The best new tweakments for 2024, according to the beauty editor who’s had everything

From eye bag banishers to cellulite-busters and vaginal rejuvenators, there is now a no-knife tweakment for everything. I’ve had plenty of them over the years and these are the ones I’m genuinely excited about and think will be big news in 2024.

I know non-surgical treatments will be on many a new year’s resolutions list but let me tell you that the truth about these procedures is that not all of them work wonders, and that there are risks attached.

The important thing is to choose carefully and focus on science-backed procedures performed by very experienced medical professionals. With this in mind, I’ve selected five new or new-ish treatments that I think are genuinely worth looking out for. Some of them I have already tried and would have again, some may be on my wish list, and all will enhance your looks and mood in a subtle but confidence-boosting way.

The cellulite treatment that actually works: Sunekos Cell

Skin boosters such as Profhilo and polynucleotides have taken the world of face and body injectables by storm recently for plumping sagging or crepey skin. I love their super-subtle skin-enhancing benefits and over the years have tried not just the two I mentioned, but also Teoxane Redensity-1, Juvederm Volite, Belotero Revive and Restylane Skinboosters Vital.

In 2024, there’s an exciting newcomer, and it's for the body. Called Sunekos Cell, it tackles mild (stage 1 and 2) cellulite . It’s a skin booster with a difference, as the usual collagen and hydration boosters are contained “in an alkaline solution that helps correct the inflammation and tissue thickening that are major contributing factors to that lumpy cellulite look,” according to Dr Pamela Benito, who did my treatment.

I’ve had cellulite for 40 years and never found an effective treatment for it before. But with Sunekos Cell, I‘ve definitely noticed a lessening of the lumpy skin on my front thighs a week or so after my third and final session. It’s hardly gone, but for the first time in decades, I found myself stomping about a Caribbean beach in my bikini, not my board shorts. That is far more than I can say for any other tweakment purporting to diminish orange peel skin. Results should last up to a year.

What happens?

The treatment area (arms, thighs, bottom) is stippled with quite ouchy but bearable injections (you can opt for local anaesthetic if you want). Expect small red spots or bruises for a week or so. You need two to three treatments, two to three weeks apart. You can have an optional fourth session depending on expectations and the severity of the cellulite. If yours is very pitted and hard, though (cellulite stage 3 or 4), the treatment won’t do much for you so it’s best to save your money. You might instead want to try Cellfina, a procedure that cuts the fibrous tissues that pull the skin inward. It worked for GTG writer Elizabeth Young’s stubborn cellulite; Read her Cellfina review here.

How much does Sunekos Skin cost?

From £850-£950, Sunekos Cell

The no-veneers way to even out your smile: tooth micro-layering

Veneers are one way to create even, white teeth. But in the face of the blinding dazzle of over-the-top celebrity dental work (think Rylan or Simon Cowell), and the fact that regular veneers require natural teeth to be filed down to stumps, we don’t blame you if you don’t fancy the procedure.

What to do though when, inevitably with age, your teeth discolour, get shorter and develop small cracks and irregularities? Over the years, I noticed my own teeth shortening and getting more jagged, and one 40-year-old veneer starting to crumble. Not only is it not a good look but it can impact on overall health; tooth and gum damage can allow bacteria to get in and this can lead to systemic disease.

Happily, ‘softer’ options, such as teeth contouring, are becoming more accessible and smile-correcting techniques using composite bonding are becoming more widespread. My hot tip, however, is tooth micro-layering, currently exclusive to London’s Nejati Clinic as it was developed by Dr Brandon Nejati, who is a painter as well as a cosmetic dentist.

It involves applying very fine layers of a porcelain composite (in a bespoke shade) to resculpt, rebalance and brighten teeth. You can have individual teeth fixed, or sets of upper or lower teeth done for a whole new, balanced smile.

The bespoke ‘paintwork’ means cracks and discolouration will disappear, chips are repaired, and teeth that have shortened with age can even be made longer again. But it also preserves the natural characteristics of your smile such as little ridges and even tooth gaps (if desired), so it couldn’t look more natural. Basically, you end up with a “healthier, tidier-looking version of your own smile," as Dr Nejati puts it.

There’s no filing down of natural teeth and the composite, which strengthens the natural tooth and also prevents bacteria lodging in its cracks, wears down no faster than your own enamel.

What happens?

I had my veneer replaced with a micro-layering job, then had my upper teeth rebalanced. One side is done and I’ll get the other side fixed soon (the picture above is not of my teeth!). The ‘new’ teeth feel odd for a few days as they can be marginally longer, but that is the only 'discomfort'. You look after micro-layered teeth in exactly the same ways as you do natural teeth.

The procedure is painless – you just lie down with a mouth-opening device between your jaws; there is no drilling or filing or anaesthetic needed. It can be quite relaxing actually; people often fall asleep over the two to six hours the procedure can take, depending on how many teeth you’re having done and the severity of your issues. 

How much does tooth micro-layering cost?

Prices start from £655 per tooth, Nejati Clinic

Best for banishing hollow eyes and dark circles: Juvelook hybrid filler

Something we will see more of in 2024 are fillers that do double duty as an immediate skin booster to improve quality and luminescence, but also to plump out wrinkles and add volume over time. They do this by stimulating your own collagen with ingredients that remain in the skin for a year or longer, where they continue to generate elastin and collagen fibres. Forget pillow face or under-eye cushions – modern ‘hybrid fillers’ are far more subtle.

Last year I tried one such hybrid filler called Harmonyca, and declared it the only thing I’d tried that truly lived up to expectations. But for 2024, I have my eye on the newest hybrid on the block, Juvelook, which is primarily targeted at the eye area – that tricky zone that ages before the rest of your does. It could be a game changer because this zone has so far been hard to treat well with filler. Juvelook is currently the only hybrid filler that can be used in the under-eye area (skin boosters such as polynucleotides can, but their effects are less dramatic).

The treatment has an ‘instant filler’ effect, with fine lines smoothed and less crepiness thanks to the hyaluronic acid contained in the formula. Then, after about two weeks, PDLLA microparticles (microspheres made from a polymer that is naturally broken down by the body over time) kick in with their powerful ability to rev up elastin and collagen production, generating tauter, denser, less crinkly under-eye skin for many months.

What happens?

Juvelook is administered to the lower eyelid area via cannula or with ultra-fine needles. It is not excruciating and you have the option of local anaesthetic. You might have bruising and swelling for two to three days, especially if you opt for the needles. You’ll need two to three sessions spaced three months apart, depending on the severity of your issues. Always choose a very experienced medical professional to inject the eye area; I will be booking in with Dr Sophie Shotter to see if she can help stop my under-eyes from becoming any crepier.

Optimal effects can be seen after six months and results last for up to two years after the last treatment.

How much does Juvelook cost?

At Dr Sophie Shotter’s clinics, from £450 per session for eyes.

To tackle vaginal laxity: Emfemme 360

The ‘cosmetic vaginal rejuvenation’ market has tripled in size in the past ten years, with non-surgical options multiplying for ‘beautifying’ (thanks, Kardashians) the area as much as for tackling issues of discomfort, pain and a weakening pelvic floor (read our BTL Emsella chair review). Childbirth, mid-life and menopause are definitely contributing factors that can lead to problems such as wimpy pelvic floor muscles, collagen loss and dryness, causing urinary incontinence and painful sex.

Enter (literally) the Emfemme 360 (from the makers of the hugely popular Emsella, Emsculpt and Emface machines), a radiofrequency (RF) device that looks (there’s no getting away from this) like a dildo.

It aims to tighten the vagina, vulva and labia, ramp up blood flow and lubrication, and re-set the vaginal microbiome with radiofrequency heat. It’s not the only machine that uses RF for this purpose, but it’s the first that can treat the entire vagina (others do a third or quarter of it) in a single eight-minute treatment; the outer labia and perineal area will take an extra 12 to 20 minutes.

Clinical studies have shown that the internal treatment will thicken the vaginal wall ‘padding’ by 32 per cent, supporting the bladder, restoring the vaginal pH and its fluid volume, and making the whole kit and kaboodle more elastic.

What happens?

The Emfemme 360 has two sizes of internal probe (very thoughtful) and an ‘external tip’ for outer areas. Once inserted, the soft silicone device heats up to a little over 40 degrees Celcius and is "gently inserted and retracted" (apologies, it's graphic) for eight minutes, vibrating and pulsing mildly. The heat level is known to set off tissue repair, collagen regeneration and increased circulation. It’s warm but not hot or painful and has been compared to an internal hot stone massage.

Afterwards, if required, the outer areas are treated with the external tip - each chosen area for three to six minutes. There is no downtime. For full results, you need three treatments, spaced seven to 14 days apart.

What are the results?

Women report a very fast improvement in lubrication, making sex more pleasurable (arousal and orgasms are also said to improve) and “immediate difference in tightness”, as well as relief of urinary incontinence. Externally, the labia will be plumper and “look neater”, with full results after three months.

How much does Emfemme 360 cost?

Single sessions are from £350. For internal and external treatment around £500 per session, depending on the clinic. Find ‘Emfemme near me’ here.

For over-plucked brows: the shopping centre eyebrow transplant

Westfield in Shepherd’s Bush is set to launch a whole ‘Wellness Village’ later this year, and one of the first places to open, this March, will be the Hair & Skin Clinic at Westfield White City. One of the leading clinic groups in Switzerland, with every procedure carried out by a doctor, it offers injectables but also hair transplants. One top of that, they have exclusively developed minimally invasive (but surgical, as scalpels are used) eyebrow transplants. These can be transformative, whether your brows are gone completely or are patchy or thinned-out due to over-plucking, illness or hereditary factors. It’s not something I require but I know a growing number of people for whom this can be game-changing.

What happens?

Under local anaesthetic, the doctor takes active follicles from the lower back of the head (where the hairs are mostly shorter and finer than elsewhere and are hormone-resistant, so they won’t fall out as other hairs do if you suffer from pattern baldness). The hairs are transplanted, one by one, into the bald areas in the eyebrow after making small incisions there, in the desired direction of the eyebrow growth.

The downtime is classed as minimal: you may have bruising and swelling in back of the head which subsides within a week. The brows themselves may also be mildly bruised and swollen for a week or two. When the anaesthetic wears off, there is little pain "as the transplanted hairs don’t have any nerve endings".

Worried your new eyebrows will grow long like the head hair they came from? In time, the hairs take on the characteristics of brow follicles, so they will be short brow hairs. They will also get coarser, like regular brow hairs.

What are the results?

The procedure takes several hours. The results should look entirely natural and with time, the implanted hairs become indistinguishable from any existing brow hairs. You can have your eyebrows look as full or as delicate as you like.

As the transplanted hairs are largely immune to the hair loss hormone DHT (because of where they came from), you don’t need to worry about your brows falling out again.

What is the cost?

Eyebrow transplantation at Hair & Skin Clinic, Wellness Village at Westfield will be £4000. From March 2023.