About the treatment
Radiofrequency, and the reading that decides where it goes
Radiofrequency energy passes through the surface of the skin without doing anything to it and releases its heat in the layers underneath. Held in a narrow temperature window, that warmth is read by the tissue as a reason to rebuild: collagen already present contracts a little, and the cells that manufacture new collagen and elastin are switched back on.
What makes this a facial rather than a machine treatment is what comes first. The session starts with a proper skin analysis — an assessment of what is actually going on beneath the surface rather than what is visible in a mirror — and the findings decide where the energy is concentrated and what goes on your face afterwards.
There is no needle, no anaesthetic and nothing to recover from. It feels like a warm massage moving in slow passes, and at our West Broadway clinic in Kitsilano most people book it on the way to something else.
The analysis
Three things the reading shows that a mirror does not
Most people arrive with a theory about their own skin, and it is wrong about as often as it is right. This is the part of the appointment clients tell us they found most useful.
Hydration, separately from oil
These get confused constantly. Skin can be producing plenty of oil and still be short of water, and the treatment plan for each is close to opposite. Measuring them apart is the difference between helping and making it worse.
Sun damage below the surface
Accumulated pigment sits under the skin long before it appears on it. Seeing what is waiting there changes how seriously anybody takes daily sunscreen, and it is usually more persuasive than anything we could say.
Where firmness has actually gone
Laxity is rarely even. The reading shows which areas have lost the most support, so the energy goes where it is needed rather than being spread politely across the whole face.
Why here
What a coastal climate does to the picture
Vancouver skin ages differently from prairie skin, and it hides its problems differently too.
Damp air conceals dehydration
Skin here rarely feels tight, so people assume it is well hydrated. The analysis regularly says otherwise, and dehydrated skin both looks slacker and holds new collagen less well than skin that is properly supplied.
Daily sunscreen is doing you real good
Ultraviolet breaks collagen down faster than any treatment builds it. More people here wear SPF every day than anywhere else we operate, and it shows in what we see under the surface at forty.
The rebuilding happens in the dark months
New collagen takes two to three months to mature. Starting a course in the autumn means the work happens while you are indoors and covered, and you meet the spring having already gained something.
Open on Sundays
A course wants regular appointments rather than heroic ones. We run Tuesday to Sunday and close on Mondays and Saturdays, which is worth knowing before you plan the dates.
Indications
What is it good for?
Firmness, elasticity and the fine crepey texture that arrives with the loss of both.
Surface problems — congestion, dullness, flaking — are not what this treats; start with a HydroFacial. Scarring and pitted texture need microneedling instead. Everything available in Kitsilano is on our Vancouver clinic page.
Being straight with you
Four things worth knowing before you book
Nothing is removed
Unlike a peel or a laser, this takes no layer off. That is why there is no downtime, and it is also why it will do nothing at all for pigment, blackheads or surface roughness. Those need a different appointment entirely.
What you see on the day is the smallest part
There is a genuine immediate firmness as existing collagen contracts, and it is tempting to judge the treatment on it. The change worth paying for arrives across two to three months as new collagen matures.
Declare recent injectable work
Heat and recently placed injectables are a combination worth being careful with, as are dental implants and any device in the head or neck. Tell us at booking, not on the table.
Collagen you build still ages
Nothing about this pauses the clock. A course gives you a real gain, and holding onto it means occasional sessions afterwards plus the sunscreen you are hopefully already wearing.
Getting ready
Pre & post treatment
Arrive with a completely clean face — the analysis needs an accurate baseline, and anything on the skin corrupts it.
Before your session
- Three days off retinoids, strong acids and harsh scrubs.
- No waxing, threading or shaving of the face for a day or two beforehand.
- Completely bare skin on arrival — no make-up, no serum, no sunscreen. This matters for the reading as much as for the treatment.
- Declare recent injectables, dental implants or active sores on the face.
- Come hydrated. Warm skin is more comfortable to treat when it is not already short of water.
Afterwards
- A warm, flushed feeling and mild redness for a few hours. That flush is the process working.
- Hydrate the skin and leave it otherwise alone. Wait until the next day for make-up.
- No retinoids, vitamin C or exfoliants for 48 hours.
- Skip hot tubs, saunas and heavy workouts for a day, and keep out of direct sun.
- Sunscreen daily, and take a photograph now so you can judge this properly in three months.
Results
RF skin tightening before and after
A You Glow Aesthetics client across a course of sessions. The useful comparison is how the skin sits across the cheek and under the eye, not the shape of the face.
How much anybody gains depends on age, how much elasticity remains, how many sessions are completed, sun exposure and general health. This is slow work and the fair assessment is months after the course rather than days.
Also on West Broadway
Treatments that work well around this one
- Microneedling in Vancouver — structure and scarring, often run alongside this
- HydroFacial in Vancouver — the surface work this treatment does not do
- Dermaplaning in Vancouver — a clear surface before a session
- Double Chin Removal in Vancouver — where volume under the jaw is part of the problem
- Skin tightening facial brand-wide — how the treatment works across all our clinics
