Tuesday 10th November & Tuesday 24th November are the dates for your diary. See demos of our treatments and get your test patches done on the evening. Please give us a call and reserve a place.
Discounts available on the night.
More information The Brookdale Clinic Knutsford Cheshire UK
Annabelle uses the Italian [comfort zone] skin care range of products, as supplied to premier salons, cruise ships and spas across 60 countries worldwide.
[comfort zone] was awarded ‘Best European Spa Product’ in 2006 and in 2008 was voted ‘Skincare Supplier of the Year’ at the Grazia sponsored Professional Beauty Awards.
For more information on Italian [comfort zone] skin care range
The MHRA granted a license for cosmetic use of Botox® in February 2006.
Also known as Vistabel®, Botox® has in recent years grown beyond its ‘Hollywood’ reputation to become an acceptable, mainstream solution to addressing and managing the natural ageing process.
Frown lines (between eyebrows), worry lines (forehead), laughter lines (corners of eyes) – they all become more pronounced as we age, and for millions of people these simple injections provide a wonderful solution, turning back the clock visibly and giving renewed confidence in their appearance.
By using facial muscles repeatedly throughout a lifetime, the skin becomes creased in areas of greatest use. as skin ages it loses elasticity, so these creases become permanent. By reducing the movement of muscles in these areas the skin stops being creased and has the opportunity to recover.
Botox® is a natural protein which temporarily blocks neuromuscular transmission -in other words it temporarily stops the chemical messages travelling from the nerve to the muscle.
Treated areas appear smoother and less wrinkled. This is called cosmetic denervation. The muscles start recovering after about 4 months on average.
A very fine needle is inserted precisely though several layers of the skin and a small amount of diluted Botox ® is injected. Local anaesthetic cream may be applied to the areas prior to treatment and the procedure is relatively painless.
For more information on Anti Wrinkle Treatments
It’s a well-known phrase, ‘beauty is only skin deep’, and in many ways it holds very true. But what it doesn’t take into account is that the way we look, or believe we look, can have a huge impact on the way we feel about ourselves – making us fret in front of the mirror at best, and severely limiting our lives at worst.
Another trite phrase is ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’. Great, but as I’m the beholder it’s me that’s affected by how beautiful I think I look. When I was 21 I was pretty much sure that I wasn’t ugly, but equally sure that I was nothing special and had a fat tummy. Oh lordy, when I look at photos of me back then I am stunned by the bodacious babe in front of me, and wonder how much more confident I’d have felt had I even an inkling of it at the time!
I’m now 40 and while I’m not hugely unhappy with my looks, I am starting to notice those little signs of aging that make me flinch a little when I see myself in the mirror.
Sun damage spots on my face, teeth not nearly as bright and white as they used to be, a little more cellulite than I’m comfortable with, definite signs of childbearing and oh please let it not be true – more hair than there used to be on my top lip. In the scheme of things it’s not too bad, I’ve gotten off lightly so far, and let’s face it, none of it is exactly life threatening. But it’s me, my body, my life and I can see it disappearing into the past and I don’t want to, I simply won’t, go into the future accepting that middle-age is upon me and it’s time to start looking at elasticated waist-bands and big swim-suits.
So, what to do? I’m too much of a scaredy-cat to consider surgery and too much of a cynic to spend a fortune on the various lotions and potions promising me eternal youth. Luckily there is another option.
The Brookdale Clinic in Knutsford, Cheshire, is one of a growing number of places that offer a range of non-invasive cosmetic medicine treatments to tackle everything from unwanted hair to unwanted flab. I’ve chosen to use Brookdale however because it’s a clinic, not a beauty salon, and all the staff have a medical background and understanding of the equipment they use that goes beyond that of a beauty therapist who’s been on a training course. I’m not knocking these girls, I’m just not going there.
A visit to the Brookdale Clinic further sets my mind at ease. The clinic doesn’t just offer cosmetic medicine treatments, but offers physiotherapy, osteopathy, podiatry and chiropody too, so these are people who know how the body works and how the treatments I’m interested in will be likely to affect me.
The biggest decision I now faced was which treatment to go for – a quick win on the top lip, or a greater investment of time and money for a greater return…and get my whole face done.
I’ve never been one for small measures (or portions, especially when it’s puddings) so I went for a Facial Skin Rejuvenation. My treatment was undertaken by Lisa Porritt, a fully qualified physiotherapist who has received training in the use of laser equipment for healing purposes. I’m not sure that getting my face fixed falls into that category, but when I look better I’m sure I’ll feel better, so maybe..
I’m here for my patch-test, to make sure I don’t react poorly to the treatment. After a reassuringly lengthy consultation, where my medical history, sun-bathing history and skin-care routine are discussed, Lisa pops me on the treatment bed and hands me a pair of goggles. The machine we’re using delivers a rapid burst of intense light, so we both need to protect our eyes. She examines my skin and applies some very cold gel, before attaching what looks like a tint block of clear Perspex (but is probably something much more sophisticated) to the end of a petrol-pump hand piece. Well, that’s what it looks like!
Lisa counts me down and I brace for the pain. Three….two….one….wallop, a flash of red light lights up the goggles and I feel a short, sharp prickle on my face. It’s over, literally, in a flash. She does this a couple more times on different areas of my face. Then I’m sent off home, not without booking my first proper treatment before I go though!
Two weeks later I’m back, thrilled and raring to go. Lisa had chosen to patch-test me by selecting a couple of the age spots on my cheek-bone. It’s subtle, but I can see a difference already!
Before a full facial skin rejuvenation, a mild chemical peel is applied, to remove all the dead skin on my face and allow the pulsed light to penetrate deeper. It doesn’t take long and very quickly Lisa begins to apply the IPL wand to the whole of my face. She does this by using a slightly larger block of Perspex, releasing the trigger to fire the pulse of light and then moving the hand-piece to the neighbouring area of skin.
It’s actually a little uncomfortable and I mention this to Lisa, who hands me a tube I can use to jet chilled air across my face, to ease the stinging sensation.
It takes about 20 minutes and afterwards my face is glowing like I’ve just had a facial. I apply some cool aloe vera gel and head off, not forgetting to make my next appointment first.
That was a couple of weeks ago and I’m just delighted with the results so far! The sun spots on my cheekbone and jaw-line have already faded considerably and a couple of little thread veins where my nostrils meet my face have gone completely. My skin seems less rosy across the cheeks somehow too, though I forgot to take a really good ‘before’ picture so I don’t know if I’m imagining that! For the first week I could see the sun-spots actually getting sort of patchy and darker, then a fine crust appeared on my skin where they’d been, which flaked away leaving the paler skin quite clear. This was apparently the melanin coming up away from the pigment cells the laser had destroyed.
Lisa explained that the skin damage is still there, just the ‘symptom’ has been taken away. I need to be very careful in the sun in future, or the marks could return. Trust me, getting back at least ten years is worth slapping on the factor 15 every day for the rest of my life!
I can’t wait to get back for my next treatment. I’m already feeling happier about my face and if we can get rid of the sun spots completely I’ll be thrilled. The only problem I’ve got now is that with so many treatments on offer, I think I’ll be making a monthly visit to The Brookdale Clinic for a long time to come. Top lip next, then I think a bit of laser hair removal on my legs, just think…no more shaving!
Acne is a disorder of the skin’s sebaceous glands that affects over 80% of the population aged 14-30.
Although commonly considered to be an adolescence problem, 25% of the people affected by acne in their teens will go on to develop permanent scars. The effects on personal appearance caused by acne and the resultant scarring can cause significant psychological, social and occupational problems if left untreated.
Laser treatment using intense pulsed light has shown good success in clinical trials. It is non-invasive and does not require a prescription. It is a good alternative to strong drugs e.g. retinoic acid.
Laser can treat all aspects of acne.
The wide spectrum of intense pulsed light helps destroy bacteria and control the secretions in the sebaceous glands.
More information on Laser Acne Treatment
