Here I am, my face resembling a pin cushion, with 36 needles carefully placed around my chin and cheekbones. Let’s call it a pin beard. I have a pathological hatred of needles, I can just about muster Botox once a year and it takes me a week to summon up the guts to have a blood test. So how did I end up like this having 36 into my face at one time?
Welcome to Acuskinlift, hailed as the new, ‘non surgical facelift’ – something that those who want to move away from tweakments, but want a more sculptured and lifted facial structure are swearing by. I don’t fall entirely into this category. Tweakments? I’m a fan, but they’re not for everyone. Facelifts? Love them on other people but too scary for me, maybe give me another 10 years and then ask me again. And yet, so many of us are in search of products and treatments that can give us a facial lift, and make us look facially more toned.
Dr John explains that this isn’t your typical cosmetic facial acupuncture which has become popular in recent years which aims to improve skin health by regulating energy flow on the face based on the Chinese medicine principles using specific acupuncture points on the face. The AcuskinLift method however “focuses on facial rejuvenation by manipulating the skin tissue to restructure the collagen matrix and activate collagen and elastin production.”
This treatment promised to sculpt your bone structure, boost collagen production and plump your skin and give you more pronounced cheek bones, without going under the knife, while also making you feel calmer and more relaxed in the process. I’d like to say there wasn’t a needle in sight, but on the plus side they’re tiny acupuncture needles and they’re being, placed gently into my skin.
It’s been created and revolutionised by Dr John Tsagaris who has a degree in Biomedicine and Chinese medicine and a masters in Dermatology and beauty application of Chinese Medicine. He is a global leader in acupuncture innovation, combining over 30 years experience of holistic health acupuncture with aesthetic focused interventions integrating these modalities with the latest advanced facial techniques such as Nappage Mesotherapy.
Penelope Cruz waxes lyrical about him, having been a client for many years as do others who have previously visited him at his previous Marylebone Chelsea and Harrods, where he worked for seven years. He’s now based at the recently opened HVN clinic in Knightsbridge, London.