The easy way to make your skin glow in time for Christmas

With our minds turning to Christmas, most of us will no doubt be busily selecting gifts, filling diaries with festive events and choosing party outfits. But what of our skin? The change in the weather, compounded by central heating, may mean we’re not looking at our best. It’s not too late to get our skin Christmas ready though!

Injectable moisturisers, also known as skin boosters, produce effects after as little as five weeks, and provide long lasting hydration. Due to their light refractive properties, they give a wonderful boost to your skin, repairing and deeply hydrating, as opposed to volume-giving. If you’re in need of some extra glow in time for Christmas, read on for our guide to skin boosters.

What are skin boosters?
Skin boosters have become increasingly popular in recent years, due to their ability to rapidly improve the radiance and overall health of your skin. They’re also effective in correcting and preventing early signs of ageing as well as restoring elasticity and firmness.

Lightweight (non-volumising) gels, usually made of hyaluronic acid, are administered in the form of safe, micro injections with a very fine needle. Injecting this gel just below the surface of the skin helps fibroblasts (your skins protein building cells) boost production of collagen and elastin.  Some boosters also contain antioxidants, vitamins and minerals which further help to improve skin condition, giving an instant, noticeable brightness across your face and/or neck. Unlike dermal fillers, skin boosters do not alter or volumise the deeper facial structure and as such can be used in conjunction with fillers for added glow.

What is hyaluronic acid?
Hyaluronic acid is a substance found in the skin, acting as our own natural moisturiser. Playing a crucial role in dermal health, hyaluronic acid regulates cell growth and hydration, and provides a cushion for other cells. It’s part of what makes our skin appear smoother and plumper when we’re young, but since the skin’s supply of hyaluronic acid depletes with age, signs of ageing such as lines and wrinkles appear.   

One of the most special properties of hyaluronic acid is that it can bind between 1,000 and 10,000 times its weight in water molecules,pushing them into the skin’s cells. We are all born with only a limited amount of hyaluronic acid and cannot produce more, but scientists have fortunately been able to extract hyaluronic acid from other sources and recreate it synthetically.

Doctors often use hyaluronic acid in wound repair, eye operations and arthritis treatments because of its powerful hydrating and lubricating properties, and we use this same extracted hyaluronic acid in aesthetic applications.

What effects can you expect?
Since skin boosters inject hyaluronic acid into the dermis of the skin, the treatments replace some of the lost hydration as our natural supply depletes, making them an effective way of reversing early signs of ageing and reducing the future effects too. By boosting the skin’s hydration, these injectable moisturisers bring back to older, drier skin some of the radiance and glow that diminishes with age.

Some brands of injectable moisturiser, such as Profhilo, are classed as ‘biostimulators,’ which are proven to aid cell regeneration in the skin, and to grow more skin-supporting collagen and elastin. The extra collagen and elastin that skin boosters generate means you can also expect your skin to feel stronger and firmer, and looking smoother, healthier and fresher. Skin boosters have also been shown to reduce fine lines and acne scarring.

What are the different types of skin boosters?
At Waterhouse Young, we offer a range of injectable moisturisers, including Profhilo, Teoxane Redensity 1, mesotherapy, WOW fusion, PRP and Restylane. Each has its own special qualities and our expert aesthetic doctors will recommend the most appropriate product based on your skin, as well as your expectations and desired results.

Why Profhilo?
Profhilo is a skin booster that works both preventatively and correctively to reduce the signs of ageing. Made from pure hyaluronic acid with no added chemicals, it is exceptionally safe and un-reactive. Profhilo works by stimulating the production of collagen and elastin, dispersing within 24 hours after being injected uniformly into the superficial subcutaneous layer of skin. This improves skin quality and texture, reducing fine lines and wrinkles by minimising skin laxity. Profhilo has been shown to work effectively in the cheeks, jawline, neck, hands and décolleté, and gives a youthfulness that no other injectable treatment can. 

What about other areas?
Viscoderm hydrobooster is an injectable hyaluronic acid product made by the same company as Profhilo. Whilst this injectable also combines deep hydration with the stimulation of collagen and elastin production, it also boasts a unique stretching effect to reduce superficial wrinkles. Working to restore the support structures of the skin tissue, Viscoderm is injected superficially into the line itself to stretch the skin which, in turn, minimises its appearance. This means that it is effective in areas such as the forehead, smokers lines, crows feet and under the eyes.

What happens before treatment?
Before you have any treatment with us, we will invite you to an initial consultation with one of our aesthetic doctors. We use this consultation to discuss any relevant medical history and lifestyle factors that may affect your skin, as well as to talk about your expectations and desired results. We’ll then use the latest Visia computerised skin analysis to take magnified 3D images of your face to help build an in depth picture of the condition of your skin so that we can ascertain the most suitable treatment for you. 

What happens during treatment?
Before administering skin boosters, we’ll first cleanse your skin, then apply a topical anaesthetic cream for 20-30 minutes. Once this has taken effect, we inject micro amounts of the product into a number of injection sites, using a very fine needle. As we target a number of areas across your face (and/or neck or hands), working with great care and precision, the treatment itself takes around 30 minutes.

What next?
The number of repeat treatments you’ll need will depend on the type of skin booster and the condition of your skin, but your aesthetic doctor will discuss what will give you the optimum result. For example, after your initial treatment, you may opt to have a maintenance skin booster treatment in a few months’ time to maintain results. The majority of people receiving Profhilo will have two treatments spaced a month apart, and then an additional treatment in 3 months’ time, to maintain the effects.

While some topical products and treatments can produce limited results, the most effective way to restore lost hyaluronic acid is by using injectable treatments. By delivering the product directly below the surface of the skin, its benefits are continual, essentially creating a long lasting moisturiser, exactly where it’s most effective.

At Waterhouse Young we’d love to give you a pre-Christmas boost, so we’re offering 2 Profhilo treatments + 2 x radiance peels to help your skin glow this festive season. Contact us to book a consultation and discuss how injectable moisturisers could work for you.