Ask Alice

Hi Alice what do you think of YAG laser skin tightening does it work x

Yes, ND-YAG lasers can work well for skin tightening. If you want to read more about lasers and how they work for skin rejuvenation, head to the laser section on the website, and if you want to find a great practitioner who offers laser skin rejuvenation, here is our find a practitioner page.

Help regarding getting dermaluxe flex MD

You can read about the Dermalux Flex and how it improved Alice’s skin in this article and you can find the Dermalux in the shop on our website.

Hi, I’d just like to find out what are the best treatments for nasal labio lines. I’m 58 and am wary of getting fillers as I hate the overstuffed pillow look. Are fillers the only option as an effective treatment? Thank you

Hi, there’s a whole section on nasolabial lines, aka nose-to-mouth lines, on the website, follow the link above or go via the Concerns page on the home page to find out everything we can tell you about treating these lines.

I’m 74 and thinking of having Microgenesis I can’t find anything about it on your website. Do you think it’s good?

‘Microgenesis’ is term that some clinics, mostly in the USA, use to describe a treatment that involves some kind of microdermabrasion (or perhaps even a HydraFacial) to exfoliate the skin, with Laser Genesis, which is a branded type of gentle laser treatment from Cutera to improve skin tone and skin firmness. It’s a good treatment – a practitioner will recommend that you have between three and 10 treatments for best results.

It seems that my neck is aging faster than my face. I’ve had Botox for the platysmal bands, tried threads and profhilo for the crepiness but I feel as though it hasn’t made much of an improvement. (Botox has helped with the bands.) I’m now considering polynucleotides or secret RF with CO2. I’m not sure which one to go for! Would either make much of a noticeable difference?

Hi, our necks do show our age (and we don’t tend to start looking after them as early as we start on our faces). Of these treatments that you are considering, Secret Pro (that’s Cutera Secret RF plus CO2 laser) should give you a noticeable result. The radiofrequency microneedling will help to firm and strengthen the skin, and the C02 laser should build on this. Polynucleotides would be an icing-on-the-cake option to improve skin quality, but the radiofrequency, needling and laser will have a much greater effect.

Hi, I am considering Ultherapy or SylfirmX. I was wondering which you found best? Many thanks

Hi,  these are both good technologies for stimulating collagen production in the skin. Ultherapy seems to have done a decent job for me – I have had three treatments with it over the past 11 years – but it is always hard to judge because the results take at least three months to show up. I was more diligent with the before and afters with Sofwave which definitely showed a small but visible degree of tightening. I am sure I’d have had similar results with Sylfirm X if I’d done three treatments in three months but I have only managed two across the past six months so can’t give you a direct comparison. If you are already seeing a practitioner, get them to give you an honest assessment of which technology would give you the result you’re looking for.

Can I schedule mesotherapy five days after Sylfirm X?

Hi, that’s a question for the practitioner who did your Sylfirm X treatment. They will probably suggest that you wait two or three weeks — if you have just had a bunch of needles run over your face, you might want to give your skin a break before you opt to have another session of machine-needling to get the mesotherapy solution into your skin.

Hi Alice, is there Celluma as good as the dermalux flex md?

In a word – yes.  The Celluma devices and the Dermalux Flex both have medical CE certification to treat psoriasis, acne, wound healing and pain.

Hello! Just turning 40, been having Botox and fillers for a number of years, but I’ve stopped with the fillers now on recommendation of my doctor to focus more on the long term treatments. I’ve really noticed the flaccid skin just under my neck in the last year. I pull my face up and it tightens, so to me it seems it’s related to sagging lower face than neck. I’m athletic, not skinny and average weight, I don’t think it’s weight loss as I’ve put weight on after losing weight for the wedding. I am 6 months in to getting a combined treatment of Moxi and BBL, and seeing your post about profhilo on the neck, I’m going to start getting that regularly on my face and neck. I’d like to know what you think of that? But, my question is, do you think Scarlet would be better than Moxi/BBL for tightening? My clinic is getting ultherapy in soon and recommended that, but having read Alice’s reviews it scares me to get this now due to pain and potential skin melting if it goes wrong. Would really appreciate some advice. Thanks!

It’s perfectly normal for the skin on our necks to become looser with age, and it’s great to know that you’re taking such a proactive approach to treatments that can help with this. Scarlet S is a form of radiofrequency microneedling so it hits a bit deeper than Moxi and BBL and it may produce more tightening – I would ask your practitioner for their advice, and also wait until you have the full result from Moxi/ BBL before embarking on another energy-based treatment. Ultherapy is known for the discomfort it causes and needs to be done by someone who is very well trained in the device. I wouldn’t want to be a guinea-pig for a practitioner who was new to the treatment.

The best treatment for lines and loose skin under the eyes. Laser?

Laser could be great for lines and loose skin under the eyes. I’d suggest finding a really good practitioner and discussing your concerns with them, then taking time to consider their advice. Other treatments that they might mention could include polynucleotide injections which help strengthen the skin under the eyes, or if you have serious eye bags, they might suggest considering a lower eye lift.

Hi struggling to find a practitioner for the BBL treatments can you help

Try using the filters on the website to find a practitioner who has the BBL treatment in their clinic – or search the site for BBL to find practitioners I have visited for this treatment. Or there’s a practitioner-finder on the sciton.uk website (Sciton are the company behind the BBL).

Can foreo bear be used on skin treated with profhilo?

Yes, you can use the Foreo Bear after Profhilo or any other ‘injectable moisturiser‘ treatment, though your practitioner will advise that you wait for two weeks after treatment before you use it.

Hi Alice – I’ve been looking at the before and after pics on your video with Bob Khanna on bio filler / polynucleotides. Impressive results, but if you go onto Bob Khanna’s website, you’ll see the same patient and visuals, but the results are attributed to thread lift and PRP! Surely some sort of error here?

Hi, I know the pictures you mean; it’s the same patient in both but they are two different treatments filmed a good 18 months apart. We filmed her having biofiller/polynucleotides with Dr Khanna about a year ago (ie April 2023, here’s the video) and we filmed her having the combined treatment with radiofrequency, threads and PRP during the summer of 2021, and published the video online in March 2022 -here’s the video of that procedure– I think her before and after pictures will look similar because they’re always taken in the same room with the same lighting and from the same different angles, for consistency.

Hi Alice, really loving your website and content. It’s so helpful to learn a bit more about this side of beauty and the pros and cons of various procedures. I’m yet to explore this for myself or have anything done, but I know that when I do I will be so much more informed! My question is whether at home microneedling is effective on the decolletage area? I am in my early 30s but have creases in this area from being a side sleeper. These started in my 20s and I think there’s also a genetic factor at play, but I would like to do something about it as I am conscious of them. Thank you so much.

Home microneedling creates tiny punctures in the skin, so any products you use afterwards will sink in more deeply, and if this is something like skin-strengthening peptides or a retinoid, they will hit home rather harder. So it may help. My issue with home needling is that it is very easy to get overenthusiastic and overdo it; to do it patchily; to scratch up and damage the surface of the skin, and you need to be really scrupulous about cleaning the needling device afterwards (to prevent infection), and changing the head regularly. Also, home needling doesn’t go deep enough to stimulate collagen production in the skin – for that you need clinical microneedling, and yes that absolutely works on the decolletage as well as anywhere else on the skin. One last thing – don’t forget daily sunscreen on your neck and decolletage. It really helps preserve your skin for the future.

Do you have any practitioner recommendations for hair transplants?

Hi, yes, here are three hair transplant specialists who are all great.

Mr Chris D’Souza thedsouzaclinic.com

Dr Greg Williams farjo.com

Dr Raghu Reddy drraghureggy.com