Non-surgical anti ageing treatment …..
INTRAcel is the latest anti-age treatment to tackle wrinkles, acne scarring, sagging skin, enlarged pores and lack luster skin texture. It is non-surgical with barely any downtime and the impressive results can last up to two years. However each treatment costs a sizeable £750 and, with half an hour of painful micro needling to endure, it’s not just your bank account that will suffer. Dr Natalie Blakely at The Light Touch Clinic invited me to review a treatment: so, do INTRAcel’s results justify the price tag – and the discomfort?
INTRAcel isn’t just one of the most expensive treatments I’ve reviewed: it’s also one of the most painful, which is why Dr Natalie applied skin-numbing anesthetic gel to my face prior to my treatment. It takes half an hour for the anesthetic to work and during that time I flicked through a copy of OK! wondering how many celebrity faces had, at some point, been numbed for the sake of beauty and feeling increasingly nervous.
Each INTRAcel treatment involves the repeated use of tiny insulated microneedles that penetrate the surface of the skin and transmit Fractional Radio Frequency energy. This intensely heats the lower layers without damaging the top surface (hence little downtime). As a result, the skin is stimulated to repair itself and it does this by producing collagen (which skin loses naturally as it ages), a protein that gives it strength and elasticity. As a result wrinkles, scarring and sagging diminish. I’m told that optimum results are achieved six months after treatment as the skin rejuvenates itself over time, although first improvements can be seen within days. One to three treatments are recommended (do the maths and start saving!).
Being a wimp, all I could think about was the pain, which ranged from the equivalent of a mild pinch to what I image is the equivalent of being stapled. Dr Natalie left no area untreated – including the difficult-to-treat eye area (INTRAcel is meant to be particularly effective here), upper lip and neck. I’d taken my over size sunglasses to hide the resulting redness, but frankly they were nowhere near big enough to hide my forehead-to-throat glow. Meanwhile my skin felt sunburnt hot. To the rescue (because this reaction is expected), Dr Natalie gave me an ice-cold face mask, while she explained the recovery process: no make up for 24 hours, precautionary cold sore medication (one of INTRAcel’s few possible side effects is that it can cause a cold sore outbreak), SPF30 sun block to be worn for at least two weeks, plus a glycolic skin peel to be used after five days to remove any needling marks.
Beneath the redness, I thought I could see plumper looking skin and faded lines already and got quite excited until Dr Natalie told me that what I could see was probably temporary swelling.
Thankfully within half an hour the heat sensation had faded to a mild, very bearable tingling. My skin felt tight, especially around my upper lip, which made drinking tea somewhat amusing but other than that it felt fine. Within a few hours the redness had faded to such an extent that when my children got home from school they didn’t even comment on it (too busy raiding the biscuit tin to notice).
The next morning my cheeks felt vaguely sore and glowed a bit more than usual. There were some faint grid marks which I could conceal with make up. I spent far too much time looking in the mirror and felt slightly ridiculous for it.
After six days I used the peel, which was painless but had to be left on for three hours. More peering into the mirror revealed impressive results. I could go on about younger looking skin, but frankly I can’t remember ever having a complexion as radiant as this, at any age. My lines are less noticeable too – more on one side than the other interestingly (Dr Natalie reassures me that, at this stage, that’s probably due to the remains of the swelling). In short, I look as if I’ve been mildly Photoshopped.
But enough of the mirror: would anyone notice a difference? The next day I have a meeting with a beauty therapist who I have known for a several years. I was there to discuss a forthcoming launch event but before we were half way through the guest list she stopped and asked me what I had had done “because your skin looks amazing”…. Not bad considering the final results won’t show for another six months! Will keep you updated…
I had my INTRAcel treatment at The Light Touch Clinic, Guildford, Surrey.
About the Author: Adele Mitchell: Copywriter for new and print media: 20th Century Fox, House of Fraser, M&S, Gatwick Airport, Procter & Gamble as well as niche and start-up brands. Freelance beauty writer: Marie Claire, Marie Claire H&B, Sugar, Top Sante, The Independent, Surrey Life. Blogger: Found Beautiful Former beauty editor: Just 17 Won: EMAP Fashion & Beauty Writer of the Year, shortlisted for PPA Columnist of the Year. Ex-model – Vogue, The Face, John Galliano and Robert Palmer girl.
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