All about: FaceWorks’ Redensity Skin Booster

Dr. Teresa Cattin - who I’d heard about for years before meeting her, and always in rather glowing terms – is in my opinion New Zealand’s best cosmetic physician, and a top-notch woman to boot. A Medical Practitioner (MSc, MBBCh, FRNZCGP, FNZCAM) and a member of the Appearance Medicine Society of Australasia, she is also the owner of FaceWorks Clinic in Albany, Auckland, and creator of the stellar skincare range of the same name.

As well as being past-President of the New Zealand College of Appearance Medicine, Teresa is a national trainer in Botox Cosmetic and Juvéderm, training other doctors in New Zealand and Australia. Needless to say, she is a clearly a woman who knows who stuff when it comes to skin, needles and anti-ageing, and regularly travels to the likes of India and Paris to share her incredible wealth of knowledge.

Teresa has said that “there is no doubt that the results of any treatment that you chose to have, be it Botox or filler will be greatly improved if the skin is healthy and well cared for”, and around 16 years ago she developed the aforementioned FaceWorks range of skincare products with that in mind. Her clinic also offers non-invasive skin treatments that work together with injectables and good skincare to deliver great skin all day, every day. One of her latest offerings is the Redensity Skin Booster, a treatment that I have to admit I’d heard little about but was gagging to try after a little research.

Teresa first saw the treatment in action at a conference in Paris in January 2016 and was immediately impressed with the theory behind it so decided to try it. “There are so many ‘miracle’ products and treatments being promoted at medical conferences these days that I've become rather cynical unless there is some solid science to back up the claims,” she says. “This treatment makes good scientific sense, I tried it myself and was happy with the results and am now getting good results here at FaceWorks. We are seeing a noticeable improvement in skin hydration and texture, more even skin tone and a real healthy ‘glow’."

I can best describe it as a combination of collagen induction therapy (needling) and what Dr. Teresa likes to call a “nutritional boost for the skin”. This boost consists of 14 different amino acids, antioxidants, hyaluronic acid, copper, zinc and Vitamin B6, which combined with the needling stimulates the natural auto-production of collagen to help smooth out wrinkles, restore volume, enhance your skin’s luminosity, and give a firmer, more youthful appearance. With age, our skin can lose up to two-thirds of our hyaluronic acid pool, reducing our skin’s ability to retain moisture and without that elusive “plumpness” so common to young skin. A Redensity Skin Booster helps your skin to rehydrate naturally, and after only one treatment I already noticed a difference. Now I’ve had a course of three the results are really quite profound, and I’m finding the usual seasonal change has affected my skin much less than it usually does – if at all.

So, what does it feel like? Well I definitely felt a slight discomfort during each treatment, but this was helped immensely by a thin layer of numbing cream applied about twenty minutes’ before. I had a point of reddening at each injection point afterwards, but an Omnilux light treatment dulled these down considerably and just a few hours’ later my skin was looking a little pink but that’s about it. Nothing a dusting of mineral makeup that night wouldn’t fix, and nothing of note at all the following day. Love that!

The Redensity Skin Booster is priced from $299 for 1ml to $690 for 3ml but Teresa and her team prefer to tailor treatments according to what you personally need. She tells me she has found for most people, four treatments over 3-5 months gives optimal results, “so we've put together a few different package options starting at $1370. By taking a package we can ensure we give you the best results while saving you 25 per cent off individual treatments”. After the initial course just one treatment a year is recommended for maintenance, and given the great result I would try and time this with an event – you will be positively GLOWING.

To find out more head to Dr. Teresa’s website here, I promise you won’t be disappointed.