If Bella Hadid can do it, I can do it, is what I told myself on Tuesday morning, my face poised above a bowl of icy water. Mentally cursing myself for pitching this story at all, I dunked my face into the ice water and held it there for 30 seconds, feeling the thrill of adrenaline course through my chest, past my stomach and all the way down to my toes.
The supermodel swears by these daily ice dunks to keep her skin fresh, her face free from puffiness and her skin tone even. I might not be a top model, but I do have face skin that could do with some TLC so I thought why not give it a go. For a week straight I dunked my face in freezing water as soon as I got out of bed to see if it would make any difference at all to my skin.
According to experts, face icing can constrict the blood vessels in your face making it less red while also decreasing inflammation and puffiness. To test this theory I took a picture of myself before and after each ice bath, to see if I could notice a difference.
Tragically when it comes to how my face looks, I really didn’t see any changes. It would have been nice to have seen a marked reduction in inflammation, and honestly, I think the freezing water kind of made my face more red than usual.
Although it may not have given me the look of Bella Hadid (disappointing) that doesn’t mean it was pointless.
Cold plunges and ice baths have a multitude of other effects, including immune and mood boosting – and my mood was certainly improved by these mini-plunges.
Usually, I find it incredibly hard to get up and get motivated in the morning. I am sluggish and not even coffee can help me step my game up but these daily ice baths were incredible.
Although the initial plunge is unpleasant, the after effects are incredible. My energy levels were higher, I felt able to focus and my mood was improved. I think because starting your day in abject misery means it can really only get better from there.
This feeling does have a scientific basis however – it’s called the mammalian dive response. When you submerge your face in ice water and hold your breath this reflex is triggered and blood is redistributed from your limbs to your vital organs. When the ice water hits your eyes and cheekbones, it also sends a message to your parasympathetic nervous system via your vagus nerve to regulate heart rate and breathing, calming anxiety.
While I didn’t notice any difference in the way I looked, the change in the way I felt is enough to convince me that Bella Hadid has got this one right – and in fact, I think I’m going to keep this practice up.