I tried an intriguing and fishy treatment at this plush Edinburgh beauty clinic
This state-of-the-art treatment is designed to give you a collagen boost
You could say I’m half human, half otter.
That’s because I eat salmon at least three times a week.
However, the thought of the 60-minute PDRN Salmon Sperm Reset Facial at Edinburgh’s swishest New Town clinic, Dr David Jack on Howe Street, didn’t really stimulate my appetite. Quite the contrary. It did, however, intrigue me. I’d already heard of the titular beauty ingredient and its polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN) component that’s supposed to stimulate collagen production and encourage tissue regeneration.
Apparently, it’s a huge K-beauty trend, and there are endless topical products being released onto the market that have this addition in the ingredients list.
To be honest, with this crinkly old fish face, I’ll try anything once.
And, so, along to this smart venue, where I was met by practitioner Ria Henderson. She talked me through this treatment and revealed that - gulp - it would feature microneedling, which I’ve always been a bit scared to try. Essentially, this involves tiny needles that push the product into deeper layers of the epidermis.
“It stimulates fibroblast cells which tell skin cell receptors to renew and repair. The microinjuries also create pathway channels in the skin allowing the PDRN ampule to be pushed into the deeper layers of the skin. This helps support collagen production, inflammation and fights against ageing,” she explains.
But first, the relaxing stuff. Once I’m lying on the treatment bed, under a fluffy towel, there’s a double cleanse, using Dr David Jack’s own products - After Glow Ceramide Cleansing Balm and the light and refreshing grapefruit-scented Supernova cleanser. Then some toner on pads is swept across my skin, before we move onto a lightly tingly two-step peel that contains a combination of polypeptides and citric acid. Ria also chucks in a bit of extraction, and tackles the clogged pores around my nose and brows. That, satisfyingly, makes my eyes water.
Thoroughly prepped, I’m onto the microneedling element, using a special pen. The ampule of product from PDRN is slathered on, then the tiny sterile spikes do their job, like aerating a lawn. I find it a little spicy in areas, but not painful in the slightest.
Afterwards, my skin does feel hot, so a facial gauze goes on, then a cooling alginate mask is painted over the mesh. On top of this, there’s a cage-like LED and NIR (near-infrared) light device, which is supposed to help with cell turnover, and seems very bright at first, even with eyes covered, but the initial glare soon fades.
After all this is set aside, I’m anointed with Dr David Jack’s Skin Cushion cream and the All Day Long SPF 50, and sent off into the world.
I’m looking extremely pink - more like a lobster than a salmon. When I get home, my other half asks if I’ve got sunburn.
However, this dies down over the next few hours.
This is a slow burn of a treatment, so results aren’t evident for the next days or two.
A week after my visit, my skin’s texture seems smoother, and it’s looking very bright, fresh, and glowing, like I’ve just had a very invigorating swim upstream.
PDRN Salmon Sperm Reset Facial, £300 at Dr David Jack (19 Howe Street, Edinburgh, www.drdavidjack.com)
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