Ask Alice

I’m getting Botox on my forehead and neck soon and I want to know if using my microcurrent device might counteract the effects of it if I continue to use it?

Hi, great question – and though you’d think that microcurrent would work against toxin, it actually works really well with toxin as it helps to keep the tone and circulation in the more superficial muscles on the brow while the toxin is doing its work relaxing the strength of the deeper muscles where it was injected. I wouldn’t use it for a few days after treatment (the brands will say leave it two weeks), but after that, carry on.

I have had skin own micro needling and then 2 x Morpheus 8 treatments to form my skin. Following my second Morpheus 8 treatment I have been left with scars around my eyes which make my crows feet worse. I am 55 and feeling that I want to make improvements to my skin and how I feel about myself but am very anxious following my bed experience. I live in Yorkshire and am unsure where to go for good advices. Confidence is at an all time low. Can you advise how to start my journey to Ilan improved and more confident me.

I am so sorry to hear what you’ve been through, this sounds dreadful. Did the practitioner who did this to you have any explanation or make any apology for what has happened? I’m not in a position to offer you specific advice but would suggest you need to find a sympathetic and highly qualified practitioner to offer you some support and advice – starting with effective, appropriate skincare and then perhaps some gentle treatments to coax your skin into better shape – though I’d understand if you felt reluctant to try anything further.

Have a look at the Tweakments Guide’s recommended practitioners in your area using the search tool in that link, they’re all people we would trust with our faces.

Have you written your thoughts about polynucleotides? A known plastic surgeon has said it isn’t worth doing and there is no evidence to support its effectiveness. Thx

Hi I haven’t written about polynucleotides from a personal point of view yet – but I’m trying them at the moment so should have an article and a video out on this in a month or two. Yes, I’ve also heard this from some eminent people in aesthetics, but I’m also hearing from a lot of practitioners who find polynucleotides really helpful for their patients particularly for strengthening the fragile skin around the eyes. Some brands of polynucleotides have scores of published studies on their products. Every practitioner has their own preferences for products and procedures.

What do you think of the INTRAcel treatment

Hi it’s a very decent type of radiofrequency microneedling treatment. You can read a bit here about INTRAcel and practitioners like Dr Sarah Tonks offer it at their clinic.

Hi Alice, I recently had Botox for the first time in three areas and my brows went very arched – I got ‘Spock brow’ although thankfully after three weeks it has calmed down. The practitioner said this happens with some people – is this the case? I can’t decide whether this is my muscles or the injector? Any advice based on previous experience? Unsure whether to try elsewhere or only have two areas!

Ok, two thoughts on this. (1) Yes this does, as your practitioner said, ‘happen with some people…’ when the practitioner has misread your facial muscles or miscalculated the dosage! Ie it’s them, not you. Botox and other wrinkle-relaxing injections are not a one-size-fits-all treatment that can be done to a standard template, even though that’s the way practitioners learn the basics of the treatment. It needs to be adapted according to the way your particular facial muscles move.

Getting toxin ‘right’ in the brows means the practitioner has to work out a balancing act between the muscles that pull your brows up and the ones that pull them down. If your brows are flying up and out after treatment, it will just take a small adjustment, a tiny bit more toxin, to damp down the muscle that’s causing the brow to wing up and out. If your practitioner doesn’t seem to ‘get’ all this, try elsewhere.

Thought (2), having re-read your question – if this Mr-Spock-style arching happened around day 7 after treatment, and by the third week after treatment it had settled down – faces often look a bit wonky between days 4 and 14 after treatment – it takes two weeks for the full effects of the toxin to take hold. Also, if this was with a new practitioner who doesn’t know your face and how your facial muscles adapt to toxin, they will to some extent be guessing as to what will give you an optimum result. If you’re happy with the final result, all’s good.

Either way, there’s nothing wrong with your muscles; it’s the practitioner’s job to work out how to treat them to get the result you’re looking for.

Alice what is you view on CO2 laser I am considering

Great treatment – as long as it is in well-trained and experienced hands. You can read more on laser treatments elsewhere on the site.

Hi Alice, as you know I follow you avidly on Instagram and value your opinion. I am 53, very slim (size 6 to 8) and I am fit, I exercise (run, walk, yoga). I can’t find a treatment to tighten my sagging arms which are very crepey on the upper area. I also have sagging skin inner elbows. There’s no fat, so fat reducing treatments won’t work. I’ve tried RF (intensively). Recently, I had the polynucleotide treatment on my neck with some success (not amazing to be honest but better). I have also had it on my face and I can see a good difference. My practitioner (who is good, certified, over 20 years in the business etc.) thinks it will make a difference to my crepey skin on my arms and help with tightening (but not miracles!). What do you think please? Thank you so much!

Hi, it sounds like you have tried a lot already. If your practitioner thinks polynucleotides will help with the crepey skin on your arms, and you’ve seen benefits on your face/ neck, I would give them a go. I tried Profhilo Body in my inner arms (with Dr Preema, the video is on that link) and saw a definite result. If you don’t already take a collagen supplement, I’d add that in, I am sure it helps my own skin quality. As does HRT, as having oestrogen back in the system enables the skin to produce more collagen, which improves the results you get from any collagen-boosting tweakment.

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.

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.

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).