The saying “you are what you eat” is extremely applicable when it comes to the effects that dairy, wine, sugar and gluten consumption have on your face.
Naturopathic doctor and skincare expert Nigma Talib believes that the food and drinks a person consumes has an instantaneous effect on their face. The skincare specialist, who has treated celebrities including Sienna Miller and Charlotte Tilbury, categorizes these symptoms into different types of faces: dairy face, sugar face, wine face and gluten face.
Wine Face Symptoms
Pronounced lines or redness between the eyes, droopy eyelids, dehydrated or dry skin with feathery lines across cheeks, reddish cheeks and nose, enlarged pores, and deep nasolabial folds.
Dairy Face Symptoms
Swollen eyelids, bags and dark circles around eyes, small white spots and bumps on chin.
Gluten Face Symptoms
Puffy red cheeks, dark pigmentation patches or spots around chin.
Sugar Face Symptoms
Lines or wrinkles on forehead, saggy eyes, gaunt thin face, painful pustular spots on face, thinning of skin, grey or pasty white hue of skin.
Talib explains that she immediately recognizes the telltale signs of symptoms for each of the faces. She said:
“The second a patient walks into my clinic I can immediately tell the sort of foods they tend to overeat just by checking the way their face is ageing.
“In fact, I often find myself reading random faces in the street. I want to run up to strangers and tell them to cut milk out of their diet or hold back on the pasta as it is so clear from their complexion that their diet is doing them harm.”
For example, Talib can tell that that the bloating and puffiness from an individual’s face indicates that they have had a wheat-heavy day — they ate cereal for breakfast, bread for lunch and pasta for dinner. She continues:
“A couple of glasses of wine can trigger fine lines around the mouth and eyes, and — if you are intolerant — a creamy sauce or a piece of cheese might trigger a spotty breakout or dark circles under the eyes.”
Talib is not the first believer that a person’s face is an indicator of their health and well-being. Face mapping has long been practiced in ancient times, and many modern-day skincare brands have adopted this approach to developing their line of products.
As a skincare specialist with over 10 years of practice, Talib has seen thousands of patients. She said:
“Certain food groups appear to be particularly damaging: gluten, dairy, sugar and alcohol. Each taxes the body in specific ways, contributing to a cluster of ageing symptoms such as spots, puffiness, changes in skin tone, premature fine lines and wrinkles or sagging.”
“The part of your face most affected – whether it’s your forehead, chin, cheeks or eyes – will depend on the part of the body being put under most stress by the food group.”
