PROFESSIONAL BEAUTY – THE A TEAM

dermatude a-lift

Sally Durant and Kathryn Buckley on using the A-Lift device from Nouveau Skin Therapy as part of a combined treatment programme.

It is a widely acknowledged fact that combination treatments yield the best results. Sally Durant, technical consultant for Nouveau Skin Therapy, and Kathryn Buckley, skincare professional and Nouveau Skin Therapy trained technician, discuss the benefits of using the A-Lift device as part of a combined treatment programme.

The Science and Theory: Sally Durant, technical consultant, Nouveau Skin Therapy

The skin is a multi-faceted organ, the health and wellbeing of which is dependent on the integrity of its intricate anatomy and complex physiological synergy. Any structural damage or a disturbance of the skin’s homeostatic state can produce a whole host of interrelated events leading to anything from a mild cosmetic problem to a more severe dysfunction or disease. With this complexity in mind, it is clear that a unilateral approach to remedial skin treatment, or indeed to “simple” skin health management, will tend to fall short in addressing all aspects of any skin condition. Successful and safe aesthetic treatments require full consideration of the whole picture in respect not only of the prevailing disruption within the skin but, equally, the anatomical and physiological impact that treatment may have.

Combined treatment approaches working at various levels within the skin form the mainstay of effective remedial treatments plans and may well include input from various disciplines within a medi-spa or clinic practice. In this respect, one element of practice that is perhaps not given adequate attention is that of the integration of treatment approaches to support optimal skin healing and regeneration. The skin’s ability to regenerate itself from the wounding nature of aesthetic treatments is not “a given”. It depends totally on a healthy inflammatory and immune response, efficient cell metabolism ad renewal, together with a capability for long-term tissue function pre, during, and post any aesthetic programme of treatments is clearly essential, and will determine the positivity of the overall treatment outcome.

The well-documented and clinically-evidenced power of elctro-medicine in treating injury and degenerative disease has now been harnessed for aesthetic use.

One such electrical device is the A-Lift machine and treatment, which could indeed be viewed as the ultimate procedure for supporting tissue rejuvenation. The A-Lift uses its own combination of programmes to deliver electrical currents, representing the culmination of 50 years’ scientific research into the electrical stimulation of the natural physiology of human cells. The use of electro-medicine can significantly help damaged, diseased or ageing tissue of the body to regain their healthy skin function in order to repair and regenerate themselves. Used in combination with aesthetic procedures, or used alone to improve healthy skin function, this technology provides the aesthetic practitioner with an exciting and versatile new method for aiding the skin in its active recovery and tissue rebuilding processes.

While combination treatment programmes are indeed the way forward in achieving maximum results for many complex skin conditions, a limiting factor, and one which incurs a note of caution, is that it is all too easy to over treat the skin in our enthusiasm to get the results we want. A great advantage of combining the A-Lift treatment is that this technology is non-invasive and does not cause any surface irritation or instigate an inflammatory response. It can therefore be utilised immediately before or after non-ablative procedures such as chemical peels, laser/IPL and manual or mechanised micro-needling, while its use post-ablation van be introduced once initial re-epithelialisation has occurred to subsequently speed up and enhance wound repair and tissue remodelling.

In conclusion, looking at the intra-cellular functionality in the skin and how we can support it during remedial aesthetic procedures has to become a priority.

Aggressive approaches to skin treatment are being replaced by a more progressive and supportive model of aesthetic practice and one which will, in the long term, reap greater overall success with less risk of skin damage.

The Results: Kathryn Buckley, Nouveau Skin Therapy Trained Technician

In my salon, the Nouveau Skin Therapy treatments, A-Lift and Dermatude Meta Therapy, work in perfect harmony with each other, accentuating the results of any treatment plan that I offer. The client pictured in the case studies had many concerns regarding her skin. With a long history of using botulinum toxin and fillers to improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, she was struggling to improve the overall appearance of her skin with areas of significant hyperpigmentation around her eyes and on her cheek bones due to sun damage and sunbed use, crepiness of the cheek area, and issues with her neck and jowl area.

dermatude results

After discussing the benefits of Nouveau A-Lift and Dermatude with her, she was keen to see whether these treatments would benefit her skin and go some way to fulfilling her expectations. The primary area of concern was the overall health of her skin, improving the texture and minimising pore size, secondary to that was reducing the appearance of hyperpigmentation. My initial recommendation was to change the homecare routine and introduce a mixture of Dermatude Stem Cell Reactivator and Pigment Equaliser products to her daily cleansing routine and begin a course of Nouveau A-Lift and then introduce Dermatude over a 15-week period.

Using A-Lift to improve the health of my client’s skin is always the first step in any advanced treatment plan and a must to achieve the desired improvements. A-Lift is the perfect addition to any advanced facial and definitely improves the results of other treatments, providing a “kick-start” and a boost. A course of 10 one-hour long A-Lift treatments over a five-week period started the ball rolling. I used the whitening Nouveau Contour mask as a conducting gel for every other treatment and also the mela-fadin ampoules as a serum. We completed five treatments before starting Dermatude in week three. Dermatude was introduced in the third week, alongside A-Lift using a layering technique of Pigment Equaliser and Stem Cell Reactivator products and continuing the use of the homecare. These combined facial treatments really strengthened the results, with the overall appearance of the skin visibly improved.

On completion of the course of 10 A-Lift treatments, we continued with four-weekly maintenance treatments throughout the overall treatment plan, alongside the initial weekly Dermatude and fortnightly Dermatude treatments. The results were astounding – improved elasticity and texture of the skin, as well as visible improvement in the areas of hyperpigmentation. My client continues to have monthly maintenance treatments with both A-Lift and Dermatude.