don’t use it as much as I’d like. The Plus version does the same bond-building repair in three minutes.

This Refinery29 piece on body care products that don’t actually work is worth five minutes. It looks at whether cellulite creams, “tightening” serums, sonic cleansing brushes and even neck creams are worth your time and money.

👉 Sorry, But These 8 Body Care Products Are A Big Scam →

Until next time,
Vicky xx