Ever tried microneedling? We gave it a go at Thérapie Clinic in Canterbury – there’s a discount too!
There’s a new treatment in town and it’s called Potenza™️, the world’s first RF microneedling system, which takes this practice to a whole new level. Read on to discover how you can reclaim your youth back and grab your discount…
THE LOCATION
Thérapie Clinic has been one of Europe’s leading medical aesthetic clinics for over twenty years and it has now landed in Canterbury in the conveniently located Whitefriars Shopping Centre surrounded by all your favourite high-street stores. In fact, a three-storey Zara is winking at you from the salon itself.
There’s plenty of parking in Canterbury so you can take your pick of car parks around the city. Don’t run away after your treatment as you can soak in some culture with Canterbury Cathedral, a short walk away, or mooch around many of the independent shops and boutiques scattered around the city plus eat-out at some seriously good foodie destinations too. We’re looking at you Goods Shed – Farmers Market, Food Hall and Restaurant, all rolled into one destination, just by Canterbury West station.
Take a look at our Canterbury Insider Guide if you need more inspiration for your visit.
THE LOWDOWN
There are over 70 Thérapie clinics around the world offering a wide mix of top of the range treatments including medical-grade laser hair removal as well as help in the sculpting and toning department plus anti-aging care. This is all music to our ears as we fight the inevitable and find that some areas of our bodies just need that ‘little helping hand’.
What we particularly like about Thérapie is that they only have nurse prescribers and doctors who do injectables, so you are in very safe hands and the immediate solution is not always to go straight to Botox although unsurprisingly that is still one of their most requested treatments.
We chatted to Nurse Jane at the salon, who has been in the industry for ten years and prior to that, was working as a nurse in an operating theatre, who told us, “At Thérapie, we like to go slow and low with our treatment plans for our clients so we can really help everybody re-evaluate their skin first, get to the root of the problem and think about adopting products like retinol into their routine before putting a plan in place that will have long lasting benefits for our clients so we are not just about quick fixes.”
Those of you in the local know will recognize Maria, formerly at Canterbury Cosmedics, who is at the helm of Thérapie. Maria has been working in the industry for nearly forty years and has worked in clinics on Harley Street in London, Selfridges and Harrods, so if you want to pick the brains of anyone, she has all the stats about the latest treatments at her fingertips.
THE BRIEF
As we know as we grow older, a decrease in collagen and elastin cause frown lines and crow’s feet to develop. Environmental factors like UV exposure, lifestyle choices, smoking and air pollution also don’t help either, so my skin was in urgent need of a radiance boost.
Years of living abroad in a hot country have also taken their toll so I am the lucky owner of a rather craggy weather-beaten forehead that also needed some urgent addressing so when the Thérapie team invited us to try out Potenza™️ which is the world’s first RF microneedling system to offer 4-mode RF, I shot my hand up.
Let me translate that for you – that means mono or bi-polar radio frequency treatments with a wide array of needle options so the treatment can be tailored to your specific skin concerns and skin type. Whether you want to tighten and firm your skin, minimise signs of ageing, shrink pores or reduce acne scars, we’re told Potenza™️ can help you unleash your skin’s ultimate potential in just a few sessions. They had us at tightening…
THE TREATMENT
In my head, I’m 16 but the skin analysis with the ThéraScan machine (worth £25 but currently free of charge for clients) I had upon arriving at the salon tells me that I have the face of a 48-year-old. My real age 45 so it could have been worse but hard-hitting news all the same, so it seems all those years of living abroad in the sunshine have paid its toll.
It turns out, thanks to this clever machinery, that I also have 1,477 pores to worry about too so if you need a bit of a wake-up call in your life, the ThéraScan can analyze all aspect of your skin (ranging from UV damage to wrinkle depth) in 60 seconds. Thank goodness, help was at immediate hand with my Potenza™️ microneedling treatment.
In the words of L’Oreal, “here comes the science bit”. For those of you not in the know, microneedling stimulates the production of new collagen and elastin in the skin by puncturing the dermis with microscopic needles. The treatment utilises the skins’ ability to heal itself, in turn triggering the production of new collagen and elastin. In addition to treating pores, fine wrinkles, loss of elasticity, scaring and pigmentation it also enables topical products to penetrate deeper into the skin, increasing their effectiveness.
The reason why Potenza™️ is taking radiofrequency (RF) microneedling to whole new levels is because it uses ultra-fine precision needles to puncture the skin’s surface, whilst the controlled delivery of radiofrequency energy penetrates at the same time. Both functions are working together to stimulate the body’s natural healing response within the skin which then increases the collagen and elastin production to restore and tighten your skin.
This does not mean an immediate ‘new you’ as the collagen and elastin continue to regenerate for several weeks post-treatment so you will see your skin’s structure improve over time and help to minimise those fine lines and wrinkles and shrink your pores – even 1,477 of them.
I was warned that the process would have a ‘pinch’ effect, so I did not go in expecting to be pampered. Numbing cream is applied and you wait for fifteen minutes to allow that to kick in to reduce any discomfort. It’s a cunning distraction to have a TV with all the channels at your disposal to take your mind off matters and it felt only appropriate to have the Sex in The City girls with their youthful looking yet still 40+ skin gazing back at me as the lovely Jodie set to work with the machine.
The ‘pricking’ element of the treatment does not take that long with the forehead being the most painful part as it is directly against your skull rather than my slightly fuller cheeks. Before I knew it, I was ready for the outside world with a slightly red face (think bad sunburn rather than disfiguring) which soon faded within 30 minutes. Put it this way, my iPhone still recognized me so you can still go about your life normally.
ANYTHING ELSE?
You can also speak to the team as they also offer dermal fillers, lip fillers and a variety of skin treatments to help with conditions such as acne scarring, rosacea and pigmentation.
Plus, their new Emsella™️ chair is proving to be popular as it has been called ‘the miracle chair for pelvic floor health’ as it strengthens your pelvic floor by using high-intensity focused electromagnetic (HIFEM) energy to cause deep and intense pelvic-floor muscle contractions. A typical treatment takes about 30 minutes, and you need about six sessions, twice a week, to really see the effects. They are currently offering FREE trials so if this is the one for you, get in touch pronto so you can take advantage of that deal.
THE RESULTS
It is recommended that you do three treatments for the best results. But even with one treatment after about three to four weeks, you will see a difference in those fine lines fading. After a few days in, I also had a few friends asking if I had a facial recently as my skin was glowing.
Want to try it for yourself? Mention Muddy and get 15% OFF Potenza treatments and/or all their Body Sculpting Treatments like Emsculpt, CoolSculpting, Exilis and Emsella.
MUDDY VERDICT
Good for: Those who want a non-surgical solution for their facial needs, you will appreciate this treatment. You don’t feel that you are interfering too much with Mother Nature but can still address and solve those skin bug bears in your life.
Not for: At this price point, it won’t be for everyone but we’re aware that some people are really committed to the cause when it comes to their skin so if you are one of those people who want to pump (no pun intended) money into anti-ageing, then this is the one for you.
THE DAMAGE
£299 per session – and a course of three are recommended for the best results but our Muddy readers can enjoy 15% off.
Unit 22, Whitefriars Centre, Canterbury CT1 2TF, therapieclinic.com, hello@therapieclinic.com, 08000 121 565
Open in Google Maps