I’VE TRIED 50 COSMETIC PROCEDURES, THESE ARE THE THREE THAT WORK…

Beauty expert Alice Hart-davis has tried out almost every procedure in the name of research. But which would she pay for?

Beauty insider Alice Hart-davis lets us in on her secrets

Oh dear, I can guess what you’re thinking: ‘50 procedures? She must be mad! Not to mention insecure. And what on earth does she look like after all that?’

Honestly, it’s not as bad as it sounds. I look a bit younger than my 54 years, maybe, but I don’t have the glassy-smooth forehead, or the chipmunk-stuffed cheeks, nor the permanently-surprised eyebrows you find on women who overdo cosmetic work. But yes, I have had an awful lot done to my face. I’m an inquisitive journalist – and vain, too. I started writing about beauty almost 20 years ago, just when things like Botox and fillers were becoming known outside of exclusive circles. I was in my late thirties with three small children, a busy job and a face that seemed to be ageing by the day, so when the chance came to learn more about all this stuff that lasted longer than a facial, I wanted in. At first, I wrote about non-surgical procedures, but before long, I was trying everything from lasers that ‘resurface’ the skin by (carefully) burning away the old skin, to the more challenging options, such as microneedling, which involves being repeatedly stabbed with short, delicate needles

(to stimulate a wound-healing response in the skin, which goes on to make new collagen and

elastin to reinforce itself), to the downright bizarre, like PRP, the Dracula-style treatment that involves taking a vial of your blood and extracting the platelet-rich plasma (that’s the PRP bit), which is then injected back into your face.

Most of the things I’ve tried work, up to a point. They make a subtle change – so you should automatically distrust any doctor or treatment that promises rapid and dramatic changes. Here are the three that I’d have if I was paying for them (which I don’t when I’m trying treatments out for work)…

BOTOX.

I know it’s not for everyone but, in the right hands, it’s terrific. Because it’s a toxin and has been around for decades, it has been put through more extensive clinical trials, to assess its safety and how well it works, than all the other cosmetic procedures lumped together. I have this every three months (but only a little bit, so it doesn’t last long) to soften the pleat of a frown between my eyebrows, and the crow’s feet wrinkling around my eyes. I also like a spot of Botox in my chin to stop the cobblestone effect, where the muscles pull the centre of the chin into a lump. I’ve also tried Botox in my jaw to stop me grinding my teeth so much (yes, it helps), in my neck to reduce the stringy look that comes from over-tight neck muscles, and my favourite bodybotox treatment is in my armpits, where it stops sweating for a good six months by interrupting the nerve impulses that tell the sweat glands to sweat.

FACIAL FILLERS.

I love these to pad out the bits of the face that start looking gaunt or deflated with age – the cheeks, the lips, the temples, the hollows under the eyes. Done cautiously by a practitioner with a good aesthetic eye, the results are great, and they’re fairly low-risk because they’re made from hyaluronic acid gel. This gradually breaks down over six to nine months, and if you really hate the results, you can have it dissolved (it means more injections, but no harm done).

A touch of filler in the outer edges of my cheeks not only adds a nice shape, but the lift it gives to the cheek gets rid of my nose-to-mouth lines. ‘Tear trough’ filler, under the eyes, can help soften the sunken-eye look and I like to have my lips done every couple of years, but only just enough to stop them looking like desiccated earthworms. I don’t want a protruding pout, and I’m all too aware that huge lips look hideous on an older face. My latest favourite filler is a bit different – it’s a super-runny gel called Profhilo, which is injected in five lumpy spots around each side of the face, then eases its way underneath the skin to act as a layer of moisture within the skin. I’ve hardly needed moisturiser since – and it lasts six months.

ULTHERAPY.

This is my third recommendation. It lifts the skin using focused ultrasound energy. At £2,000-plus, it’s expensive but it works, and it’s a one-off, so once it’s done you’re set for 18 months. If you look up Ultherapy on the internet, you’ll find horror stories about the way it ‘melts’ faces (see realself.com) which might well put you off; it certainly gave me pause for thought. But after quizzing the manufacturer and the top Ultherapy practitioners, it seems that you don’t get these problems when experts follow the treatment guidelines to the letter, and when they use a genuine machine (there are a lot of cheap copies used in less scrupulous clinics). I’ve tried Ultherapy three times over the past four years and find it tightens up loose skin around the jawline and does so gradually over six months as the new, tighter, collagen is formed.

WOULD THESE TREATMENTS WORK FOR YOU?

It’s a question I get asked so often I’ve resorted to writing a short book about non-surgical procedures, to explain fully what they’re all like and what they can do, and I put videos of treatments I try on Youtube, to show people what these things are like. And remember, there will always be a non-surgical treatment to help you. So if you are interested, do your research, find a good practitioner (see left) and discuss your options with them. It might not be as alarming as you think.

‘I DON’T WANT A PROTRUDING POUT’