Secrets of the experts: Which treatments do top beauty editors recommend – and which would they NEVER have again?

They’ve the women on the front line of our fight against ageing – the magazine beauty directors who test out hundreds of treatments, from Botox and facial fillers to weird, wonderful and sometimes painful fat-busting procedures. So, what vanishes those wrinkles and what leaves you feeling more decrepit than before? JENNY STOCKS reports…

NEWBY HANDS, 45
Harper’s Bazaar health and beauty director

BEST TREATMENT: Botox is one of the best inventions ever – I’ve had it for ten years and I think it’s fantastic. I have it three times a year from Dr Sebagh (from £300).

I’ve also had a bit of hyaluronic acid filler on a line between my eyebrows that the Botox wasn’t getting to – if done with care, it can look great.

WORST TREATMENT: It has to be a cellulite treatment from about 12 years ago, which thankfully has disappeared.

It involved having 12 8in needles threaded horizontally through the skin at the back of my legs, 1mm below the surface, running from my hips to my knees.

A current was then passed between them. It had a great medical background – it was used originally to treat kidney problems, but patients had noticed loss of cellulite.

I remember crying on the way to the doctor’s surgery for my fifth appointment, then crying on the surgeon’s table. The pain was horrendous as the needles were inserted.

And it didn’t even work – though I couldn’t get through the 12-session treatment.

BOTOX? Yes, as often as possible.

NUMBER OF INVASIVE TREATMENTS: Probably six different ones for work, nothing fully surgical, but cellulite laser treatments, Macrolane breast injections and chemical peels.

And, of course, Botox and mesotherapy, where vitamins are injected into the face to make it look fuller and younger, three times a year. I’m not averse to surgery, though I’m cowardly about anaesthetic, and may consider a facelift if I found the right surgeon.

TOP TIP: What I’ve learnt is that the best treatments will be around for a while, so don’t go for the new. Never trust someone who says they are the only one who offers a procedure – there is probably a good reason for that.
 
ALICE HART-DAVIS, 46
Award-winning beauty and health writer

BEST TREATMENT: I always longed to have cheekbones, but as my face became thinner with age – it just happened, somewhere between 40 and 45 – it quickly started looking gaunt. So I replaced the shrivelled fat-pads in my cheeks and beneath the eyes with the hyaluronic acid-based gel, Perlane.

It’s expensive, at around £1,000, but if you have a great practitioner (I went to Dr Aamer Khan at Harley Street Skin) it looks natural and lasts about a year.

WORST TREATMENT: It has to be Isolagen, the ultra-high-tech ‘grow-your-own facelift’ treatment that was the hottest thing in 2003.

Collagen-producing fibroblast cells were extracted from a snippet in my skin, cloned in their zillions, stored cryogenically, then re-injected into my face to make the skin act young again. It cost £3,000 – the re-injection phase meant enduring 72 jabs in one go, to cover the whole face.

The anaesthetic cream wore off, the needle went blunt and afterwards I looked as if I’d fallen into a swarm of bees. As for the majority of people who tried the treatment, I simply had no discernible result.

BOTOX? Yes, I have Botox whenever my face and forehead looks unbearably old and crumpled. About every six months, I go to Dr Khan, who does brilliant, subtle work to ease out the worst of the frown lines and crow’s feet without eradicating them all – I don’t want to look waxen and immobile.

NUMBER OF INVASIVE TREATMENTS: At least 11 different ones, including Macrolane (boob jabs), Thermage (radio-frequency for skin tightening) and IPL (intense pulsed light for hair removal).

TOP TIP: Ask around until you find the best practitioner for whatever you plan to try. Their skill makes an enormous difference to the outcome of any treatment.

OLIVIA FALCON, 35
Tatler health and beauty director

BEST TREATMENT: My favourite body treatment is done by Dr Francis Prenna Jones, in Mayfair. It’s a red-light treatment called The Pod, and it involves getting into something which looks like a space capsule.

It heats up like a sauna and you lie there for 20 minutes (£120 a session) under the light, which stimulates collagen growth and metabolism.

As well as being relaxing, it really works to keep skin looking toned and smooth, as the light boosts collagen which improves the skin.

WORST TREATMENT: One thing I would never have again is a treatment called Zerona, a cold laser that is meant to zap fat.

It uses something that looks like a spider and emits rotating red laser beams on to your skin to melt fat away. You’re meant to have six sessions in two weeks for £1,500 upwards, and though it is painless, I saw no difference.

It seems to be popular, but I think it’s a case of the Emperor’s New Clothes.

BOTOX? Yes – I started going when I was 31 to prevent ageing. Dr Marko Lens sees me about once a year (costs from £250), though it is just for maintenance.

I get a couple of shots above my eyebrows, where I have a deep frown line, and I’m always pleased with the result.

NUMBER OF INVASIVE TREATMENTS: Six – all Botox.

TOP TIP: When I consider surgery in my 40s, the only person I would go to is Dr Rajiv Grover, a highly respected London surgeon. He has the best bedside manner in London, and is known for his flawless work around the eyes, as well as his boob jobs and facelifts.

I haven’t ruled out plastic surgery – I don’t know what I’ll look like in ten years.

JENNY DICKINSON, 31
Elle beauty director and associate editor

BEST TREATMENT: Four weeks ago I had Advanced Laser Lipolysis with Dr Alan Kingdon, at the Cosmetic Surgery Clinic, a procedure where an area is numbed, then a laser is used to liquefy the fat, which is then sucked out through tiny incisions.

It was the most invasive procedure I’ve had and would have cost from £2,400, but there was nobody else to try it as it was offered during London fashion week and my testers were busy.

I had my flanks (the back of the hips) done and while they are still swollen, I can already get into a smaller size 12 pair of jeans. The scars were so minimal, just 2mm across.

The worst bit was when the saline solution bleeds out over the first 24 hours. But I was back to work two days later, wearing a corset-type garment.

Dry, flaky skin: The Dermaroller took time to recover from

WORST TREATMENT: I don’t like procedures that take time to recover from. I tried the Dermaroller, a device containing micro-needles that pierce the skin to stimulate repair (around £250 for a session).

While it didn’t hurt, I didn’t notice much difference and it left my skin very dry. After 48 hours, the skin on my face began to flake off. This lasted for a few days, which is not what you want at work when your job is in beauty. And I still didn’t notice a difference afterwards.

BOTOX? No – I’m hoping for other, more natural, advancements in beauty before I have to go there.

NUMBER OF INVASIVE TREATMENTS: Two – just the laser lipo and Dermaroller.

TOP TIP: If you want to see an amazing difference after a treatment, try Margaret Dabbs’ pedicure, £75. She treats athletes and people from the Army, and she goes at your feet with all these machines. It will give you feet that look ten years younger.

ALESSANDRA STEINHERR, 34
Glamour beauty director

BEST TREATMENT: I do like a procedure called Meso Glow at Dr Sebagh (from £250).

It is a form of mesotherapy, a cocktail of vitamins and minerals which is injected just beneath the skin of the face to plump it up.

It’s painless, very gentle and it gives me the skin of a teenager. I don’t like to be out of action for three days after a treatment, so this is great because the effect is instant – you walk out looking like you’ve had a facial, but it lasts for weeks.

But my advice is to get it done only when the doctor uses a syringe in a gun, not a freestyle needle.

By hand, they can’t control the depth. I tried it once and it was injected far too deep – I was left with a rash for two days afterwards.

WORST TREATMENT: I went for facial acupuncture and at one point I told the practitioner that one needle was hurting me. He dismissed me, saying it was meant to feel like that. It clearly wasn’t, as I ended up with a bruise on my forehead for a week afterwards.

BOTOX? I don’t think I need it yet.

NUMBER OF INVASIVE TREATMENTS: Two – the mesotherapy and a light laser treatment called Polaris, which tightens the skin.

TOP TIP: An impressive treatment I’ve discovered is Accent XL. It’s a radio-frequency laser which I’m trying at Medispa in Harrods’ Urban Retreat on my bum and upper legs. It’s a warm sensation, and already my stretch marks and cellulite are looking smoother. They recommend four sessions two weeks apart at around £250 a go.

EVE CAMERON, 43
Good Housekeeping beauty director

BEST TREATMENT: The most life-changing thing I’ve done was a revolutionary treatment called EndoVenous Laser Ablation (EVLA) that got rid of the varicose veins on my calves.

I went for walk-in, walk-out treatments with The Whiteley Clinic in Guildford – the NHS wouldn’t cover it so I had to have it done privately for £2,500.

The treatment was state of the art. My legs were pumped full of anaesthetic, then a laser was passed up into my problem veins, which closed them without bruising or damage.

Now I’ve got pretty perfect legs, and no longer have to wear trousers in the summer.

WORST TREATMENT: I keep having Botox because I love that it effectively erases my wrinkles.

But I’ve learnt the hard way that some practitioners are better than others. I had one bad experience when I went to a doctor who decided to put some Botox in my lower face to pull up the edges of my mouth. When I smiled, my mouth was lopsided.

I went back after two weeks to have it evened out, but it took eight weeks until it looked right again.

BOTOX? Yes – with Dr Patrick Bowler, three times a year from £250. As well as eliminating my deep horizontal and frown lines, it has had the unexpected side-effect of getting rid of my regular headaches, which apparently it does by paralysing the tense muscles that can cause them.

Positive side-effect: Eve has Botox injections three times a year. As well as eliminating deep horizontal lines, it also rids her of regular headaches

NUMBER OF INVASIVE TREATMENTS: Twelve – nine Botox injections and three on my veins.

TOP TIP: Don’t bother with ‘signature facials’ at spas. They’re full of body massages that won’t revive your skin.

JO GLANVILLE BLACKBURN, 45
Woman and Home beauty director

BEST TREATMENT: I love a good facial, as a great facialist can keep your muscles toned with massage so you don’t need injectables.

Amanda Birch, at Gielly Green salon in Marylebone (£120 for 90 minutes), is fantastic – I always walk out feeling like a movie star and people do notice.

WORST TREATMENT: Perhaps the biggest beauty mistake I made was going for a peel.

I am a red-head and peels can often be too harsh for Celtic skin, but I never think of my skin as sensitive, so I thought it would be all right.

Though it was only very light and superficial, it gave me a horrible tingly pins-and-needles sensation, my face was red and I had to stay inside and out of the sun for four or five days. I wouldn’t put my skin through that again.

BOTOX? No – I’m not an injection girl, which is partly because I’m happily married and a mother-of-three. In particular, I don’t want to set my 14-year-old daughter the example of wanting to constantly alter my looks. I’m happy looking like her mother, not her sister.

NUMBER OF INVASIVE TREATMENTS: One – I once had Restylane, a filler which uses hyaluronic acid, injected into my hands. It did plump them up and make my veins stand out less, but I wouldn’t bother having it again because I don’t feel the need. TOP

TIP: Don’t be afraid to age gracefully.

CATHERINE TURNER, 45
Easy Living beauty and health director

BEST TREATMENT: As I don’t go in for invasive treatments, my favourite is the Carita Pro-Lift Firming Facial, at Spa Illuminata in Mayfair.

It involves a traditional facial, but using their amazing lemon-based scrub which is made up fresh on the day. It is quite abrasive, but the massage is very gentle.

After that, the practitioner uses an electrode microcurrent to actually shape the face – they do one half first to show you the difference.

They vary it, so you can focus on raising your cheekbones one session or lifting your jowls on another. It lasts for a few weeks, or more if you have a series. I can’t tell you the difference it makes to my face.

WORST TREATMENT: About 15 years ago I had a facial that went very badly and put me off for years.

I was concerned as soon as I went in – the girl was not as clean and tidy as she should have been, and the room was not organised. But I didn’t speak up. She dug around in my skin and it was very painful.

I went in with good skin and came out looking like I had acne, with spots that took several weeks to clear up. Always trust your instincts – if you are not sure, leave.

BOTOX? No – I never say never, but I don’t feel I want to do it now.

NUMBER OF INVASIVE TREATMENTS: None.

TOP TIP: Always go for regular eye tests. I’m convinced that our modern lifestyles of squinting into BlackBerries and computer screens can leave us frowning and looking tired, so looking after your eyes can make a real difference and make you look brighter.

Source:  by Jenny Stocks April 1,2010    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1262706/Secrets-experts-Which-treatments-beauty-editors-recommend–NEVER-again.html