The 'one-stitch facelift' claims to be the ultimate quick fix for turkey necks, but does it work?

Given the wind-tunnel results of plastic surgery as seen on the likes of Joan Rivers, not to mention the prospect of a general anaesthetic, scars and months of recovery, it’s not surprising that a full-on facelift is about as popular as last year’s It-bag.

After all, if you want to pretend your ever-youthful looks are down to yoga and water, it doesn’t do to be seen to look as if you’ve had serious work.

For a while it seemed as if fillers and Botox would be the secret of stealth rejuvenation, but not everyone wants the chipmunk cheeks and glassy forehead that so often go with them.

So the facelift has been fighting back. But this time it’s different.

The new ‘One-Stitch Facelift’ is a minimally invasive, super-sneaky way to lift cheeks and jowls, reduce double chins and tighten saggy necks. It is done under local anaesthetic and involves having just one stitch on each side of the head, buried in the hair.

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Healthy Choices: Go Wrinkle free

Until now, anti-ageing laser light therapy was only available in beauty salons and private cosmetic clinics. However, the personal Wellay Cosmetic Skin Laser has made that a thing of the past, allowing you to use patented multi-wavelength laser technology in your own home.

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Let there be light! LED treatments claiming to cure acne are now available as home kits - but are they safe?

When you’ve got acne or wrinkles, the last thing you want is for someone to come along and shine a light on your imperfections.

But an innovative home-use device requires you to do exactly that — with the promise of results that match up to professional-strength machines.

Treatments using the skin-repairing power of LED (light-emitting diode) light therapy are firm favourites with dermatologists and facialists.

Carla Bruni, Natalie Imbruglia and Sienna Miller are all said to be disciples.

But typical salon or clinic-based LED light treatment can cost more than £100 a go, and require six to 12 sessions.

Enter the Tanda Light Therapy Skincare System, a hand-held gizmo that mimics the light frequency used in clinic-based treatments, with the added bonus that you can use it in your own home, in your own time and at a fraction of the cost.

Developed in Canada, the mini-machines work by exposing the skin to different wavelengths of coloured light to gently and painlessly treat blemished complexions.

There are two devices, available only in Harvey Nichols.

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Cosmetic surgery industry in UK 'has key weaknesses'

There are fundamental weaknesses in the way cosmetic surgery is carried out in the UK, an official review body says.


The National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death found many centres were failing to assess and care for patients properly.

In particular, the poll of 361 sites found patients were at risk from a culture which saw teams "have a go" at operations they rarely performed.

The professional body for cosmetic surgeons accepted there was a problem.

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons only has about a third of the industry as members.
President Nigel Mercer said: "This presents a distressing picture, but one which is sadly not surprising. Aesthetic surgery needs to be recognised as the multi-million pound specialty it is."

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Shining a light on acne

Laser treatment may be the new panacea for acne.

It isn’t just the young stars of the Harry Potter movies who are plagued by zits – a huge number of more mature celebrities are cursed with problematic skin. Kate Moss, Cameron Diaz, Madonna, Uma Thurman, Billie Piper and Victoria Beckham have all been spotted (sorry) with outbreaks. Adult acne is increasing and a recent study in the US shows that 25 per cent of women aged 30-40 will suffer from the condition.

“It’s a major psychological problem,’’ says Tony Chu, professor of dermatology at the University of Buckinghamand medical director of the West London Dermatology Centre. ''I have had patients who have cancelled their weddings as the stress made their skin worse.’’

Stress is a major cause of the spot epidemic. “Acne is caused by hormonal changes normally onset by puberty,” says Prof Chu, “but it’s now seen in adults who lead more stressful lives.’’

Pharmacist Shabir Daya from online pharmacy Victoria Health agrees. ''Stress stimulates the production of male hormones. The major culprit is dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which increases the production of the skin’s natural oil, sebum, clogging the pores.’’ The bacteria associated causes acne to thrive in these conditions, feeding on the sebum and irritating the glands, which leads to spots.

The standard prescription is an antibiotic and a vitamin A cream to unblock the pores. For tough cases, stronger medications such as Roaccutane (isotretinoin) are used, which take four to six weeks to take effect and can clear about 50 per cent of lesions. However, they might have side-effects such as dry skin, eyes and lips, raised blood fats and sugar.

Prof Chu is pioneering the use of a different approach – the N-Lite (or Regenlite) laser. It was developed for general skin rejuvenation but when one patient with severe acne found her lesions virtually disappeared after two weeks, a clinical study was set up at Hammersmith Hospital.

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Botox industry register launched

A government-backed register for providers of injectable cosmetic treatments such as botox and dermal fillers has been launched.

Those who meet the standards set down for the Independent Heathcare Advisory Services' voluntary register, will receive a quality assurance mark.

The IHAS hopes people will be steered away from "botox parties" or treatments offered in inappropriate locations.

But cosmetic surgeons say such self regulation will not stop bad practice.

Botox boom

The introduction of the register comes amid a boom in demand for botox and dermal fillers.

According to the IHAS, there are currently about 5,000 providers of injectables in the UK, carrying out about 200,000 treatments each year.

Other estimates suggest far higher numbers of people in the UK are seeking out these treatments.

But there are growing concerns over people receiving treatments in inappropriate settings.

"We've heard stories of botox parties and people going to even garden sheds [to have treatment], " IHAS director Sally Taber said.

"It's just amazing that the general public think that they can have an injection into their face in a nail bar, a garden shed or at a botox party, because you are dealing with a prescription medicine.

"They can cause permanent damage. The patient will be reminded all their lives that they've gone to an inappropriate practitioner who wasn't appropriately qualified," she warns.

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Botox being injected by 'practitioners' with less than half a day's training

Botox administrators with less than half a day's training are injecting patients' faces with the muscle-paralysing poison.

Dozens of medicals firms are allowing employees to carry out this cosmetic treatment after learning to how to perform the procedure using an orange, the Independent Healthcare Advisory Service (IHAS) found.

And many trainers have no medical employment history or qualifications.

This lack of regulation is putting trusting clients at risk as many hairdressers and beauty therapists, according to the IHAS, are storing Botulism at the wrong temperature and in unhygienic conditions.

Approximately one million Brits have Botox or facial fillers injected each year.

It is estimated one in twenty suffer from resulting complications such as droopy eyelids from the former and lumps developing under the skin from the latter.

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Can You Reverse Hair Loss with a Laser?

Hair loss treatment with low level laser light therapy can be traced back to 1964 when Professor Andre Mester of Budapest conducted an experiment using low level laser light rays to heal the wounds of laboratory mice. He discovered that the laser rays stimulated blood circulation and caused hair located in the area of the wound to grow thicker and longer.

Low level laser light therapy is now widely used around the world as a treatment for hair loss. Laser light rays are applied directly to the scalp and penetrate deeply to activate blood circulation around the hair follicles, halting hair loss and stimulating new growth.

Until recently, this treatment was only available under medical supervision in clinics and was very costly, but the miniaturisation of the technology and stringent, international safety and quality requirements have led to the exciting development of affordable hand-held hair loss treatment lasers for personal use at home.

What Type Of Hair Laser Will Be Most Effective?

Currently there are many different types of hair laser available on the market but how do you choose which is going to be the most effective in treating your hair loss?

Each different laser light used in hair loss treatment lasers has a specific treatment and penetration depth into the scalp. The blood capillaries in direct contact with the dermal papillae lie in the hypodermis, the deepest inner layer among 3 layers of skin (scalp) tissue. The dermal papillae nourish the hair follicles and play a pivotal role in the cycle of hair formation and growth.

Does the Wavelength of the Lasers Matter?

Lasers around the 650nm / 670nm wavelength are the most commonly used in hair loss treatment lasers since their light is a clear, bright red which is immediately visible to the naked eye. It is easily observed to be working in treatment and in fact, it actually does have a beneficial therapeutic effect. They are also cheaper to use in manufacture than longer wavelength, infrared lasers. However, light at this wavelength mainly treats the surface of the scalp and does not penetrate deeply enough so, used alone, is not sufficient for effective hair loss treatment.

The more expensive infrared (invisible light) lasers which use 780nm wavelength are able to penetrate and energise deeper within the skin tissue and are more effective in treatment, although substances within the skin tissue such as melanin, water and haemoglobin absorb and weaken the energy of the laser light. Due to their cost, these lasers are rarely used by manufacturers of hair loss treatment lasers.

Laser light at 830nm wavelength is the least absorbed by the melanin, water and haemoglobin in the skin tissue and therefore able to retain more of its beneficial power to energise the hair follicles and so more light energy can be absorbed into the blood cells. This increases blood circulation and the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to the hair follicles.

Multi Wavelength Hair Loss Treatment Lasers

The most effective hair loss treatment lasers use a combination of 670nm, 780nm and 830nm lasers, such as the Wellay Personal Hair Laser which uses 21 low power multi-wavelength lasers, in 7 groups of 3 lasers at 670nm, 780nm and 830nm. The 3 different wavelengths irradiate the same area of the scalp simultaneously, each working at different layers of the tissue, maximising the benefit and proving a more effective hair growth treatment.

In clinical trials, regular treatment with a Wellay Personal Hair Laser stops the progress of hair loss in 85% of users, increases blood supply to the scalp by 54% after only one treatment, stimulates hair follicles to activate re-growth and improves the quality of the hair shaft resulting in a 25% increase in hair volume and shinier and thicker hair. It also gives noticeable hair growth in as little as 12 weeks. With continuing use, the hair will carry on growing and improving in health.

Patented Technology

The Wellay Personal Hair Laser from beauty-lasers uses world-first patented technology and is the only genuine multi-wavelength hair treatment laser for home treatment of hair loss and scalp conditions. It has CE approval, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 13485 and FDA (Korea) approval. It has been designed to the highest international safety and quality standards.

There are many scientific studies for each laser wavelength that show how effective it is in therapeutic treatment - you can read more about the different effects of each wavelength on the website of the Swedish Laser Medical Society.

Bankrupted by Beauty?

£595 face cream, £53 lipstick and £100 foundation - why have cosmetics prices gone mad?
By Alice Hart-Davis

When the missive arrived from the representatives of Dr Nicholas Perricone, I read it with close interest.

Perricone is one of the world's most highly regarded dermatologists and I learned that in London, in October, he will be making available, for a few weeks only, a small amount of his 'Private Reserve' serum.

I had heard rumours of this fabled stuff, but wasn't sure it actually existed; a serum so special, so high-tech and crammed with patented neuropeptides (tiny molecules that help renew the skin) that it is mixed by hand, once a year, for his highest-profile clients; a skincare holy Grail, if you like . . . and then my reverie was interrupted. I saw the price.

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Reverse Your Losses

This isn't a story about losing your hair gracefully.

Instead, it's about men like Chuck, a successful lawyer, who in his early twenties looked in the mirror and was mortified to see the hair on his temples thinning. He could do the math, especially after thumbing through the family photo album and using his father and uncles as gauges. If he was losing his hair this young, he figured, he'd probably be bald by his thirties, a time that should be the pinnacle of a man's earning power and social prowess.

The images in the mental gallery that followed weren't pretty, starting with the one of him wearing a toupee. "I realized a hairpiece would never work with my active lifestyle," he says. Transplant technology was improving, he read, but the idea of having his follicles rearranged in a $20,000 surgical shell game filled him with dread.

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