Knife Styles

Chemical Face Peel

A chemical face peel can sort out many skin worries - from a dull complexion or acne scars to deep wrinkles. It all depends on how deep you want to go.

What is it?

A face peel is a chemical potion that's painted on to skin to produce an accelerated version of exfoliation. The difference is that a peel goes deeper into your skin, making your complexion smoother and brighter for longer.

There are three types of peel available. Superficial peels are the most common ones - they exfoliate the skin, taking just the top layer off.

Medium-depth peels, which penetrate deeper into the skin, are used to reduce fine wrinkles and acne scars.

Deep peels are the strongest type you can have. It's claimed that they eradicate deep wrinkles and even alleviate facial scarring.

What can it do for you?

It can improve your skin's appearance. In all types of peel, chemicals loosen and remove the skin's surface layer. The deeper the peel, the more dramatic the change.

A deep peel can reduce pitted acne scars, pigmentation, rough texture or mild sun damage; a superficial peel will make your skin feel super-soft and give it a glow.

The procedure

A deep peel is administered by a medical doctor or registered nurse, who'll apply a strong glycolic acid or trichloroacetic acid (TCA) mixture to the face with a spatula.

It's left on for 90 minutes, when you may feel some stinging. When the peel is removed, it also takes off the top layer of skin.

At the other end of the scale, a superficial peel, which contains much less glycolic acid, is brushed on to your skin and left for a few minutes. It's then washed off during a short facial. This can be done by a beautician.

Cost

From £50 to £3,500, depending on the intensity of the peel, whether you need to be sedated or stay in hospital, and the aftercare required.

Recovery time

After a deep or medium peel, it can take a couple of weeks before you can resume normal activities. Even after this time your skin may still be quite red. Skin will turn red or brown and flake and peel, so recovery may require several days off work.

A superficial peel, however, takes hardly any time and skin may be just slightly pink, so you can head back to the office.

What can go wrong?

If you don't wear sunblock after a peel, you could end up with a blotchy or uneven complexion. The downtime is far longer for a deep peel.

You should have an in-depth consultation to make sure you have the correct procedure and understand the risks. The deeper you go, the more layers of skin you remove to get a bigger, quicker improvement. However, the further you go, the longer it takes for your skin to recover.

How long does it last?

Using the correct aftercare regimen, the effects can last up to a year. You'll be given a list of specific products to use at home, plus you should have a maintenance peel every four to six weeks. But visible results - smoother skin- will be felt after the first treatment and seen after the first two to three visits.

Microcurrent Facial - The Electric Facelift

A gym workout for your face, this strengthens muscles for a more 'lifted' youthful complexion.

What is it?

Many leading beauty therapists claim that exercising the facial muscles helps lift and return tautness to sagging skin. Enter microcurrent facials, where blasts of microcurrents are used to stimulate and strengthen muscle fibres.

Some treatments focus purely on strengthening muscle tissue and lifting the skin; others use the microcurrent to propel anti-ageing products deep into the epidermis, rejuvenating dull complexions. Some do both.

What can it do for you?

Most of the treatments on offer can be personalised to address skin problems such as dullness, dryness, dark circles, sun damage or spots.

But it's those suffering from loose skin and loss of tone - especially around the cheeks and jowls - as well as fine lines and wrinkles who often report the most dramatic results.

Unlike surgery, this treatment is no quick fix. A course of 8-12 sessions is usually recommended to significantly lift and tone the skin and diminish lines. The treatments are carefully timed week by week to ensure that an exact number of days elapses between appointments.

So be warned: if you have a busy diary or find it hard to keep to schedules, these treatments are probably not for you!

The procedure

During a typical treatment, which can last up to an hour and a half, a therapist uses probes or rollers to deliver blasts of microcurrent to facial muscles, which in turn plumps out lines and revs up the circulation.

While not painful, the current can be so high that it makes your skin tingle and some people who have mercury fillings have described a metal taste in their mouth during the procedure.

For many of these facials, the microcurrent is also used to push antiageing ingredients, such as collagen, deeper into the epidermis than would otherwise be possible. Some companies offer massages and mini-facials as well.

Cost

From £45 per session.

Recovery time

There's no downtime with microcurrent facials. Your complexion should look refreshed and revitalised for days afterwards, which is why many celebs like to book in for them before big events.

What can go wrong?

There are no known side effects, but microcurrent treatments should be avoided if you have a pacemaker, epilepsy, recent scar tissue or are pregnant.

Also, anyone concerned with electromagnetic radiation - emitted by mobile phones and most electrical devices - may wish to give these treatments a wide berth.

How long does it last?

Treatments vary, but as a general rule the 8-12 sessions should be enough to tighten, tone and improve elasticity, while reducing fine lines and wrinkles. A follow-up treatment is recommended every 4-6 weeks to maintain results.

Browlift

They might not be as famous as facelifts, but that's all about to change.

New, less invasive techniques have meant a 35 per cent increase in brow lifts over the past year. But what does the procedure involve?

What is it?

Focusing on the area above the eyebrows, the brow lift aims to reposition the muscles and tissues of the forehead that naturally droop with age.

What can it do for you?

Most commonly carried out on 40-60-year-olds, brow lifts create a younger looking upper face. As we age, the brow droops closer to the eyes, often creating a heavy, tired look. A brow lift can reposition this skin and open up the area.

To get an idea of what this might look like, place your hands by the side of your eyebrows and gently pull up. You'll notice, however, that nothing happens to the vertical creases between your brows as you do this - that's why most surgeons suggest Botox after surgery to fill in leftover lines.

The procedure

While some surgeons still carry out a brow lift by cutting a big headband-like scar across the scalp (known as a coronal lift), brow lifts are increasingly being carried out using keyhole surgery.

The surgeon will put a series of small cuts in the scalp at the level of the hairline. They then go in through these cuts to lift the brow muscles and tissue and reposition them higher on the brow bone.

Surgery lasts between one and two hours. As it's minimally invasive, many surgeons do keyhole lifts under 'twilight anaesthetic', which leaves the patient drowsy, but not unconscious.

Cost

Around £3,000-£6,000.

Recovery time

The keyhole entry system has one of the quickest recovery times in facial surgery. A patient can be back to normal after a few days and the stitches are likely to come out after a week.

Recovery takes longer with the coronal technique, which is also more painful. The head has to be elevated for two to three days and swelling can be experienced for a week or more.

What can go wrong?

A brow lift raises a hairline, which means that women with high foreheads aren't always good candidates. Also, an overly aggressive surgeon can raise the brow too high, resulting in a surprised look.

In most cases, though, the only real issue is that it could cause numbness of the scalp around the incisions or, in the case of the coronal lift, around the whole scar.

In keyhole surgery this normally only lasts a few weeks, but with coronal lifts it can last six months and occasionally it's permanent.

How long does it last?

The effects of a coronal brow lift last 10 years or longer. The endoscopic [keyhole] brow lift doesn't always last as well, so the entire procedure may have to be repeated in around five years' time.

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