OLD THINKING: AN EYE JOB NEW THINKING: NON-SURGICAL SKIN TIGHTENING
Eyes looking lined and tired? A hot (literally) new treatment claims to freshen them up. Group beauty director Eve Cameron investigates...
‘You look as if you’ve been in a fight,’ said my daughter, peering at my swollen, sore-looking eyes. ‘Or perhaps had a severe allergic reaction. What on earth have you done?’
Exactly the question I was asking myself 24 hours earlier while lying on a treatment couch, as consultant aesthetic oculoplastic surgeon Sabrina Shah-desai held what looked like a small waffle iron to my eyelids, heated to 400°C. Yes, you did read that right. ‘It’s a burn, but a controlled one,’ she said cheerfully, moving it along to sizzle my crow’s feet.
Meet Tixel, the new non-surgical cosmetic treatment that has already built a sizeable, rather smoother-complexioned fanbase thanks to its skin-tightening, wrinkle-softening powers. The premise is simple: the extreme heat vaporises the top layers of skin (the epidermis), creating tiny channels. Our natural wound-healing responses kick in and the new epidermis grows looking fresher and less pigmented. Deeper down, collagen-producing cells are stimulated (collagen production slows with age) for tighter, plumped-up, less lined skin, although this takes a few months to show results. You can have it all over your face, or just on specific areas, like the eyes.
For a while, I’ve felt I was beyond eye creams. Some are good at de-puffing, others hydrate the eye area, which makes lines a little less obvious. But as for tightening and tackling crepiness, I haven’t found anything
that really delivers. Equally, I am not ready for surgery. An upper blepharoplasty to remove excess skin on my sagging eyelids feels too daunting, so a cosmetic treatment seemed like a middle way. I decided to go to eye specialist Mrs Shah-desai on the recommendation of a friend who knows everything about cosmetic procedures, Olivia Falcon of editorslist.co.uk.
Although I was terrified, Mrs Shah-desai put me at ease. She numbed the area for 40 minutes beforehand, which meant I felt absolutely nothing during the 10-minute treatment despite the fact that she took the hand-held device right up to my lower lash line and over my eyelids. Immediately afterwards, I was red – it felt and looked like
sunburn for about four hours – and I was sent away with instructions to wear no make-up, avoid sweaty workouts and keep the area clean for 48 hours with a medical cleansing solution – all to avoid infection. She also gave me a soothing, moisturising cream to apply for two weeks plus strict instructions to wear an SPF50.
Two days of redness and swelling followed. I went to Sainsbury’s in dark glasses, hoping I wouldn’t bump into anyone I knew, and cancelled a dinner out with friends. By day three, I had a few small brown crusts, which sloughed off over the next few days. It had all healed up when I went for session two five weeks later (three is the average number you need for best results). This time, Mrs Shah-desai cranked up the power and went over the area twice. I was left with some red marks, which took a month to fully heal, though they were easy to cover with make-up.
So does it work? The skin under my eyes is tighter and there’s a lift on the lids, where the skin also looks less crepey. My crow’s feet appear less pronounced, too. It’s subtle, but I can definitely see the difference. I’m almost tempted to try the full-face version…
Need to know
This ablative form of Tixel is not for darker skin types because of the risk of hyperpigmentation, according to Mrs Shah-desai. I also wouldn’t recommend it in summer, as it’s hard to avoid UV even with SPF, and after treatment your skin is very sun sensitive. Treatment at Perfect Eyes Ltd costs from £550 a session for the upper and lower eyes. To find practitioners, visit consultingroom.com.