AS the new year gets underway, many of us might be looking in the mirror and wondering if it is perhaps time to have just a little bit of cosmetic work done. If Botox, fillers and facelift don’t appeal, why not try Glass’s preferred method of taking off the years: cosmetic acupuncture. We’ve found this aesthetic treatment the perfect way to rejuvenate and make a liar of our year of birth, while keeping our full range of facial expression intact.
The Cosmetic Acupuncture “face-lift” – Duna Al Rudainy at Zen Pharmacy
Duna is an Acupuncturist and Naturopath who – in just three sessions – fully delivered on her promise that cosmetic acupuncture can rejuvenate as effectively as a lift.
Duna Alrudayni, Acupuncturist and Naturopath
At our first session, Duna asked me what my specific concerns were. I’m not troubled by deep lines, or crows’ feet (despite too many years of smoking), but I was becoming very concerned about my mouth. As I have full lips and an overbite, I have a natural and permanent pout that looked very sexy from my teens and all through my 30s, but now (as I approach my 50s) it had undoubtedly become more of a petulant, dissatisfied pout.
Not only was this an aesthetic irritant, it was uncomfortable. My mouth felt unfamiliar, as though my lips wanted to shrink and drop, but were prevented from doing so by my overbite, and consequentially pressing against my teeth. I didn’t see how Duna’s needles could help with anything so dental, rather than dermal, but I was prepared to give it a try.
Having never had acupuncture I was a little apprehensive. Duna offered me an anaesthetic gel, which I bravely declined, figuring that for the benefit of readers I should know exactly what the potential pain levels were. But it turned out that there is no pain. There is a certain sensation, as the fine needles are applied to the skin and manipulated, but it truly hurts more to squeeze a spot than it does to have facial acupuncture. I found the process curious, interesting, and thoroughly enjoyable.
With the needles applied to the face, I was left to relax in the treatment room for twenty minutes or so, before Duna returned to remove them. I had been expecting that my face would show some signs of trauma post-treatment: a little bruising or swelling, but there was simply no sign that I’d undergone any invasive treatment.
Once home, I rushed to the mirror and could see, as well as feel, a definite change in my face. At the corners of my mouth, there were two little indents that I’d never noticed before, and my mouth felt easier – mine again. Determined to be sceptical about this process, I told myself I was imagining this, or it would be a temporary effect, but the indents stayed, and I no longer had that sinking lip feeling, or the discontented pout.
I almost cancelled our second session as I had an over-due deadline and consequently a low-level headache. I worried that the acupuncture would make it worse and leave me on the wrong side of London and in pain. But I went ahead with it, and left Zen headache-free – a miraculous effect – and feeling completely re-energised. In this second week of treatment, people were noticing that I looked better and telling me so. I registered all the compliments and started to worry that after my third and final treatment, I would decline like a Disney crone. Duna had told me that the effects of the acupuncture would last for six months or so, and I (very rudely) didn’t believe a word of it. The glow and bounce that my skin had acquired, could, I thought, be purely down to the collagen stimulation, and as for the tightened jawline, and reanimated lips … temporary, surely?
The third time’s the charm, and I found the treatment as enjoyable as ever and was sad that the sessions had come to an end. At home that evening, I uncharacteristically stepped away from deadlines and lolled on the sofa relaxing with some French crime drama. I felt so relaxed and free from all concerns that it was hours before I remembered to look in the mirror, but when I did, it was to find my younger self looking back at me. My mouth looked great, all lines were completely unnoticeable unless I pulled faces, and my skin was glowing.
This is the treatment to have if you want to look noticeably younger, and to have everyone wondering what you’ve done, and guessing that it’s a facial, a pregnancy or an affair – not Botox, fillers or surgery. It’s so quick, easy and efficient, with no down-time or recovery time, that you can schedule it into the busiest life. And I’m happy to report that the effects did indeed last for six months – longer in fact. A re-up on the needles is on my wish list for this year, as it was the best investment of time I made in 2016.
Find Duna Alrudayni at the Chelsea Pharmacy Medical Clinic and Zen Pharmacy
The Custom Rejuvenating Facial with Cosmetic Acupuncture – David Peters at Bulgari Spa
David Peters is the man to turn to for luxurious, sybaritic treatments that energise and rejuvenate. Peters offers a number of body and facial treatments, and his bespoke approach combines the benefits of acupuncture with Light Therapy.
David Peters
The Custom Rejuvenating Facial combines LED Light Therapy with Hinaishin transdermal needles to stimulate collagen production and cellular renewal and clear blemishes. The Light Therapy element is quite extraordinary: your eyes are closed and protected from the light source, so there is no pain or discomfort, but behind my closed lids I experienced a firework burst of pattern … a fascinating and quite psychedelic experience. This treatment also includes a Tui-Na massage, facial cupping and sculpting. I was quite hesitant about the cupping, fearing that it might be too aggressive, but the cups are tiny, and the sensation one of gentle nuzzling, rather than suction.
David Peters
Having arrived for my appointment uncharacteristically late and consequentially stressed, I left feeling wonderful; relaxed, happy, and very pretty. So pretty in fact, that I was chatted up by a very young man on the journey home – this might be the treatment to go for if you’re in the mood to attract a younger lover in 2017 …
At the end of the treatment I was presented with a bottle of custom-mixed serum to keep my pretty plumped skin in shape. Applying this deliciously scented product each morning gave me an instant olfactory hit that brought back to mind all the fantastically relaxing sensations of the facial. This is a luxurious treat that gives wonderful results.
Find David Peters at The Bulgari Spa
by Rachel McCormack
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