FORWARD MARCH
Melanie Morris on the treatments to try in 2020
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Well, those beauty dreams you’ve been having are about to come true in 2020, as a whole new generation of products, treatments and services come on stream that will really deliver superb results, writes MELANIE MORRIS.
When I think of beauty “trends”, I immediately think of crazy make-up looks being created by young ones on Instagram, usually involving bright eye shadow palettes and a lot of highlighter (I still can’t get my head around highlighter on the tip of the nose… isn’t that the area ladies used to powder down?). But there are beauty trends that disguise more, hide more, enhance more, and work in a far more stealth fashion.
BROWS AND LASHES
Let’s start where 2019 left off… with an evolution to brow and lash fashion. There’s good news for those who hate to draw and stick on, with the demise of the big, bold HD brow, while lash priming and (basically) perming has been perfected to a level where it’s no longer necessary to glue on fake strips to eyelids.
Last year saw a huge growth in popularity of LVL or permanently curled lashes (€45 at Sugar Coated and available nationwide). This 45-minute beauty service involves tinting and fixing the client’s real lashes to mini rollers while a solution is applied to kick them up and out, giving a wideeyed Bambi look, 24-7. Add lashings of mascara for drama and enhance the effect by using a lash growth booster like Nanolash, €40, to supercharge lash growth and thickness. This treatment lasts up to 12 weeks and gives the most beautiful, fluttery, natural effect.
The same concept then became popular for “laminated” brows (€70 at The Brow Artist and nationwide), which became the transformational beauty treatment of last year’s party season, as it helped create a soft, full, fluffy, bushy effect as brow hairs are trained to grow up and out to give an abundant, youthful effect. Brow lamination creates a far more natural look and sees tint shades returning to a softer shade. The look lasts approximately six weeks and requires little maintenance other than upward-brushing (and a bit of filling in, if you fancy it).
“Facials are getting highly specialised as they incorporate holistic methods and cutting-edge
science... often together.”
SERIOUS FACIALS
If you do nothing with your beauty regime in 2020, try the previously mentioned two treatments – they are gamechangers. However, if you’re feeling in need of a freshen-up, facials are getting highly specialised, up-regulated and super-effective as they incorporate everything from ancient holistic methods to cutting-edge science… and often both together.
It’s not as much the treatment that delivers results as the performing therapist knowledge and expertise in driving vital ingredients through our epidermis and massaging muscles back to life. Enlightened professionals are incorporating new methods to services such as acupuncture to target wrinkles, facial cupping to activate lymphatic drainage, crystal bars, jade rollers and gua sha tools to contour the face and drive ingredients into the skin and new ways with facial massage. Skin therapist Agnes Gajewska (Essentials in Baggot Street, Dublin 4) has a three-month-long waiting list for her Face Modelling treatments, which include all of the above, along with mouth massage to smooth marionette and nasolabial lines, and help eliminate the need for dermal fillers or invasive face lifting.
Microdermabrasion is given an upgrade via the SaltFacial (€150 for 75 minutes at The South William Clinic). This incredible treatment starts with salt skin buffing to slough away tired, dull, dead skin before nourishing serums are pushed deep into the skin, thanks to radio frequency cavitation. Finally, a 20-minute session of light therapy rejuvenates the complexion for astonishingly instant improvements.
2020 will see the arrival of Dermaplaning on many a skincare menu (from €100 at Kerry Hanaphy and nationwide); another instant-effects service undoubtedly made popular by the normalising of too much Instagram filtering. The therapist takes a surgical-grade blade to remove “peach fuzz” hair from the client’s face, also taking dead skin cells, deeply-lodged dirt, etc. It means make-up goes on smoother and lasts longer, and skin quality appears more visually perfect.
NON-INVASIVE TREATMENTS
Going further into the non-invasive side of beauty procedures, there’s a host of newness about to land in clinics. “Future Beauty” is here, and it includes an adapting and a finessing of existing treatments for better results as well as newness that will hopefully put the need for knives on hold. Some might be regarded as “out there”, expensive and a bit invasive… others merely involve a speedy add-on to other treatments.
Prof hilo, the nicely priced injectable hyaluronic acid treatment, is now a well-established service (from €300 at The Dr Mulrooney Clinic and nationwide). These thick balls of solution are not fillers, but instead melt under the skin to add volume (via absorbed hydration), trigger collagen production and offer a nice, sculped appearance to the face. Coming soon will be the use of the same solution to the hands, to plump out skin and give a rejuvenated appearance. The treatment itself will take no more than an hour and downtime is minimal (possible minor swelling and bruising).
Another existing treatment, Thermage gets a makeover for the new year. Known for its skin-tightening benefits, Thermage FLX is a brand-new single-treatment radio-frequency procedure, which will work on many areas, including the eyelid – a widely requested treatment area, but a hugely complex one when needles become involved. Excitingly, Thermage FLX comes with absolutely no pain or downtime.
Finally, and hopefully on stream before summer, EMSculpt will be the first non-invasive body-shaping procedure to refine the silhouette, building muscle contour (hello, abs!), while simultaneously destroying fat cells. The treatment uses electromagnetic technology to penetrate through the skin, inducing supramaximal muscle contractions that are accompanied by a rapid metabolic reaction in fat cells. The result is to strengthen and build muscle, while also breaking down fat… all while leaving the surrounding tissue unaffected. Ibiza, here we come!
This new decade is f inally seeing beauty trends appear with the effective technology to deliver satisfying results.
Now to make the most of it.
“Future Beauty is here, and it includes an adapting and a finessing of existing treatments for better results that will hopefully put the need for knives on hold.”