Pins and Needles 

Words by Ursula Lake
Illustrations by David Bray

A very wise person once advised me that that the key thing to look for when choosing a facial aesthetician, that it is vital that you like the way that the person (wielding the knife, needle or machine) looks. If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. We only have to look at the infamous ‘Bride of Wildenstein’ to know that personal aesthetics vary hugely!  So, when I arrived at John Tsagaris beautiful sleek practice within Harrods Wellness centre, I was relieved to see that he looked exactly the same as the last time I saw him.  The incredible thing about is that it’s probably over ten years ago since that last meeting happened! And yet, there he was, with that gravity and age defying, youthful glow. His seemingly infinite knowledge deft touch and expertise make you realise that he is no newbie to the field, but his calm, unlined (but at the same time) very real face is basically the exact thing that most of us would like to achieve as we age: That nonchalant, healthy glow that makes it almost impossible to guess your real, passport age.

I suppose I should say that the facial acupunture part of the treatment is not for the faint hearted, after all, you do end up looking like a character from ‘Hell Raiser’! However, for me, it was pretty much painless, just the feeling of the needles making contact but no real pain. You really feel your skin working with the needles as John weaves his magic over your face. What follows is a beautiful, calming face masque, during which, I drifted away somewhere pretty fabulous for a while. 

The results were really astounding. I am lucky that I don’t have a huge number of lines or wrinkles (yet!) I have the start of the classic 11 lines at my forehead and a deeper ‘smile’ line on my left-hand side to my right one, and these were significantly lifted and smoothed away after the treatment and stayed like that for a while. My skin had a plump, dewy glow and I was really comfortable without any make up on my skin for at least a week. I can see that this would be the idea treatment before a special event or any time that you feel like you need a facial pick-me-up. 

Find John at www.johntsagaris.co.uk or follow him on Instagram at drjohntsagaris