Facelifts scare the heck out of me.
If you’re gonna come at my face with a needle or a knife, I’ll start running in the opposite direction as quickly as my short legs can carry me.
I want to age gracefully as much as anybody else, but there’s a limit to what I’ll do to achieve it.
Using thick sunscreens that make me look like a ghost? Check.
Gulping down vomit-flavoured green smoothies by the gallon? Check.
Anything that involves needles or cutting up my face? I’m outta here!
All this to say that I had filed down face lifts into the I’ll-never-try-it folder. Then, I heard of a facelift that doesn’t require needles or knives. And it’s as pretty as a rainbow.
This cool facelift is called Luminous Lift LED Light Therapy Facial and is available at EF MEDISPA in Canary Wharf (it was invented by the clinic’s founder). Here’s how it went:
How Does Light Therapy Benefit Skin?
Luminous Lift LED Light Therapy Facial uses the NASA-developed Dermalux machine, which emits a rainbow of frequencies: red, yellow, blue, orange and violet, as well as infra-red and cold wave laser. Rainbow Bright would have been proud.
So, what do all these lights do?
- Violet Light: It gets rid of acne-causing bacteria.
- Blue Light: It kills infections and helps the healing process.
- Yellow Light: It reduces hyperpigmentation and boosts the production of collagen and elastin.
- Red & Orange Lights: It increase the synthesis of collagen and the activity of fibroblast (they are involved in the production of elastin).
Basically, this treatment is good for acne, hyperpigmentation, and wrinkles. If you ask kindly, it may even make you coffee (just kidding!). But if you’re suffering from any of these conditions, this is definitely something you want to consider.
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The Treatment
Yours truly is lucky to have escaped acne and hyperpigmentation so far (hope I don’t jinx it now!), but at 33 I already have some fine lines I want to get rid of. And anything that promises to boost collagen, which helps keep skin firm and wrinkle-free, is something I’m willing to try (as long as it doesn’t involve needles or knives, of course).
Before I could try the treatment, though, I had to fill in all the usual forms. You know, the ones where you tell the staff about any medical conditions you may have and agree not to sue them if something doesn’t go according to plan. Safety first.
The treatment itself is very relaxing. First, Bethan, the lovely nurse and clinic manager who took such great care of me, cleansed my face. Then eye patches went onto my eyes to protect them from the light. Finally, she put the “hood” that emits the rainbow low over my face.
That’s it. For the next half an hour, all I had to do was lie flat on my back and listen to the relaxing music in the background. Bethan left the room but returned a couple of times to check up on me and, both times, found me half asleep! That’s how relaxing this treatment is.
In case you’re wondering, the light doesn’t hurt or anything like that. It’s a bit warm, but the temperature remains constant throughout the treatment so it never gets too hot or too cold under that hood. There’s one downside, though. That rainbow is so pretty, it’s a shame you can’t see it while you under it.
The Results
As I said, I don’t have any acne or dark spots to get rid of (yet!), but after the 30 minutes had passed, my skin already looked a bit brighter. That’s the only big difference I saw on the day.
A week later, I noticed something else. My skin is a tad firmer too. That’s due to the extra collagen being produced, which doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, I’m sure I’ll see even better results in the next couple of weeks.
Of course, though, its effects aren’t permanent. That’s why, for best results, you may want to invest in a course of ten treatments (with 3 extra sessions!), especially if you’re trying to get rid of hyperpigmentation. Wear your sunscreen girls, cos those dark spots are so hard to remove completely!
Best of all, there is no downtime. You’re in and out within 40 minutes and don’t have to put up with any redness or anything like that. It’s the perfect way to give your skin a boost before a special event or up your anti-aging skincare game.
Ahh, I wish you’d taken your before/after photos in the same lighting (and told us how much time had elapsed between shots). Otherwise, this sounds beneficial. I wonder how many treatments it takes to see noticeable/measurable results?
Coco, sorry about that. I took the first photo that afternoon, right before leaving to go to the clinic, and the second photo a few hours later when I returned home. By then the sun had disappeared, so I had to use artificial lightening.
If you have wrinkles, dark spots, or any other serious concern, they recommend a course of ten.