“I tried this pain-free treatment to achieve glowing skin”

In my quest for glowing skin, I’ve tried upgrading my skin care to more nourishing formulas, switching up my foundation for something more luminous, and applying highlighter to my cheeks for an instant radiant effect… but I’d never considered something like cosmetic acupuncture, which promises to do the same, but with long-term benefits.

Naturally, I was curious (especially after reading all the benefits of cosmetic acupuncture here), so I headed to MO+, a holistic centre in Bondi Junction, Sydney, that specialises in acupuncture, massage and osteopathy, for my first-ever experience with cosmetic acupuncture. Here’s what I thought of the treatment:

#1 / I loved that the treatment was personalised

When I arrived to MO+, I was taken to a room and was introduced to Yvette Forbes, a facial rejuvenation acupuncture practitioner at MO+. She asked me to lie on a bed whilst she read my pulse on my wrists, and asked me a series of questions to assess my stress levels, sleeping patterns and more. I made a point that my skin is not happy with me at the moment; I’d just changed my contraceptive pill and it was wreaking havoc on my face! Yvette told me cosmetic acupuncture could help - while it may not be able to get rid of all my breakouts completely, she said it could help calm my hormones down.

During the treatment, Yvette strategically placed a couple of pins in certain parts of my legs to target my hormones, and then followed with a couple in my cheeks, at the start of my brows and my chin to boost radiance.

#2 / It was relatively pain-free

Cosmetic acupuncture, or facial acupuncture, is just like normal acupuncture, but for your face. It involves having several tiny needles inserted into your face by a professional, and they’re left in your skin for about 20 minutes. Best of all, it’s basically pain-free - each one felt like a tiny prick at first, but you can barely feel them in your face once they’ve been inserted. It’s certainly not as bad as it sounds; in fact, sometimes you can barely feel it all happening as the needles are as thin as a hair!

#3 / It gave my skin a good glow

Glowing skin is something that’s always high on my beauty priority list, and I was hoping to see solid results from this treatment… and I definitely did. Even after just one treatment, I noticed that my skin seriously glowed for days. When I arrived in the office the next day, Carli commented on how my skin looked smoother, and that my skin looked “less angry”. And I was happy with that.

#4 / It can improve your overall health

Over the last couple of weeks prior to my acupuncture, I had been finding it hard to fall asleep at night due to stress; but after my first session, I went home and just wanted to go to bed! It turns out that cosmetic acupuncture can affect your mind and body, too. “Facial rejuvenation acupuncture always works with the internal system,” explains Forbes. “I work with balancing the energetic workings of the organs, depending on each person’s individual issues (be it digestive issues, menstrual, stress or fatigue). This all has a massive impact on the quality of our health, skin and even our muscles. Facial rejuvenation acupuncture and [traditional] acupuncture work holistically to feed our bodies, support our connective tissue [and] muscles, and allows our skin to become radiant."

The verdict

It’s been a few days after my treatment (I’ve only had one so far), and my skin still has that enviable glow. I’m still breaking out a little bit - but I put that down to my skin being stimulated and therefore purging out all the toxins trapped in my face. I’m happily going to remain patient, wait for the purging to stop, and hopefully within a few weeks, have blemish-free skin that won’t give me a headache. Until then…

If congested skin is getting in the way of your clear skin goal, here are the best ways to treat your blemishes.

Have you tried cosmetic acupuncture before? What did you think of it? Let us know in the comments below.

Main image credit: @mopluswellnessbondi