My Tweakments Wishlist 2024

So many tweakments, so little time… You might very well think that I’ve done quite enough to my face for the time being, but in the spirit of curiosity, investigation and, yes, vanity, here’s my shortlist of what I’d like to try next, and why.

Cheek-sculpting Emface.

It’s new, it’s non-surgical and it tones up facial muscles that are starting to sag by using electromagnetic pulses to give your cheeks and forehead a workout. Emface uses a less intense version of the technology in the ab-crunching Emsculpt machines, and the conductive pads deliver skin-firming radiofrequency, too. The treatment was launched to great fanfare a year ago and has proved hugely popular because a) there are no needles b) there’s no downtime and c) it gives results. I still haven’t tried it so it’s top of my list.

The fish-sperm skin-booster

Injections of fragments of the DNA from fish gonads don’t sound like a magic bullet for anything but polynucleotides are getting rave reviews from the practitioners. What’s so great about them? They improve skin strength and quality, and are particularly good for making dark under-eye circles less obvious, which for many people gives them instant Holy Grail status. I need to give them a go.

Upper-eyelid tightening with RF needling

Yes, Sylfirm X – RF needling that is hugely popular in the States – can go where other brands can’t, including straight across your eyelids and under the eyes, too. How? Because the needles are used on a very short setting, and the radiofrequency energy is pulsed into the skin, rather than sent out in one continuous wave, which is how most types of RF needling work. I had one treatment before Christmas, so I need to pick up and do the rest of the course.

Bigger lips

I don’t want buckets of lip filler, but maybe a leeetle bit of volume? Or just a longer-lasting hydrating injectable like Volite? Would that even work? The Lip Service treatment I tried has improved the firmness of my lips but (sshhh) I really would like them to be a bit larger. Or is that just my perception getting skewed by all the large lips I see the whole time on Instagram?

A lip flip

Maybe I’ll start with a lip flip. That’s when you have a tiny bit of toxin injected just above your upper lip, to relax those muscles and encourage the outer edge of your top lip to roll upwards so it looks fuller, rather than pulling down. I know it’s a bit silly, I know it might not suit me, but I just want to see what it’s like.

Microtoxin for glass skin

Actually I’m not sure if you can make a 60+ complexion anything like ‘glass skin’ but microtoxin is massively popular quality for improving skin quality. The tox is injected in very small amounts, just into the skin (rather than into the muscles below the skin). It helps reduce skin oiliness so pores aren’t so obvious and the skin surface looks smoother… I’m really curious to try it.

A more coherent skincare regime

In the past month or two I’ve fallen into a familiar beauty editor pattern of hopping from one skincare product to another… but now The Tweakments Guide is working with Get Harley, and we have taken on a brilliant skin therapist, Shenaz Gain. She’ll be offering one-to-one skincare consultations and personalised regimes that use the sort of effective, results-driven skincare that really delivers improvements and supports the effects of tweakments. Guess who’s barging her way to the front of the queue? I’ll let you know what I’m trying and how I get on. If you want to book in for an online one-to-one with Shenaz, the link is here.

Re-microblading my eyebrows

Could this be the year I get round to joining Rachel Pitman‘s waiting list? She does the most incredible microblading and cosmetic tattooing. Take a look at her Insta to see what I mean.

Nuke the tiny craters on my face

I’m increasingly plagued by sebaceous hyperplasia, which look like a small clear lumps with a crater in the middle, or the miniature top half of a bagel. They’re not obvious to the naked eye but in the magnifying mirror they’re all too clear and they’re multiplying. They’re overgrown, clogged oil glands, and while salicylic acid and retinol will flatten them a bit, it won’t get rid of them. The NeoGen burned a couple of them off last summer, but there are so many… I need to get a derm on the case.

P5 – beyond Photoshop for the Skin

After seeing the improvement that a one-off round of P3 (that’s pico laser, followed by injections of a cocktail of PRP and Profhilo) did to my face, I’ll be begging Dr Sach Mohan to show me what the P5 (all of that, plus polynucleotides and something else beginning with P) can do for skin quality, clarity and firmness…

Managing my Dry Eyes with IPL

Dry Eye disease, where your meibomian glands in among the roots of your eyelids get blocked and don’t produce good quality tear film is no fun and its all too common as you get older. Your eyes a) feel dry and b) water massively as soon as it’s cold or windy – trying to make up for not having that decent tear film flowing like it should. There’s an FDA-approved Lumenis device called Optilight that can treat it in four 15-minute sessions. Sounds like a must.

And the regulars

I’ll also be:

– keeping up the toxin treatments – for wrinkle-relaxing, reducing my tooth-grinding and stopping my armpits sweating

– having some sort of pigment-busting treatment like broadband light or laser, once the summer is over

– keeping an open mind about more filler