Non-Invasive Skin Treatments That Really Work

‘Honey,’ I’m standing at a zebra crossing in West Hollywood when the woman accosts me. She puts a hand on my bicep, narrows her eyes with a concern verging on pity – like I’ve got toilet paper stuck to my shoe, or maybe my skirt is tucked into my knickers. Either way, I’ve clearly breached some kind of etiquette. ‘Can I give you my guy’s number?’ she asks, eyes flicking from my forehead to my nasolabial folds (and widening a fraction as they drop down to my jawline). ‘He’ll fix all that right up.’

‘All that’ was my 43-year-old face. Because this charming little vignette happened six years ago, when I was living in LA. And ‘her guy’? When I looked him up, he turned out to be some Beverly Hills injectables messiah whose work was – how can I put this? – about as subtle as an over-pumped-and-ready-to-pop helium balloon. So I gave him and the injectables a miss, but the encounter did get me thinking. If you don’t want to go down the injectables route, what are your options? And I mean real, as-good-as-if-not-better options? It got me researching and compiling a non-invasive beauty armoury I rely on (and keep adding to) today. And if that sounds ludicrously high maintenance, it’s because I am.

I’ll pretend to be Zen about ageing in front of my husband and daughter, but really, I’m not. There are aspects of this I can deal with (fine lines around the eyes, a few, deeper brow lines) and others I’m just not prepared to take lying down. The jowls, for example and the pouchiness: the weird, generalised facial subsidence. My dermatologist of 15 years, Dr Rowland Payne, calls this ‘the slowly melting half pound of butter’. He explains how, because the middle third of our faces is ‘largely unanchored and has more fat in it than the other two thirds, it suffers from gravity and drifts inexorably downwards,’ like that half pound of butter, culminating in what I call ‘Churchill bulldog face’. Oh no.

So, what do you do? You fight tooth and nail against gravity, you keep pounding up the downward moving escalator, using those essential tools: a combination of occasional heavy-hitters, super-facials and daily face-saving ‘n’ snatching habits.

The most effective needle-less heavy-hitter I’ve discovered for jowls is HIFU. Dr Rowland Payne introduced me to high intensity focused ultrasound five years ago, and I’ve been doing it twice a year ever since. It doesn’t hurt, it takes just 20 minutes, there’s no downtime – and crucially: it works. ‘Most face lift surgery works by putting a tuck in the SMAS [superficial musculoaponeurotic system, the layer connecting mimetic muscles to the dermis], thereby pulling the middle third of the face back towards the ear,’ the London Clinic dermatologist explains. ‘HIFU achieves a similar effect by causing microdots of inflammation within the SMAS layer that lead to the creation of new collagen and a consequent tightening – all without a scalpel or an injection.’

The best super-facialists can achieve a similar tightening effect, if less permanent and more frequently needed, using just their hands. I’ve been seeing Su-Man, the Taiwanese former dancer whose long-term celebrity clients include Juliette Binoche, Sienna Miller and Gemma Arterton, for 22 years. Famous for her 90-minute ‘facelift facial’, she treats my face like an Italian pizza chef does dough, kneading and pumping and beating it back into the correct shape. Ruthlessly ignoring my pleas to ‘spare the blow-dry’, she’ll work her miracle hands just as vigorously over my scalp. ‘Scalps are a big part of what I do,’ says Su-Man, whose 60+ face is tighter than mine. ‘The scalp is connected to the facial muscles and fascia, and tightness in the scalp can pull the facial skin downward, contributing to sagging.’ These forceful movements ‘clear meridian blockages, whilst activating and lifting muscles, boosting blood flow to the face, and delivering oxygen and nutrients to the skin.’

Sarah Bradden, the renowned London-based cosmetic acupuncturist (whose needles are allowed), places a similar emphasis on relaxing facial tissue, as well as defining and sculpting. Both women’s philosophies go well beyond physical techniques. ‘It’s about living your life in a holistic way that supports skin health from within,’ confirms Su-Man. ‘Looking young doesn’t mean no wrinkles. It’s about the sparkle in your eyes – and no amount of injectables is going to give you that.’

Dr Liliana Sytnyk – a London dermatologist specialising in skin quality at Devonshire Dermatology – works according to the same holistic principles when delivering her medical-grade facials. Dr Sytnyk – who is originally from Ukraine – believes that the ‘preventative pillars’ of a serious medical facial should always be ‘exfoliation, stimulation and hydration’. She also says that, ‘Injections should never be done to people who are very stressed or anxious in any case, as they will not be beneficial. The same goes for anyone who is exhausted’. The kind of aesthetic treatments she gives ‘should never be standardised’, she explains. ‘Not only is every woman different, but every patient could require something different every time he or she comes in, depending on what is happening inside, in terms of mood or hormones.’ For that reason, Dr Sytnyk, who I see every three months, has never given me the same combination twice, always varying techniques – from lymphatic drainage and microcurrent to myo-stimulation – to make me look and feel like the best version of myself again. (Ironically, after my last appointment, Dame Joan Collins did ask me where I’d ‘had work done, because it’s very good.’)

The truth, says Joomee Song, the celebrity facialist whose regular clients include Zendaya, Kaia Gerber and Sydney Sweeney, is that ‘as injectables and cosmetic lasers have become more available to the masses, it’s become more common to see the less desirable results of these procedures’. Hence the new wave of demand for holistic facials like hers. At her LA studio, Faceworks, she combines technology with her famous KAIKA sculpting massage techniques, which release the (over 40) muscles in the face. ‘Because it is possible to “snatch” or contour the face and significantly improve skin texture using non-invasive techniques like facial massage,’ she insists. ‘It just takes time. Together with practiced consistency, you can retrain the intricate muscles of the face and release tension that has accumulated over the years, resulting in skin that glows from within.’

Since ‘training’ is the key word here, it’s worth investing in daily tools that will make keeping good beauty habits easier. There are some shocking ‘face pillows’ out there but I finally conquered half a lifetime of sleeping on my front with the LuxeRest face pillow (shaped, hilariously, like a giant satin claw, £44.95, tryglasskin.com). I use Dimple Amani’s Kansa Wand and Velvet Miracle Oil (£85 each, dimple-amani.com) to depuff my eyes every morning (she provides helpful video tutorials for at home use), and I’m obsessed with Nurse Jamie’s UpLift Massaging Beauty Roller (£64, revolve.com). Talk about holistic hangover cures.

Shouldn’t we all also be starting our ‘training’ earlier, emulating the French and the Ukrainians, who traditionally take young girls to see their first dermatologist when they go through puberty? Dr Sytnyk says that back home the culture is preventative rather than reactive, which should always be the way. ‘Every Ukrainian woman will go and see their aesthetician at least once a fortnight, if not once a week. It’s part of our culture. As soon as we get our first pay cheques, we start on regular maintenance facials of whatever kind we can afford.’

Affordability is the second most crucial point – the first being that yes, you can indeed avoid injectables. Is a more holistic and less invasive route better value for money though? That might be pushing it. Injectables are, in many ways, the fast food of the cosmetic world. So, whereas Botox will typically cost you between £300-£400 and filler between £350-£600 – and last variously between four to 12 months – super and medical-grade facials will typically set you back upwards of £200 a time. Then again, as Song says, in the end it comes down to ‘what you’re willing to exchange for a short-term fix? A healthy skin barrier? Facial muscles that lose their ability to properly function? Non-invasive measures may require some patience, but the results are lasting and worth the wait.’