Latest Aesthetic Trends: Get Lifted Physically & Psychologically
Non-surgical favourites like Botox and dermal fillers are still the golden standard in anti-ageing solutions. However, new injectables, volumisers, bio-stimulation techniques and cutting-edge laser science promise amazing natural, age-defying results with minimal downtime.
Here’s what you need to know about the latest aesthetic trends, not only for luminous allure, but – as we’ve discovered – added emotional and psychological benefits too.
1. Botox and Fillers
Botulinum Toxin, aka Botox, is a neurotoxin that works by blocking nerve signals to your muscles, temporarily relaxing them and, therefore, reducing wrinkles. Typically lasting three to four months, too much Botox or poorly placed injections can lead to the classic ‘frozen face’, making it difficult to express emotion. It’s vital that Botox (and/or Dysport) and popular fillers like Restalyn are administered by trained specialists for the best results.
Medical doctor and leading aesthetician Maureen Allem, owner and director of The Skin Renewal Clinic, explains that if Botox is the ‘chill pill’ that relaxes your wrinkles, fillers are the ‘interior decorators’ that plump, sculpt and restore lost volume.
Dermal fillers are gel-like substances that are injected into the wrinkles themselves. Typically, Hyaluronic Acid (HA) fillers are the safest and offer natural movement and gradual results that last two years or more. While bruising and swelling may be common, it’s usually short-lived.
According to Allem, ‘filler fatigue’ (when doctors simply keep plumping the wrinkles) has been replaced with new volumising and biostimulation technology. This works with your own body’s cell-to-cell communication for longer lasting results. Incorporating the skin’s own natural, regenerative processes, stem cells, white blood cells and other active exosomes can also be injected.
2. Microneedling
Using small, sterilised needles to prick the skin, microneedling is a popular treatment for generating new collagen and improving the skin’s tone, firmness and texture. Furthermore, it helps with hormone-related pigmentation, scars, dark spots and wrinkles. Dermapen microneedling – adjusted to different depths of fractional skin punctures – is all natural and rejuvenating from within.
3. Latest Injectables
Taking it one step further, the Vampire Facial – a type of microneedling that incorporates Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) – is a process where your own blood is withdrawn and spun in a central centrifuge to restore its growth factors and improve the flow of blood back to the face when it’s returned.
One up on this in trend even, says Allem, is PRF (Platelet Rich Fibrin) – another natural, autologous treatment which, similar to PRP, involves isolating stem cells, white blood cells, platelets and other growth factors from the blood for a higher concentration and a stronger release of these growth factors.
Polynucleotide treatments, or ‘salmon sperm facials’, are also increasing in popularity. These are either applied topically or administered via injection with amazing skin repair results.
4. Laser Light Therapy
The new generation Pico laser, the latest laser light available, uses ultrashort pulses of energy that, Allem explains, “literally shatters any acne, pigmentation or scarring into a million pieces and allows it to be reabsorbed by the body.” Travelling at the speed of light, wonderful improvements to the overall tone of the skin have been reported.
5. Self-Esteem and Confidence Boosters
While ageing gracefully is certainly aspirational, we shouldn’t forget the mental and emotional lifts we can also gain in the process. “Looking great isn’t just vanity; it’s sanity,” says Allem. She explains that looking good has been proven to modulate the limbic system and positively affects the emotional centre of the brain. While she wholeheartedly believes that beauty and happiness is an inside job, it can quite easily be helped along with some bold, new, age-defying treatments.
