Dr Sarah Hart’s Top Six Tips for Face and Body Rejuvenation

Botox in the frown (‘glabellar’) area between the eyes.

When done well, Botox in this area reduces vertical frown lines plus also slightly lifts the eyebrows. This is universally flattering and gives a pleasant expression. My patients report people tell them they look well, happy and like they’ve been on holiday.

Full upward movement of the brows and around the eyes is still present so it looks completely natural and no-one can detect you’ve had Botox.

My patients report it can even improve chronic headaches.

Dermal fillers to the mouth area.

Our lips get smaller as we get older and wrinkles and folds appear around them. This is because the plump soft tissue under the skin shrinks, the bones supporting the mouth resorb and the skin over the area becomes less elastic and saggy. We can end up looking mean (pinch mouthed) or sad (droopy downturned mouth) because of these changes.

Dermal fillers can correct this when injected precisely into the lips and under folds and lines to lift them and restore natural youthful curves. Hyaluranon fillers like Perlane or Restylane can be used at different depths in the skin to sculpt plump new lips, a firmer jawline or lifted mouth corners. For fine lines around the mouth Esthelis or Cosmoderm will generally give at least 50% improvement.

It is not necessary or appropriate to create large lips; they must fit in with the rest of the face. Often attending to the areas surrounding and supporting the mouth is more important.

Restoring the mouth area gives a happier, more generous look to the face and this is very flattering.

Volumising with Dermal Fillers.

Fat is lost from ‘apple’ of the cheek and under the eye as we age. This can now be restored with hyaluranon fillers like Ultraplus or Perlane.

A young face has a smooth curve outwards from under the eye but an older face dips down in this area giving a tired look.

Filling the area to restore the youthful curve takes away the tired hollows and lifts up the cheeks, also reducing the creases between the nose and mouth (nasolabial folds) by gently pulling the skin upwards.

Taking away the tired look is very restorative and gently curving cheekbones are attractive and photogenic.

IPL to red veins and brown pigment.

Young skin is evenly coloured and reflects light well. With age and sun exposure our skin develops blotchy brown spots and tiny red veins. This looks aging and red veins can be mistaken for other health problems like alcohol misuse or high blood pressure.

IPL selectively heats red veins and brown pigment to remove them without breaking the surface of the skin leaving the skin dramatically more even in colour and able to reflect light better. The skin looks much healthier.

Repeated treatments can also increase the skin’s own natural collagen levels creating subtle smoothing and tightening.

Liposculpture to the hips and tummy area.

Modern liposuction techniques using tiny cannulas (liposculpture) are dramatically safer than older practices and have much less down time.

As we age, hormonal changes result in fat redistributing around the body to form the familiar ‘middle-age spread’. Studies of subjects viewing silhouettes of body shapes reveal this change in waist size alone is a giveaway sign of increasing age. Diet and exercise may result in overall body fat loss but fat distribution is not changed and the face and neck can become gaunt while the love handles remain.

Liposculpture removes the bulges restoring the youthful curve over the waist and hip.

Fraxel laser to the face and neck.

Sun damaged skin is virtually unavoidable in NZ and is characterised by brown pigment, open pores and coarse skin texture.

The Fraxel laser can correct these changes with minimal downtime and a natural result. This revolutionary new technology makes thousands of tiny microthermal zones in the skin resulting in smoother texture, smaller pores and less brown pigment and fine lines. Unlike the old ablative laser you can wear makeup immediately after and the skin looks natural, not pale and shiny.

The Fraxel can be successfully used on the more fragile skin of the neck so face and décolletage can be matched leaving no tell-tale tide mark at the jawline (common in older lasers). The combination of a natural result with reduced downtime make this a particularly worthwhile procedure.