“I love, love, love them,” gushes Gemini-nominated actor Kristin Booth (Flashpoint).
Booth is referring to Intraceuticals Oxygen treatments, skin-rejuvenating facials that more and more A-listers depend on to get ready for close-ups. (Booth did a series of them in the weeks leading up to TIFF).
Unlike other facials, Intraceuticals aren’t about exfoliation, extractions or goopy layers of cream. And although they make use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy — using oxygen at a higher level of pressure than normal — they’re not exactly about oxygen, either.
“The Intraceuticals facial uses a cooling, forced stream of oxygen via a treatment wand to push a hyaluronic-acid serum from the epidermis (the skin’s surface) to the dermis underneath,” explains Dr. Sandy Skotnicki-Grant, medical director of the Bay Dermatology Centre where Booth goes for her appointments (baydermatologycentre.com). Hyaluronic acid, a molecule the skin also makes, can hold up to 1,000 times its weight in water. “It hydrates the skin, immediately firms and plumps it up to smooth out fine lines, and gives the complexion a nice glow.”
Eva Longoria, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kristen Davis have enjoyed treatments. Justin Timberlake is quoted on the Intraceuticals website (intraceuticals.com) as saying they make his skin “look dope,” and Madonna is reportedly such a fan that she owns at least one Intraceuticals machine.
Starting at $225, the 40-minute treatment is “great for women in their late 30s, 40s and older,” comments Skotnicki-Grant. “Maybe they travel all the time, smoke a little or party a lot. This makes their skin look refreshed and glowy.” Effects are cumulative, so the recommendation is a series of appointments although results are evident after the first. Skotnicki-Grant says the benefits are actually more noticeable around day two or three, and can last up to three weeks.
