Looking After my Skin with Sarah Dale Aesthetics
I’ve always been a bit of a beauty junkie – a marketeer’s dream, being totally sold on things in pretty packaging. From a young age, I would make a beeline for the beauty halls in department stores, as I loved to gaze at all the sparkly bottles and pots of cream wondering when I would be old enough to use them!
Fast forward a number of years and my bathroom shelves have seen a lot of lotions and potions! I'm pretty brand loyal -once I like something I tend to stick with it (and buy far too much of the rest of the collection). I tend to have one range of skincare for Spring/Summer and one for Autumn/Winter and rotate between a few favourites. These include Elemis & Caudalie and more natural brands, including Cowshed, Aurelia & Jurlique. I do try to keep it as natural as possible where I can and am trying to be much more conscious of the environmental impact as well as testing on animals.
One thing that I have always been a bit hopeless at though, and perhaps unusually for a beauty junkie, is having regular facials and investing in my skin in this way. When we lived in London I would occasionally book to visit either Sarah Chapman or Debbie Thomas (both renowned for their amazing results and the former now a firm favourite with celebrities including Victoria Beckham and Meghan Markle), but could never afford to go regularly enough to really see long term results.
This year, with my 40th birthday fast approaching, it was something I promised myself I would address post-pregnancy in 2018! I was totally over the moon to discover the Sarah Dale Aesthetics Clinic in Dorchester (now in beautiful new premises in Poundbury). Initially, Sarah’s clinic was a bit of a secret; a hidden gem and her client base grew through word of mouth – she started out in the Medusa salon in Dorchester, then moved to the HD Brow clinic in Brewery Square and now they have their own beautiful premises in the Buttermarket in Poundbury. I spotted a leaflet one day whilst shopping locally and was so excited to discover that such a fantastic skin clinic existed in Dorchester.
I had previously read articles about non-surgical facelift treatments such as Venus Freeze and IPL laser facials in the press and had long ago decided that when I felt the time was right, this would be the type of treatment I would look to (rather than injectables) for me to invest in my skin and keep it looking healthy and glowing for as long as possible. I booked a free consultation with Sarah Dale, so I could find out a bit more about them and how they work.
Sarah Dale and her team offer a whole range of treatments – from hair removal to skin rejuvenation as well as non-surgical facelifts. I was really interested to try Venus Freeze, which they offer a free consultation/trial for. In that first session I met with Tanya, one of Sarah’s senior clinicians and who is not only super experienced but also incredibly passionate about what she does and the amazing results that she and her team can get if you ‘give them your skin for a year.’It was amazing to hear about the treatment and how straightforward it is – in a nutshell a machine gently warms the skin (a combination of Pulse Magnetic Fields and Radio Frequency to raise the temperature), so that is causes a tiny amount of thermal damage, which in turn causes the skin to produce more collagen to repair itself. I also got to try the treatment in this session, with Tanya first doing just half of my face, I could really see the difference. And you really can see a difference, even after one treatment! My skin was lifted and glowing and this all happened pretty instantly. The idea with Venus Freeze is that you do a course of six to really see results and then go back every few months for a top-up, but it's also great to know that one treatment is effective if you have an important event that you want to look fabulous for.
After chatting away with Tanya during the treatment, we realised that there was a real synergy between what they offer and how I would like to grow old...gracefully! It all felt very elegant (Sarah and her team are all very calming and elegant) and as natural as possible and I loved that they as a clinic consider themselves pro-ageing and feel that they can embrace and encourage clients to embrace the ageing process with style and dignity and as naturally as possible, using modern technology and the right products to support and nurture the process. I decided to book straight away for the course as I could see that it would help with my ‘problem areas’ namely drooping cheeks (I’ve always had quite a full face, which as I’ve got older has started to drop slightly!) and also some small lines and wrinkles, particularly on my forehead.
Before my next treatment, I met up with Sarah to find out more about the clinic and it was then that we decided to work together – up until this point her client base has always been by word of mouth and it can take a few weeks to get an appointment as they are so busy, but with the new clinic opening this Autumn and a new clinician joining the team, Sarah felt the time was right to do a bit of promotion and I was really keen to document my treatment and talk about it, as I had been totally unaware it was available in Dorchester from such a lovely and knowledgeable team, and wanted to share this with others! I also think that not enough is known about these treatments, which are non-invasive but have great results.
Over the summer I had a course of Venus Freeze, which was finished in September and I have to say my skin has never looked better. It really did do what I hoped and in a very natural and subtle way – I looked healthy, glowing and definitely lifted and plumper, which considering I also had a newborn baby and so have been getting much less sleep, is pretty amazing!
I totally trust Sarah and her team, so had my first session of IPL in October, I will report back on this in more detail when I have a better understanding of the effects and I am really looking forward to my Venus Freeze top-up in a few weeks. The other thing that has been amazing is that for the first time in my life I am being recommended skincare products by professionals and am following a new skincare regime using Medik8 products. It's amazing being recommended products by the team there, as they really know my skin and also the Medik8 range. Again, I have to say that I can really see results. And I haven't even started following their CSA programme yet, as I couldn't use some of the products whilst breastfeeding, so I stuck to the more gentle ones. I'm now really hoping to start the CSA programme, which is super simple and means Vitamin C in the morning, a great sunscreen all day, followed by Vitamin A at night. Their products are results-driven, they think like a natural brand and have hugely reduced their use of plastic, replacing lots of parts with recycled paper this year, so I love their outlook, as well as the look and feel of the products.
If you've not tried them before then I can't recommend them enough - you can shop some items below, but also if you are local to Dorchester, then pop into Sarah Dale Aesthetics in Poundbury and ask one of the team to show you through the products/recommend what you should start with - I don't think you'll be disappointed!
So if (as mine was for 2018), skincare is on your list of resolutions for 2019, then I think the Sarah Dale Aesthetic Clinic would be a great place to start – the free consultation service is amazing and so useful to really find out more about what they offer/would recommend for your skin before committing. They also have gift vouchers available, which I think would make the best Christmas present – there is nothing better than an excuse to pamper and put yourself first and sometimes it’s not something we do for ourselves unless forced, as it's so hard often to find or make the time. I know what I’ll be getting my Mum this year, as she deserves some pampering, but this is also so much more than that – it’s pampering, but it’s also investing in your skin for the future as it has truly lasting results, which is a real win-win!
This post was created in collaboration with the Sarah Dale Aesthetics Clinic.
As always all words and opinions are my own.
