I’m 54 and spend £3,000 a year on looking younger – here’s why it’s worth it
I have (or rather, my face has) issues with toxin (aka Botox) in my brow. Eminently effective at smoothing and softening any forehead knitted by years of worry and surprise, in my case the minutest amount also makes my brow and eyelids drop incrementally, giving me tiny piggy eyes that I don’t like.
It’s a facial anatomy thing that’s only true for some people and can’t be helped, according to cosmetic doctors I’ve consulted. Given the choice, I prefer lines in my forehead if it means my eyes stay perky.
I also need to be careful with injectable filler near my eyes, as less-than-efficient lymph function in the area puts me at risk of swelling that forms odd little temporary cushions. You may assume that, because of all this, I’m no fan of needles. But you’d be wrong.
There’s another type of injectable that I’m particularly fond of and it is gaining in popularity due to its subtle, natural-looking results: the emerging category of skin boosters and biostimulators. And increasingly, it’s my ‘tweakment’ of choice.
What are skin boosters exactly?
Best described as injectable serum or moisturiser, these jabs don’t change anything about your features: nothing freezes or inflates, and no lines magically disappear after a few days. What improves is the quality of your skin; when infused with moisture at a depth topical products can’t reach, skin becomes dewier, more translucent, less drawn, and ever so slightly firmer-looking for months on end.
With skin boosters, subtlety is the point: if you’re concerned about ending up with glossy bowling ball-tautness, then boosters are the antidote. They soften and slow down the visible ageing process rather than changing your facial anatomy.
Over the past few years I’ve had a whole raft of different types of boosters and they all offer slightly different benefits. So, here is an overview of the main ones, alongside the thoughts of cosmetic physician Dr Sarah Tonks, who isn’t beholden to one brand of booster like some practitioners are (aka, she’s impartial).
She combines and chops and changes between most of them, depending on her patients’ requirements but also to maximise outcomes. “I think you get better results if you mix your boosters up, rather than using the same ones repeatedly, because they all stimulate skin differently,” she counsels.
Profhilo
Best for: an intense hydration boost
Profhilo is made of heat-treated hyaluronic acid which, explains the brand, has a “prolonged stimulating effect on the dermal cells” meaning collagen is boosted to minimise fine lines. It’s injected in eight stingy jabs in the face (or neck), which cause little lumps that sit there for hours (sometimes over 24 hours), before dispersing under the skin. Skin looks mildly plumper and more hydrated within a week or so, and this should get more pronounced after six weeks as collagen is stimulated.
Some people complain that the jabs make their face look ‘puffy’: “your face could look incrementally fuller because the product absorbs water,” says Tonks. “But it doesn’t remain in the skin for long so the issue is usually resolved within three to four weeks.”
I’ve never noticed this issue myself, but then I want my skin and face to look fuller. Those who feel sensitive about a rounder-looking face might take this into consideration.
Tonks is enthusiastic about a new Profhilo protocol for treating the forehead with a cannula (previously it was only injected into the lower and mid-face). “It’s great for people with volume loss and thin skin which is not amenable to Botox,” she says. Tonks charges £445 per treatment – two are needed, four weeks apart, initially, with top-ups every six months or so.
Polynucleotides
Best for: tightening pores and softening dark circles
Polynucleotides are salmon DNA-derived messenger molecules that get the skin to heal damage and make more collagen (Jennifer Aniston has had it). This means it improves elasticity, softens wrinkles and brown spots and can tighten pores, and “I’ve seen it work pretty well on stretch marks, too,” says Tonks.
Polynucleotide injections don’t routinely contain hyaluronic acid, making them perfect for rejuvenating under eyes without the puffiness that can ensue with hyaluronic acid filler.
In Asia and increasingly in the UK, polynucleotide jabs are teamed with HA-based boosters for a smooth-and-glow ‘sandwich’. They can be used not only on the face and around the eyes, but in the neck to minimise scars, and even to improve hair quality on the scalp and eyebrows.
There are many different brands of polynucleotides (Nucleofill, Ameela, PhilArt, Rejuran Healer, Pluryal Silk and Densify and Mastelli Plinest are all available in the UK) but according to Tonks, she hasn’t so far noticed a difference between them when it comes to efficacy.
I’ve had polynucleotides in my face and in the eye area. In both cases, the results were visible but very subtle after two months or so (when new collagen starts being generated); there’s no satisfying ‘plumping’ effect as there is no instant hydration. But regular treatment really does keep your skin looking brighter and very subtly more youthful.
Three sessions, a month apart, are required, with top-ups every four months. Tonks charges £445 per session.
Teosyal Redensity-1
Best for: for al all-over glow and for barcode lines
This contains very light hyaluronic acid plus a host of antioxidants, amino acids and vitamins, which are all essential for skin health. It’s like mesotherapy but better as the active substances and hydration are delivered much deeper than with meso. As there is no hint of volume, it’s best suited for skin that has lost its glow and needs a jolt of deep hydration. Per treatment, it requires over a hundred tiny injections all over the face, which are made bearable because there’s lidocaine (and numbing agent) in the mix as well.
This also means it’s good for sensitive areas like lips. “I think it’s a good idea to treat the lip area with boosters,” says Tonks. “It helps prevent those ageing vertical ‘barcode’ lines without a lip filler-effect, which plenty of women absolutely don’t want.” You need two three sessions of Redensity-1 initially, and a top-up every three to six months. Tonks charges £445 per session.
Sunekos Performa
Best for: plumping crepey, wrinkly skin
Hyaluronic acid with a blend of amino acids, this one helps regenerate collagen and elastin (the stuff that makes skin firm and bouncy) and is popular for its versatility. Tonks loves that you can use it anywhere, even in the forehead (many other skin boosters are only designed for the lower half of the face) and under-eyes. “It’s great for wrinkles and crepiness-reduction and really improves skin quality. It’s my favourite for the under-eye area,” she says.
Sunekos is injected in a prescribed pattern of unpleasant jabs anywhere improvement is required. But “you get minimal bumps afterwards,” says Tonks. Results become visible within a week or so but definitely improve over subsequent weeks.
Four initial treatments, a week apart, are advised, with six-monthly top-ups. There is a Sunekos Body version and one for cellulite-reducing called Sunekos Cell 15. Tonks charges £345 per treatment.
Belotero Revive
Best for: luminosity and pigmentation
A hyaluronic acid (HA) injectable that is slightly volumising, it contains glycerol, a substance that boosts the plumping power of HA. Therefore it quenches and stimulates the skin’s production of its own HA long-term, and helps to restore the skin barrier. “More so than Profhilo, I find it leaves skin luminous and studies prove it softens hyperpigmentation and firms skin. It’s my top recommendation for general skin improvement,” says Tonks.
You can use it anywhere, jabbed into skin in a sort of grid pattern – not enjoyable but not unbearable either. The downside is bumps can take “ages to go” in bony areas such as the forehead, says Tonks who prefers using a cannula there.
Revive requires one to three initial sessions depending on skin needs, and lasts six to nine months. Tonks charges £695 per treatment
Restylane Skinboosters
Best for: subtle volumising
Tonks isn’t a particular fan of the “painful” needle Restylane Skinboosters is injected with, but it’s a mildly volumising hyaluronic acid injectable that comes with over ten years of data proving efficacy and safety. That’s a lot more than can be said for the other boosters, none of which have been around very long. I had a course of this quite a few years ago and remember being very pleased with the results.
Three initial treatments, two weeks apart, are recommended, with top-ups every six months. Treatment for the under eyes is charged at £695 at Tonks’ clinic.
HArmonyCa
Best for: thinning skin and marionette lines
HArmonyCa isn’t technically a booster, which as a rule only lasts inside the skin for a few weeks – it’s a filler, which stays put for up to two years. The difference between traditional dermal fillers and HArmonyCa is that it’s an extremely fluid gel (it gives the tiniest amount of volume) that’s it’s spiked with a bio-stimulating molecule that boots the skin’s own collagen and elastin production making it a filler-biostimulator hybrid.
Designed to tackle thinning, slackening skin in the lower cheeks, as well as ‘accordion’ laughter lines and ‘marionette’ lines, a single treatment immediately gives skin firmness while three months in, you see slackness improve and lines progressively soften. This keeps going for 18 months at least and it is my favourite tweakment.
Only one treatment is required, with no downtime and results that last up to two years. Tonks charges £845 per syringe – you may need two.
The annual cost of maintaining my healthy glow
I have HArmonyCa treatments every 18 months and twice-yearly boosters (of varying makes) in the forehead and under eyes, which on average costs roughly £3000 annually. But when you break it down, that’s £8 a day – the price of two and a half takeaway coffees per day. I know what I’d rather give up.