A lot of LED mask companies suggest that you use a (usually very expensive) serum before having a red/infrared light therapy session with their mask. However, skin has to be as clean as possible before LED treatment, especially with an LED mask, which by definition - and for safety purposes - is of low-power. This is because the skin surface has to display the smallest reflection possible, in order to…

This is a very common question that we hear at the clinic and also a very common question all over the internet. People believe the beauty industry marketing hype and all the extra extraordinary miracle claims, and then, when those claims do not materialise, they get disappointed. Well, after seeing literally thousands of clients over more than two decades, and after researching the subject continuously for the last 20+ years, let me put it as clearly, as honestly and as bluntly…

Red light therapy, as well as infrared and blue light therapy, is becoming ever more popular. With this popularity hundreds of LED red light therapy devices have appeared on the market and with all the miracle claims, the internet, tiktok and instagram misinformation and the confusion, a lot of people understandably question whether red light therapy is legit or not. To put it very shortly, properly applied red light therapy - as well as blue and infrared light therapy - are real…

In today’s Western world people consume not only too much saturated, hydrogenated or fried fats/oils, which are widely accepted as unhealthy. Such oils*, especially hydrogenated and fried fats/oils, are known to cause anything from heart disease to cancer to arthritis and of course overall aging, including skin aging and cellulite. Something which is generally unknown to most people is that we also consume too much omega-6 polyunsaturated oils, which are found literally everywhere: from processed foods, condiments, pastry and desserts to meat and chicken…

Is vaping better than smoking? Is saturated fat better than sugar? Are cocktails better than beer? Is death by heart disease better than death by stroke? As there is no good choice between the above options, there is also no good choice between non-surgical butt fillers (now pathetically known as “liquid BBL”) and surgical brazilian butt lift (“normal” BBL). Both choices have their risks and dangers, up to the point of death, with death from BBL being more common and death from liquid BBL also occurring…

How often you can have LED treatment on your face - or any other body area - depends on the device’s light intensity. The higher the intensity the less often you should have treatment and vice versa. As with everything else in life a little more is good but a lot more is usually bad - and that applies to LED treatment too. LED treatment may be almost side-effect free but…

Pterostilbene, a small molecular weight stilbenoid compound chemically related to resveratrol and found predominantly in black grapes, blueberries and other berries, has important anti-adipogenic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic and anticancer properties. Resveratrol is already widely known for its anti-ageing and anti-obesity properties and pterostilbene (3',5'-dimethoxy-resveratrol), being a more stable and more absorbable form of resveratrol, shows much more promise in fighting both ageing and fat accumulation…

At the clinic we have seen thousands of clients with cellulite over the years and these are our observations. Cellulite can start appearing at about 13-14 years of age for some young girls. During the mid teens (16-17) more and more teenagers develop cellulite these days, due to the use of contractive pill (for acne or contraception). The next age milestone for cellulite is at about 27-28, when most young women start to…

Cellulite has multiple causes, both genetic, hormonal and lifestyle-related so for each person there can be a different cause. Also, in all health and aesthetic conditions, usually 3-4 factors coincide to bring them about. So for most people there are 3-4 causes coinciding. However, today in the Western world we can safely say that sugar, in all it guises is the number one cause of cellulite today: white sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, glucose/dextrose, maltose, honey…

Depending on the type of retinol you are using, it may be quite harsh/sensitising on your skin, especially when combined with light. So applying retinol before LED treatment is not recommended. In fact, light skin absorption is maximum when it is cleansed with nothing applied on it. You can always apply actives after treatment…

Unless you are a shallow blogger/journalist about to write a “Forget abc, xyz is the newest celebrity-endorsed cellulite treatment that took the world by storm in 2024” type of article, it doesn’t really matter what is the newest cellulite treatment. Every year a bunch of new, hyped-up beauty/aesthetic treatments appear and in a few years, when people realise that said treatments are not that miraculous after all, they gradually disappear…

Can a treatment/special garment melt the fat which can then naturally removed through the kidneys into the urine. Absolutely not. Phrases like those are total garbage and would make any biologist laugh out loud. Yet they are churned out en masse on the internet by ignorant bloggers, influencers, “journalists”, beauty therapists and even medical aesthetic specialists, who do not even know the most basic biology…

Red and infrared LED light therapy is quite effective and very safe for both aesthetic applications and health applications (back pain, musculoskeletal injuries, seasonal affective disorder etc). With a high-power LED device 10 minutes might be enough but 20 minutes (and sometimes 30 minutes) would be better. Consider a high power device one that offers about 60-120mW/cm2…

And this is a common question we hear: “Why good LED masks (and professional LED devices) so expensive?” Well the answer is: “they are not”. In the West we are addicted to cheap imported goods and so we believe everything should be dirt cheap. And indeed, many LED masks are dirt cheap but, as many people understand, they are of poor quality, while the higher quality devices are considered “expensive”. A good home-use LED mask (or even professional LED device for use at clinics) must use high quality LED bulbs that provide what it says on the tin: red or infrared light of a specific frequency and specific intensity, constantly throughout the treatment…

When it comes to cellulite many so-called “cellulite experts” focus on everything else than the elephant in the room, the most important thing: hypodermal fat accumulation - i.e. fat accumulation in the deepest layer of the skin, the hypodermis. It is increased hypodermal fat accumulation that causes circulation constriction and consequent water retention…

Superficial facial vascular lesions (facial redness, thread/spider veins) can be an aesthetic problem as well as a symptom of different skin diseases. Risk factors include Fitzpatrick skin types I, II and III, significant sun exposure, rosacea, alcohol consumption and smoking. Facial spider veins and related facial vascular lesions are treated with laser, IPL and LED phototherapy treatments. The first two (laser and IPL) are generally more effective but also can cause side effects, such pain, erythema/redness and less often oedema, blistering, hematoma, crusting, hyperpigmentation, scarring, keloid formation and infection…

“Radiofrequency” is an all encompassing term for treatment with different types of high frequency electrical currents. Different machines utilise different frequencies, from an extra low of 300kHz to an extra high of 5GHz. The types of physical phenomena at play on those different machines are quite different…

The rise of current GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs, such as Ozempic/Wegovy and Mounjaro, and the development of new ones with less side effects and possible oral administration (as opposed to current injection), is poised to reduce the incidence of overweight and obesity. However, can Ozempic/Wegovy, Mounjaro et al eliminate the cellulite appearance?

It is true that most non-surgical cellulite treatments do not really work. Most such treatments range from generally safe but ineffective (think palper-rouler massage, acoustic wave therapy (AWT), microneedling, bipolar/tripolar RF etc) to dangerous and generally ineffective (high intensity HIFU, high intensity RF microneedling etc). As a result many people think that cellulite surgery is a better, so-called “one-off” option...

Apparently the BBL era is now over and the most dangerous cosmetic procedure is now on the wane. Big butts are gradually going out of fashion and a slimmer, or at least more balanced look, is now the new trend. The Kardashians are reported to have apparently reversed their BBLs - although they never admitted them in the first place and although millions of women around the world copied the non-admitted BBLs…

Radiofrequency increases the metabolism of tissues where it is applied. Increased metabolism will result to increased breakdown of products such as fillers and botox. Furthermore, certain types of radiofrequency, such as high frequency RF, should not be used on fillers, as temperature may increase disproportionately inside the filler, potentially causing damage…

Most women today don't realise how important protein is for their physical appearance and overall health, and unwittingly or purposely follow a low protein diet, with disastrous consequences for your skin, muscles, bones and overall health…

Let’s make it crystal clear: fat can “come back” after any treatment of any kind, even liposuction (and of course, as you know, fat can come back after dieting). This is because, if you overeat, drink too much alcohol, do not exercise or take specific medication (such as corticosteroids, estrogens or progestogens), your body can create new fat cells out of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which are found in all body tissues; existing fat cells can increase more than 3,000 their original size…

Several aromatherapy oils have applications for cellulite reduction, due to their circulation boosting effects and in some cases even due their lipolytic effects (limited research exists on the latter, though). Examples of such potentially anti-cellulite essential oils include all the pine/fir/cypress essential oils, all the citrus essential oils and menthol-containing essential oils, among others, when used in HIGH concentrations...

Do you want smooth, cellulite-free legs? Detoxify your life from endocrine disrupting chemicals, xenoestrogens, phthalates and BPA, found in plastics…

Air fryers are now the third most-used appliance in UK kitchens after toasters and microwave ovens - and well ahead of conventional ovens. Air fryers owe their popularity to their promise of making fried food but without the excess oil. Enjoying crispy fried food but without the oil? What not to like, right? Sure, air fried food is better than normal oil fried too - no question about that. But there are lot of things not to like about the air fryer craze...

Many therapists have the habit of pressing hard with the handpiece on the client’s skin in order to offer a deeper treatment. But does that make sense? Does treatment get deeper? The answer is maybe, depending on the equipment used, but this is not a valid or even safe way to provide deep treatment. First off, the constant pressure is not good for the therapist. It makes treatment straining and...

Deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency is the best and safest non-surgical skin tightening treatment and the joint best/safest cellulite reduction treatment (together with deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation) and far more effective and safe than the undeservedly hyped-up HIFU or RF microneedling. Because radiofrequency treatment is provided with a machine, most people think that all treatments with a specific machine are provided identically and as a result they embark on “researching” what is the best RF machine on the web - as well as on instagram and tiktok 😂...

Red light therapy (wavelengths of 620 to 750 nm) and near infrared light therapy (wavelengths of 800 to 2,500 nm) has become very popular the last few years for both aesthetic (anti-ageing, acne, hyperpigmentation, skin rejuvenation etc) and wellness (pain relief, sports injuries, back pain, seasonal affective disorder, burns, wound healing etc) applications. Many people wonder what is the main difference between red light and near infrared (NIR) light therapy and the answer is quite simple, as we will see below...