Hi-tech - The facial passes an electrical current through the muscles to make them 'twitch'

Looking like a hound dog? Olivia Abbott tries a new lifting and firming treatment at Cambridge Health & Beauty

It was one of those wake-up-call moments – I looked in the mirror and was horrifed that Fred Bassett appeared to be looking back at me. In your 30s and 40s loss of elasticity and jowliness become more of a problem, and short of a major facelift there’s not been a huge amount you can do about it. But now, newly arrived at Cambridge Health & Beauty (so newly arrived, in fact, that the machine had only been installed the weekend before my treatment) is the Guinot Hydradermie Lift.

Billed as ‘a workout for the face’ the treatment uses an electrical current to stimulate the nerve endings in the face to make the muscles contract. ‘It’s like facial gymnastics,’ said Sarah Jordan, my therapist for the day, and co-founder of Cambridge Health & Beauty. ‘It physically works the muscles and helps them to get back the tone that you lose with ageing, and to improve the elasticity in the skin.’

Getting twitchy

After a cleanse and exofliation, Sarah applied a thick, cool gel which, as well as helping to conduct the electrical current, contains anti-ageing ingredients to treat the skin. She then began the treatment with lymphatic drainage. ‘This eliminates toxins from the face, particularly around the eyes where we tend to get puffiness,’ she explained. At this stage there was no real sensation, other than coolness, but then we went on to the Hydradermie Lift proper.

Using two instruments with a metal ball at each end and an electrical current passing through, Sarah put one at the top of the muscle, and then stroked the other down, to stimulate the nerve endings and make the muscle twitch. It’s a really odd sensation, making your muscles jump involuntarily – one minute it feels like you’re grinning like an idiot, the next you’re doing a great impression of Elvis’s sneer - but it’s not uncomfortable in any way, in fact it’s quite funny. The current is adjusted to suit the user –some people’s muscles twitch with a lighter current, depending on how good your muscle tone is to start with.

The treatment is done half a face at a time, and after doing my right half, Sarah grabbed a mirror to show me the difference. It was difficult to tell through all the pink gel, but my right eyebrow definitely looked higher than my left.

A lift in your lunch hour

After finishing with the technical bit, Sarah then cleaned the gel off, and gave me a facial massage (including neck and shoulders, always welcome), followed by a mask, then it was serum and moisturiser and all done.

Back out in the real world, I was very impressed with the results. My skin looked firm and plumped, with a definite reduction in jowliness. It’s great for just before a special night out, and the results will last for about a week, but for optimum effect, Sarah recommends a course of 12 twice-weekly treatments to start with, followed by monthly top ups. This sounds like quite a commitment, but you can simply have the essential parts of the treatment – the lymph drainage and the Hydradermie Lift – and that can be done in half an hour. So, a (non-surgical) facelift in your lunch hour really is possible!

The treatment

What? Guinot Hydradermie Lift

Who’s it for? 30-somethings, worried about loss of skin tone, puffiness around the eyes, and ‘jowliness’

How long? Treatments are 30 minutes, 1 hour (Olivia’s treatment), and 1 hour 45 minutes (the deluxe maintenance version)

How much? £44, £65 and £85 respectively. Book a course of 12 and get two treatments free

The results? Firmer, plumper, younger skin and reduced wrinkles.

Where? Cambridge Health and Beauty, Sussex Street CB1 1PA, 01223 356600, cambridgehealthandbeauty.co.uk