My advice for those of you intrigued by the #HowOldRobot is twofold. Firstly, don't attempt to age yourself with any kind of spectacles on. I quite liked this picture until I put it through the website. I'm now listing these  sunglasses on eBay. 

Secondly, eat chocolate to look younger. Yes, you heard me. 

Esthechoc is a '72.6% cocoa functional beauty dark chocolate'. I hear from a reliable source that it is made in the same factory as those chocolate teapots, so I set about trying a three week programme - purely for research purposes, you understand. It involves eating a daily dose (damn), and I'm assured the 4mg of Astaxanthin - a strong antioxidant - among other suitably scientific ingredients will 'protect the skin from ageing' and 'contribute to a healthy, luminous and smooth skin'.

In all seriousness, it has been developed with Cambridge Universtity research, it took 10 years of extensive research and medical trials and the claims it makes on the back of the box are certainly intriguing. Even my most basic beauty knowledge recognises that anti-inflammatory foods are good for the body, particularly when it comes to the ageing process.

Ageing happens because free radicals cause accumulative damage to skin cells over time, and anti-oxidants prohibit free radicals. (Think of a gently ageing bike as your skin, rust-causing-water represents the free radical damage, and protective no-rust oil the antioxidants. Got it?)  The makers of Esthechoc claim one 7.5g bar contains as many anti-oxidants as a 300g serving of salmon. Which I don't eat, so bring on the chocolate.

The scientific evidence:

'Clinical data confirms the biological efficacy and shows statistically significant improvements in the biochemical and metabolic parameters after 3 weeks of administration.'

Nope, me neither. But here are my own results after a three week trial. Pretty impressive hey? And those glasses, so very a/w 2015...

Esthechoc is available in Harrods, £35 for a 3 week supply of 21 x 7.5g bars.
 

Headshot of Sophie Beresiner
Sophie Beresiner
Beauty Director

Sophie Beresiner is the Beauty Director for ELLE UK. Having cut her teeth on teen titles she spent her career working up to the ELLE mothership, the brand she loves above all else. Except perhaps her Cornish Rex cats and extensive shoe and lipstick collections. Sophie is also a brand founder of luxury ceramic candle brand No.22 (and single-handedly keeps ASOS afloat)