Shirley (67), a mother of five, whose daughter recently married in Matching Church, Essex, felt more emotional than most mums as she helped with her daughter’s wedding preparations. Over the past 25 years she had had several challenges leaving her unsure if she would ever see her marry. 

In 1989, Shirley’s life took a dramatic turn, after she was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Six years later, in 1995, a subsequent tumour was diagnosed and yet another in 1999. Each time she was treated at The Royal Free Hospital, London, undergoing brain surgery to remove non-malignant tumours, followed by a course of radiotherapy. Thankfully her condition is in remission; however the treatment left Shirley with diminished confidence about her looks,

So despite much excitement about her daughters’ big day, Shirley was aware that she would be photographed numerous times and was keen to look her best, as she explained:

“I wanted to look fresh and more youthful for my daughter’s wedding.”

She consulted with me at Dr Leah Skin Cosmetic Clinic in London to discuss how we could help her to approach the event with confidence.    In fact we are seeing a rise in the number of patients like Shirley, who are seeking discrete and natural looking, anti-aging treatments – especially before milestone events such as wedding.  

Sagging in the mid-face, jowls and neck occurs as we get older and gravity takes its toll. This drooping of the skin ages our appearance and anti-wrinkle injections and fillers are unable to tackle the lifting needed to counter this.   However, Silhouette Soft, an innovative and discrete anti-aging treatment is the only non-surgical option to lift the skin and defy gravity, and this is what we recommended to Shirley.”

Treatment is carried out under a small local anaesthetic, which is administered to the face immediately before the procedure. Once the face is numb fine threads are inserted just under the skin where they are held in place with bi-directional cones. These cones are positioned along the length of the threads and act as anchors. The tension in the threads, once gently tightened, work to lift the sagging skin- elevating the facial tissue immediately.  The threads are then absorbed by the body.

Even better, the results of the treatment continue to improve over the coming months. Before dissolving the cones on the threads stimulate the body to produce its own collagen, helping increase the volume of saggy areas, restoring shapeliness to the face gradually.

The treatment takes under an hour, and the initial effect can be seen straightaway.

Ready for my close-up

As Shirley explained:

“I could see the lifting results immediately! My face felt tighter, and slightly tender for the next couple of days, but not painful”

And how did she look at the wedding?

“I didn’t tell my daughter I had had the treatment, but on the day of the wedding she kept saying ‘”Wow mum, you look amazing!’ My niece who hasn’t seen me in several years commented that she ‘hoped to look as well as I do when she is my age, as I never seem to look any older!’”

“I am very happy with my Silhouette Soft treatment. I knew I could trust Dr Leah to do a great job; she’s brilliant! I feel really good about myself at the minute, I look forward to enjoying the new lease of life my refreshed image has given me.

The wedding photographs show Shirley smiling with confidence and glowing with happiness, knowing that she had defied her condition to see her daughter’s wedding and overcome her concerns about her diminished appearance.

A typical Silhouette Soft treatment consists of four threads and costs around £1,500. Treatment is offered subject to the clinician confirming a patient’s suitability.

Here at the Dr Leah Clinic we are proud to congratulate our Director Dr Leah Totton on having won the top prize in the UK for excellence in Silhouette Soft Thread Lifts. This prestigious accolade was awarded based on medical excellence and skill and also means she has performed the most procedures in the UK with the best results.

This procedure responds to people's desire for effective but subtle anti-ageing treatments that will put off or prevent the need for cosmetic surgery while combating sagging brow, jowls and neck and as such has become one of our most popular offerings at our Moorgate and Loughton clinic with two of Dr Leah’s very happy patients being reported in the Daily mail.

The thread lift treatment takes approximately 1 hour to perform and involves pulling a thread under the skin of the jaw line and lower face and mechanically pulling it upwards, lifting the mid and lower face to improved sagging. The thread itself is made from Poly-Latic acid which over time naturally dissolves stimulating collagen production for additional long term anti-ageing benefits.

Natural looking results will leave you with a more refreshed, rejuvenated and youthful appearance lasting approximately 18 months.  

Book a FREE consultation with the UK’s leading Thread Lift Dr today : https://www.drleah.co.uk/enhancement-treatments/thread-lift

You can also hear form one of our very happy patients: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4lkJPbbqh4

It has been quite the stellar journey for Dr Leah Clinics since our founder's victory in the BBC's The Apprentice in 2013 and her subsequent establishment of her first central London Moorgate clinic, co-owned by Lord Sugar. With the first  clinic having been a roaring success, it shouldn't exactly be a surprise that Dr Leah has now opened her second clinic in Loughton, Essex - and even less surprising that Lord Sugar himself was there to cut the ribbon.

The Dr Leah brand has powered to success in recent years on the back of world-leading cosmetic treatments and a remarkable standard of all-round service. This made the recent Essex clinic opening the perfect opportunity to reflect on the business's significant growth to date, as well as its hopes for the future. Sure enough, the evening at the new clinic at 14 York Hill Road proved a brilliantly inspiring one for all of those involved in the story of Dr Leah Clinics so far.

The opening was marked by an interview with the "skincare Queen" herself in the Evening Standard, in which she waxed lyrical about the "fantastic" Essex area, some of the exciting treatments that the new clinic will be offering and even her hopes that famous local Lord Sugar may finally pop in for treatment!

Several treatments exclusive to Dr Leah's Essex clinic

As Dr Leah explained in her newspaper interview, "I have always been passionate about skin but also about the aesthetics industry, and when I realised that the industry was wholly unregulated, I saw an opportunity to create a chain of clinics where both men and women could undergo cosmetic treatments in a safe clinical environment, but also in a convenient location and for a reasonable price."

Dr Leah also revealed that the clinic would be offering several new  treatments, including hair transplants, the Dr Leah Lift which combines the latest in cutting edge lifting techniques for a complete non-surgical facelift and the world-exclusive 3D Bespoke LipoMed Fat Busting treatment. The latter is a renowned liposuction alternative combining advanced HIFU with shockwave therapy technology for the quicker and more effective treatment of fat and cellulite.

Such a comprehensive fat reduction and body-contouring treatment is made possible by a bespoke machine that has been developed specifically for Dr Leah Clinics in exclusive collaboration with 3D-lipo Ltd, removing the need for surgery or downtime.

Great achievements already - but an even more enthralling future

Alongside these renowned treatments, Dr Leah's Essex clinic will continue to offer all of the same treatments as the established London Moorgate clinic, in order to ensure the same consistently high quality experience across both sites.

Appointments are able to be booked right now at the brand new Essex clinic as well as at London Moorgate, so if you are looking to become a whole new, more confident you in 2016, our entire team here at Dr Leah Clinics simply can't wait to hear from you!

We’re now well into awards season and the Oscars are fast approaching. Many hours of careful pampering will have gone into the stars you’ll see on the red carpet. So, what are their secrets? Here are five ways you can give yourself the flawless look of a glamorous silver screen star.

Make sure your diet is up to scratch

We all know as the dark nights creep in the craving for comfort food starts and most of these foods are sugar and carbohydrate rich. The American Academy of Dermatology have suggested that consumption of high GI foods such as biscuits, sugary drinks, white rice, bread and pasta can trigger a cascade response that can lead to acne, ageing and inflammation. They also reported a weak but possible link between diary and acne.

Look and feel your best by keeping your skin healthy from inside and out, look out for yellow and orange foods and those high in Vitamin A.  Also salmon and fresh water fish are high in omega 3 and essential fatty acids which your skin needs to keep it healthy, hydrated and glowing.

Don’t overlook the cosmetic benefits of microdermabrasion

If you’ve got a big event planned prep your skin with microdermabrasion, a one off half-hour treatment can immediately result in a revitalised and more glowing complexion that even JLo would envy. Microdermabrasion removes dead skin cells, which also allows make-up to sit better on the skin for a flawless look all evening. We recommend a series of microdermabrasion treatments once a month to achieve optimum results.

Consider laser treatment for reducing redness

Laser sessions have also attracted acclaim among beauty professionals in recent times as a means of calming down acne and redness. Who would have imagined that mere spectrums of light would make such an immense difference to one's appearance?

If your skin routinely looks redder than you think it should, it’s possible that you are suffering from broken blood vessels on the face – or, to use the technical term, telangiectasia. We have recently dedicated a blog post to explaining this common condition and how we can use advanced laser treatment to banish it.

Get the Kate Winslet look with facial treatments

Kate Winslet, who has been nominated for Best Supporting Actress at this year’s Oscars for her role as Joanna Hoffman in the biopic Steve Jobs, is bound to look fresh-faced on the red carpet. That’s because she is a facial fan – and there’s a wide range of facials that we at Dr Leah can provide. These include anti-ageing and skin tightening treatments.

Don’t leave it too late

Remember the prep for a red carpet event begins weeks before! Consider inch loss treatments before a big event, one treatment a week for 6 weeks in the lead-up to an event will allow for optimum results. We use targeted ultrasonic waves to destroy fat cells without harming any other cells in your body, meaning you will lose measurable inches to fit into that perfect little black dress, leaving you to feel confident and enjoy your event!