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Air supply: Is oxygen really good for your skin?
It's at the spa and in your moisturizer, and you can even get it from a canister. Is oxygen therapy really good for your skin - or is it just a lot of hot air?
By Michelle Villett
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Clearly, oxygen is in the air. In his spring collection for Nina Ricci, Olivier Theyskens featured a selection of breezy creations, while Alber Elbaz draped fabrics for a lightweight effect at Lanvin. Now you can bring this airy feeling to your beauty regimen, thanks to oxygen therapy in the form of spa treatments, skin-care creams and even inhalation devices. As trend-driven as always - from her Ashtanga yoga routines to her myriad "beauty" injections - Madonna's quest to stay young has been much criticized. Still, there's no arguing that, at the age of 49, she looks incredible. Her biggest indulgence? Oxygen. According to her facialist, Los Angeles-based Michelle Peck, Madonna gets an oxygen facial before every show when she's on tour; she even purchased oxygen machines from Australian company Intraceuticals for each of her three homes.
Madonna's facial, called the Intraceuticals Oxygen Infusion, involves spraying a hyaluronic-acid-based serum over the skin using a stream of therapeutic-grade oxygen (about 95 percent versus the 21 percent that is found naturally in the atmosphere). Other bold devotees of Peck's oxygen facial include Gwyneth Paltrow and Molly Sims, yet Peck was initially skeptical about the procedure. "More than 98 percent of what's out there doesn't work, but I was astounded by the results of this facial," she says. "It lifts, firms and tightens skin, minimizes fine lines and stimulates new collagen and elastin." She believes that its popularity - at least, among celebrities - stems from the advent of high-definition television, which magnifies skin imperfections. "HDTV shows everything," says Peck. "With this, you get immediate results."
Closer to home, dermatologist Sandy Skotnicki-Grant recently began offering the treatment - which takes about an hour - at her Toronto dermatology clinic. Before each session, clients choose one of two serums: Rejuvenation (for its general antiaging benefits) or Opulence (which also brightens the skin). After the skin is cleansed well, the serum - along with oxygen - is dispensed in ice-cold puffs from a wand not much bigger than a pencil. As the wand is moved around the face, the serum absorbs quickly because the stream of oxygen helps push it into the deeper layers of the skin.
While not as relaxing as a traditional facial, it's not uncomfortable - and Peck is right about the instant results: Afterwards, skin looks noticeably plumper and even, and the effect lasts about three weeks. But that isn't the only reason Skotnicki-Grant decided to invest in the Intraceuticals technology. "I decided to get a Fraxel laser, which injures the skin and stimulates collagen, and I read that some [well-known] dermatologists in the United States combine therapies [such as the Fraxel laser] with oxygen facials to speed recovery," she says. "Oxygen - along with vitamins A, C and E in the serum - is healing, and it reduces free radicals."
Click here to read more about oxygen.
Read more:
7 skin myths solved
ELLE's top beaut and skin treatments
Face odyssey
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