Facial that FREEZES you in time

It costs a cool £1,000 and blasts you with air chilled to -78c. Wrap up warm for the...

NORMALLY, facials are a treat. An hour lying down in the dark while somebody strokes your face with creams that smell like roses or cucumber. there may be whale music playing in the background; there may be a head massage. You spring up from the warm bed feeling ten years younger and properly pampered.

the Cryo Facial is nothing like this. it is not remotely soothing, nor do you get to lie down and relax, because it’s a quick treatment which lasts only a few minutes. And even if there was any whale music playing in Chelsea’s Cadogan Clinic, i wouldn’t be able to hear it, because this facial is astonishingly loud. it’s like driving across the Arctic in a car with the roof down, the cold air pummelling your face.

But this extreme facial is also a cult new treatment much beloved by American celebrities including actress Robin Wright and singer Mandy Moore, and which has recently been launched by Dr Maryam Zamani in her London clinic.

One of Britain’s top facial aesthetic doctors, Dr Zamani says she regularly offers it to clients who are hitting the red carpet that night, because the benefits include instant results. Your skin is as plump as a pillow, she says, and you’re instantly glowy. there’s also no downtime, adds Dr Zamani. You can even have it over your make-up if you want to nip in for a treatment during your lunch break. Oh, and it’s a cool £1,000 a pop.

But what actually is it? Well, cryo is short for cryotherapy, or ‘cold therapy’. in recent years, it’s become a fashionable treatment which promises a plethora of results.

Various clinics now offer treatments in cryotherapy booths (also dubbed ‘wellness chambers’), which are lowered to a temperature of -160c, and you step into — naked.

there you stand, shivering in the booth for up to four minutes, with experts claiming benefits include speeding up your metabolism ( and burning fat cells), reducing inflammation and migraine pain, combating arthritis, improving antioxidant levels and boosting the immune system.

DR

ZAMAni’s Cryo Facial is a more targeted version, because it focuses on the face, and involves blasting areas with air cooled to -78c for 30-second bursts, via a device that looks like a hand blender.

the aim? to stimulate collagen and elastin production (the skin’s ‘youth’ proteins, which we lose as we age), as well as improve circulation. And you don’t even have to get naked for it.

the Cryo treatment can be administered on its own, says Dr Zamani, as she hands me a hairband, ‘ but i usually do it in combination with other treatments for greater results. i also, sometimes do it after fillers or injectables, and also after lasers, because it cools the face down’.

Alas, i’m not a celebrity hitting the red carpet any time soon and, after a long winter, my skin is dry and flaky. Plus, my cheeks are so pale i look like a consumptive Victorian. Dr Zamani takes one look at me and says she will do two procedures before going ahead with the Cryo element.

First, she gives me a mandelic acid peel to prepare my skin for the cold. it’s not a harsh peel; it won’t take several layers of skin off and leave me looking like a creature from a stephen King film, but it will gently exfoliate. ‘All the dead skin, pollution, debris, everything will be gone in a few minutes,’ says Dr Zamani.

she is the poster woman for perfect skin — smooth forehead, apple cheeks and glamorous, too. she applies my peel dressed in a chic black outfit — black trousers, black top with puffball shoulders.

i lie there — briefly, you have to sit up for the blasts of cold air — feeling like a scruff in comparison, trying not to breathe on her when she leans towards me.

After five minutes of the peel, my skin tingling, Dr Zamani sweeps it off with cotton pads. then it’s on with protective eye patches and she runs a laser across my face. ‘it stimulates collagen, and it’s a really beautiful way to plump the skin,’ she says. the laser beams from a tube that looks like a big pen and emits a bleeping noise. ‘Like Pac-Man,’ she jokes.

it feels like hot oil being dropped on my face. On sensitive areas and where the skin is thinner, such as my forehead, it almost burns. i wrinkle my nose as i smell singed flesh. i had a stepfather who was a farrier; the whiff is similar to a hoof just after it’s been clamped with a hot metal shoe. ‘ it’s the laser interacting with your skin, but i promise it’s not melting or burning,’ reassures Dr Zamani.

sure enough, eye patches removed a few minutes later, i look pink but healthy. Like a toddler who’s teething.

Afterwards comes the Cryo element. Dr Zamani makes me sit up on the bed so she can hold my head. ‘ Are you ready?’ she says. ‘it’s very fast.’

in seconds, it’s as if i’m in a blizzard in siberia. the extreme cold! the extreme noise! Dr Zamani blasts one cheek then the other, then my forehead and finally my chin and nose.

the last area is the most alarming, because with cold air shooting at high speeds from the machine on to my upper lip, it’s hard to breathe. Claustrophobic. All in all, not relaxing. Dr Zamani stops the roaring gush of air and my skin feels tighter. it’s as if i’ve just been for a bracing winter jog in the park. ‘the hairs on your face have little icicles on them,’ says Dr Zamani.

then she stands back and inspects her handiwork. ‘You look a little drunk, but nice. Flushed,’ she adds. she dots a layer of sPF on my face and says i’m free to go. in total, the treatment has taken about 25 minutes, but the Cryo itself took only two minutes.

CHeCKinG

my face in the mirror, my cheeks are pink; my forehead so shiny it’s almost reflective. i grin at myself. the lines around my eyes are less pronounced and the skin over my cheekbones looks lifted. it’s as if i’ve used an airbrushing app.

i’m not saying i’ve transformed into a Kardashian, but the shape is more defined. no wonder celebs go to Dr Zamani before a night out; it’s an instant, non-invasive facelift (although, at the price, you might have to be a celebrity to afford it).

it’s no long-term strategy, with effects lasting only up to a month, but it is a nifty fix for a party or wedding if you’re wary of treatments such as Botox or fillers.

several friends commented on my skin over the next few days. And i think you’ll agree with me, a compliment more than makes up for a lack of whale music.

THE Cryo Facial at the Cadogan Clinic costs from £1,000. Other cryotherapy facials are available at clinics nationwide, from £50 per session. For more details, visit cryosthetics.co.uk.