The Spell of Skincare Supplements

plus, another "complexion miracle"

Welcome readers, old and new!

Please hit that little ❤️ above to remind fellow HNTFUYF-ers that allowing someone who is not a medical professional to shoot anything into your face is always a terrible idea.

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A dear friend recently mentioned a new skin miracle she’d heard about, ubiquitous in Europe but not FDA approved in the U.S. Someone she’d met swore by it, so my friend was curious. My friend is slightly younger than I am. She has porcelain skin without any noticeable wrinkles or sun damage; in other words, she’s mistress of an enviable complexion. The woman who introduced my friend to this new skin miracle she doesn’t need said she was injected with it at some spa or medi-spa or other venue that’s not a doctor’s office—because, you know, illegal.

What is the stuff? Profhilo, a liquid form of hyaluronic acid, which hydrates skin cells in a layer deeper than what can be reached by topical moisturizers. It’s different from hyaluronic acid fillers, in case you’re wondering, which are cross-linked to (basically) bind together different size molecules to create volume. Profhilo, on the other hand, is thin and disperses throughout the dermis, providing hydration without volume.

If results are visible—that depends on the condition of your skin—two or three repeat treatments (averaging $325/treatment according to RealSelf) are recommended. The results last around a month. One happy recipient (in the U.K.) gushed that it made her skin look like she drank 10 glasses of water a day. I actually drink around 10 glasses of water a day. I wonder if you could guess how well-hydrated I am by looking at my face? Definitely not as easily as if I told you how much time I spend in the bathroom.

Anyway, I checked out the place where it seemed Profhilo injections were being administered. At least on the website, there’s no specific mention of it. Still, I hope my friend is as cautious as I begged her to be. Not long after her text, I received a reader email about another form of hyaluronic acid touted as a skin miracle. Will wonders never cease? Not in the beauty world, evidently.

The beauty Q&A in this post is available only to paid subscribers. For full access to all posts—and if I’ve saved you a nice piece of change or maybe even a piece of your soul—please become a paid subscriber at the current rate of $40/year. If you can’t afford a subscription, email me at valeriemonroe@substack.com and I’ll comp you one, no questions asked. 🙏🏻