Lunchtime facelift equal to a YEAR of facial yoga
The firming EmFace pulses tighten and brighten your skin with no fillers
I LOVE the idea of more natural anti-ageing methods. The idea for example of facial yoga to lift and sculpt my sagging features sounds wondrous, but just how many hours of eyebrow lifting and grimacing would you really have to do in order to see results?
I don’t have the time — and truth be told, nor do I have the patience. Who does? So when I discovered that there was new technology that offers results akin to a year’s worth of facial yoga in a single treatment, I was sold.
The miracle worker is EmFace, a facial procedure from the makers of the popular body toning treatment Emsculpt, that’s been touted as a needle-free filler replacement that leaves your face more sculpted, tighter, and toned. It’s already the talk of Hollywood as actors rely heavily on their facial expressions, which is why socalled ‘no-Botox clauses’ have become common in contracts. Fans of the non-invasive facial treatment include Rebel Wilson, (pictured) Alicia Silverstone and Jenna Dewan who swear by the needle-less, knifeless, painless, facelift.
My facial muscles were already twitching with excitement at the prospect when I went to luxury aesthetic clinic Amara to try it for myself. Roisin, my therapist, explained how it was going to work. I’d need a course of four treatments over 21 days, each lasting 20 minutes. EmFace works by using synchronized
‘The pads target the elevator muscles in your face’
RF (Radiofrequency) and HIFES (High-Intensity Facial Electrical Stimulation) energies. The machine targets four muscles that elevate the face, and the soft tissue that sits over them. The result is an improvement in muscle tone which provides a lift that is akin to a facelift, minus the surgery. HIFES, or High-Intensity Facial Electrical Stimulation, can be likened to an intense workout for the muscles it targets. During a 20-minute session, it induces an impressive 75,000 contractions. Gulp.
It sounded a little intense and I’ll admit I was a bit concerned when Roisin popped a grounding pad on my upper back ‘so the electricity passes safely through your body’.
My fears were unfounded as once that admin was completed, I thought nothing more of it. Roisin then applied three pads to my face — two on the cheek area and one across the forehead. These pads deliver HIFES to the ‘elevator muscles’ — ie the ones that lift— and exactly the area EmFace is targeting.
Then comes the stimulation part — essentially this is the sensation of having your facial muscles involuntarily contracted.
The radio frequency heat takes the skin to about 42 degrees— at one point, I felt it was a little too hot, and Roisin adjusted the temperature for me. Then, the HIFES sensation kicks in — it feels a little bit like pins-and-needles to start. At 20%, it feels like a tickling sensation and this gets more intense the stronger the frequency — the aim is to get it to 100% at the sessions.
It’s a strange feeling. The pads are powered alternately and whereas I felt like my forehead was being squeezed or compressed, my cheeks felt like I was smiling really widely, while squinting at the same time.
I did experience a little sensitivity in my top teeth on the right side, but with a slight adjustment of the pad there was no further discomfort, and no pain whatsoever.
Twenty minutes later, I was done. Afterwards, my face felt like I’d been smiling or laughing far too much, nothing more. Looking in the mirror, my skin looked glowing and tighter Roisin explained that this was the initial reaction, but I’d have to hold out for the real magic to happen. There’s no downtime or redness, and you can put your make-up on straight away - hence its nickname, the lunchtime facelift.
The trick with EmFace is to be patient — and consistent. I had three more sessions over the following five weeks and even though Dr. Paul Munsanje, owner of Amara, had warned me to wait until six weeks after to start noticing results, by mid-January I was getting a little impatient.
The real benefits of EmFace happen slowly, up to three months after your last treatment to see optimal results. It takes previous time for the new collagen, elastin, and muscle fibres to develop - but not even two months later, I can confirm that the wait is worth it.
Lately, my skin looks rested, pores and wrinkles are lessened and my face is lifted. There’s a new plumpness to my cheeks that I hadn’t even realised I was missing - it just looks like I’ve had lots of good sleep.
And I’m not imagining it. My friends have commented on my fresh appearance - a couple have even asked me what work I’ve had done lately— and one found it hard to believe I hadn’t had fillers.
But I needed cold, hard proof that EmFace worked for me, so I went back to Amara for a skin review, using Visia technology, which is one of the most modern and comprehensive skin care analysis tools on the market today.
The results showed improvements in everything from pigmentation to lifting to ageing. In fact, the age scan revealed I was six years younger than my pre-EmFace scan. And I’m only at the start of it — I can expect more lift and improvement in the next few weeks.
And that’s it — a yearly top-up is recommended to keep your more youthful appearance, and if you really want to go the whole hog, you can combine Emface with a microneedling treatment like Exion, the combination of which, says Dr Munsanje, ‘has shown remarkable results’. Form an orderly queue...
■ EmFace at Amara clinic is €300 per session; a course of four is recommended. See amara.ie to book today.