Become the Best Version of Yourself

Fabric Recommends: Epilium & Skin.

It’s only too easy to resort to cliché when discussing skincare; claims by the practitioner can overreach to the point of outlandishness, and the prose describing the process become ever more purple. But in the spirit of Epilium & Skin on George Street, I will try to resist lazy epithets about French skincare as, whilst undoubtedly offering all that les Français are renowned for, there is something about the place that feels entirely fresh and original.

As the London outpost of Dr. Bernard Hayot, the philosophy of the practice could have been written for me personally; a lightness of touch, that aims to leave clients looking not necessarily younger, but rather the very best version of themselves, achieved by judiciously employing serious treatments, up to and including plastic surgery. Dr. Bernard himself is the perfect embodiment of these values: his medical seriousness counteracted by his twinkly warmth and charm.

I arrived with the vaguest of briefs; years of irresponsible living (sun damage, rather than anything more titillating) have left me with a number of complaints; widespread melanoma, or dark pigmentation, lines that one could decreasingly describe as ‘fine’, and a gradual lack of elasticity that I am in denial about 90 per cent of the time. “Just make me look better!”,  I implored.

In the hands of a less diplomatic practitioner, what followed could easily have been anything from brutal appraisal to admonishment for sins past, but instead, we discussed using an intelligent mix of treatments – some botox here, a filler there – to target the worst of the lines, along with skin boosters; a new concept to me, these are micro-injections of hyaluronic acid, a naturally occurring substance which boosts elasticity, hydration and brightness.

The results take around two weeks to appear, and application on all three fronts was painless; after waiting a while for any swelling to go down, I was able to step out onto the Marylebone streets with no one any the wiser – the only giveaway being the spring in my step, happy that a fresher, brighter me was around the corner.

Prices start from £200 for skin boosters. 25-27 George Street, W1U (020 7486 5134; epilium.co.uk)