I’ve always had a problem with consistency. Books left unfinished, TV shows abandoned, meditation apps, New Year’s resolutions, LED face masks, ginger shots in the morning, Yale’s happiness course, The Artist’s Way, all started and then swiftly forgotten about. The problem with this is that when it comes to skincare, the one thing that everyone can agree on is that consistency is key. While cleansers work pretty much immediately, most skincare products and tools will take anywhere from two weeks to three months before you begin noticing a difference and that’s with regular use. So when I was offered the chance to test out FaceGym’s signature workout for eight weeks, I thought this was my chance to find out if long-term consistency really does pay off.
FaceGym was launched in 2014 by founder Inge Theron who was inspired by her years reviewing spas and beauty treatments around the world for the Financial Times, as well as working with Inca healers and an ayahuasca trip in Mexico. The central concept is based around the idea that the 40-plus muscles in your face need to be worked out and strengthened just as the muscles in your body do. The facials, or “workouts”, use a combination of non-invasive facial massages designed to lift, tone, sculpt and relax the muscles in the face, as well as encourage collagen production, stimulate blood circulation, boost the lymphatic system, release tension and increase cell renewal.
The treatment that I am reviewing is the Signature Sculpt, a 45-minute treatment that includes 30 minutes of hands on workout and 15 minutes of electrical muscle stimulation. Every second week, I will also be receiving an added 40-minute booster, Tighten and Firm, where radio frequency is used to further tighten, firm and smooth the skin. I get my sessions done at the FaceGym studio in St John’s Wood, and I choose Friday mornings before work for my appointments. In hindsight, first thing on a Friday was not my wisest decision and a few appointments were attended in various states of a hangover. But overall, starting off the day by having someone massage and pummel your face was blissful and something I always looked forward to.
Like any good gym session, the Signature Sculpt starts with a “warm-up” of the muscles. The brand’s Face Ball is used to stretch out the muscles, get the blood flowing and ease tension in the face and chest. Then comes the “cardio”, a fast, high-intensity massage technique done with just hands that helps with lymphatic drainage. I ask for firm pressure, but if that’s not to your taste there are gentler options available. Before the session, your “trainer” will ask if there are any particular areas of the face that you want to concentrate on, for example easing tension in the jawline if you clench or grind your teeth, or the brow bones and forehead which is a good option for anyone who suffers from frequent headaches.
After this comes the microcurrent device which sends electrical impulses deep into the skin to stimulate the muscles, sometimes causing parts of your face to twitch in an unusual sort of way. This works to give your face a more contoured look. And then comes the “cool down” with the gua sha which is made from medical-grade stainless steel and always feels refreshingly cold against my now very warm skin. Finally, during the weeks when I would have the Tighten and Firm booster, a radiofrequency device uses heat-based technology to send radio waves to penetrate the skin’s tissue and rotate water molecules in the cells, boosting collagen and elastin production. Although the device does get hot and you feel it, particularly around the forehead area, for me it was pretty painless and only slightly uncomfortable because of the anticipation of the heat, rather than the heat itself.
One session, when I was scheduled for the radiofrequency, I came in with an active hormonal breakout around my chin which, the trainer explained to me, she would be unable to use the radiofrequency on. But she was flexible, and swapped the booster to a partial radiofrequency on the top half of my face, and on the bottom she did an Intense Cleanse booster which is designed to unclog pores and relieve congestion using high-pressured oxygen and a blend of acids, peptides and vitamins. During my eight sessions, all the trainers that I met were so friendly and kind, always informative and helpful and for anyone in North London I would highly recommend the St John’s Wood studio.
I also really enjoyed the workouts themselves. While the massage is fairly intense, and some people don’t like the ‘whipping’ and pummeling that’s involved, I personally like a firm massage and there was something very therapeutic about switching off my brain and surrendering to the sensations. Afterwards I always felt very relaxed and my skin felt great and especially plump around the cheeks. I took pictures throughout the weeks to chart the progress and so you, readers, could see for yourselves the before-and-after results.
I think if you’re someone who has slightly more mature skin and has noticed a loss in volume or plumpness, this facial would be particularly beneficial. As someone who is still (fairly) young, my skin has only just started to lose the volume that has given me a babyface all my life and so the difference before and after maybe wasn’t as drastic as for someone slightly older. But all those weeks of strengthening the muscles can only have been beneficial in the long-term and I was kindly given the tools so that I can keep up the routine for myself at home. I would also be keen to explore some of the other boosters offered by FaceGym in the future. The Intense Cleanse would probably be the most useful for where my skin is currently at, but there are also options for hydration (Hydration Restoration), a detoxing peel (Detox Peel + Mask), a resurfacing peel (Brighten Peel + Mask), buccal massage and LED therapy.
As with all skincare, the FaceGym team recommend consistency and regularity when it comes to the workouts and if that is something accessible to you right now, the membership programme offers one free monthly workout and up to 40 per cent off of treatments, boosters, tools and skincare included in its price of £80 per month. Find out more about membership and the workouts here.
