Fad-free zone: 7 skin treatments this straight-talking doctor recommends

Dr Benji Dhillon may be the tweakment universe’s best-kept secret: his expertise is sought after as much by other cosmetic doctors (who he trains in techniques such as undetectable injectables) as by patients in-the-know.

As a cosmetic surgeon and aesthetic physician focused on excellence and wary of hype, you won’t know him from endless TikTok videos. Nor will you see him offering trending tweakments with clickbait-y names. “I don’t do cookie-cutter aesthetics; great work has to be bespoke and involve a deep-diving, transparent consultancy process,” says Dr Dhillon, whose Define clinics are located in Beaconsfield and London. “My patients are always thanking me for saying ‘no’ as much as yes – and for making them look the best version of themselves.”

His reputation is almost exclusively built on word-of-mouth: if you know about Dr Dhillon and his team of crack physicians, nurses and aestheticians, it’s probably a hot tip from that friend who’s looking remarkably yet undefinably good right now.

Dr Benji Dhillon is known for achieving subtle results

“If I do introduce a new device or product, such as the Moxi laser or, recently, Julaine [see below], it has to be ‘Rolls Royce’ in its field and truly offer something new and improved.”

So what does this incredibly choosy physician, who’s allergic to hype and stands on “excellence at a fair price”, believe are the gold standard treatments? We asked him to pick his top eight.

Dr Benji Dhillon’s 7 top-rated skin health treatments

Best lasers for all skin tones: BBL, Moxi and Halo laser

As a laser specialist, Dr Dhillon knows every device going. These three (all part of the same machine) are all “best in class,” he says. They range in intensity and downtime, from gentle intense pulsed light (BBL) to ablative laser (Halo).

If you have pigmentation, rosacea, wrinkles, acne, melasma, lines and wrinkles, skin laxity or are looking for luminosity, there is a treatment option for you. “I’ve worked with many lasers throughout my career, but I’ve replaced almost all of them with these, which can treat all skin types and almost every skin condition. It allows me to deliver better, safer, less painful and more easily applied treatments to skin of every colour.”

Before and after: Less pigmentation and improved skin texture with Moxi and BBL laser at Define Clinic (Image Instagram: @defineclinic)

Botox, the great smoothing all-rounder

“Botox is a ‘fan favourite’ with an unparalleled safety profile,” says Dr Dhillon. “A skilled doctor can use it all over the face and neck to achieve smoothness and lift. I was one of the first to do the ‘Nefertiti neck lift’, which adds definition to the lower face by tightening the neck bands with Botox.”

Botox is the great all-rounder, he says, but he also uses two other anti-wrinkle ‘toxin’ injections, Nuceiva and Azzelure, which are deployed for specific results.

Nuceiva gives a more precise localised result than Botox, because the liquid spreads much less once injected. “If you have a heavy brow, I can use it for wrinkle-relaxing without the brow dropping,” he says. Azzelure, on the other hand, spreads further, “so it’s great when a patient insists on dramatically smooth results.”

Before and after skin tightening with Ultraformer, cheek filler and anti-wrinkle injections at Define Clinic (Image Instagram: @defineclinic)

For jawlines and jowls – Ultraformer and Sofwave ultrasound skin tightening

Skin tightening using high-energy focused ultrasound (HIFU) has been around for years. It’s especially good for jowls and jawlines (it can also provide a brow lift) and is having a resurgence right now with the popularity of undetectable, regenerative treatments.

It works by setting off a collagen-boosting healing response in the deep layers of the skin. One treatment lasts 18 months with results starting at three months.

“There are many HIFU devices [Ultherapy is one], but Ultraformer, which has been around for a decade, remains my mainstay,” says Dr Dhillon. “It just gets great results.”

Beware: any ultrasound skin tightening machine is only as good as the practitioner using it. “It takes training and experience, but get it right and there’s nothing better for tightening skin.”

Your practitioner should also tell you whether you’re a suitable candidate. If you barely have any sagging, you won’t see results (although it can work preventatively). Conversely, Dr Dhillon explains. If your skin is too loose, HIFU won’t cut it and you may need to consider surgery. “An experienced doctor can assess whether you have the right amount of laxity to get a really good result from HIFU.”

Sometimes, ‘pre-treating’ with a skin thickener such as Julaine (see below) before tightening all that new collagen with HIFU is the magic formula, he says.

Sofwave is a newer, popular ultrasound device that Dr Dhillon also offers, but it comes with a higher price tag.

Before and after ultrasound skin tightening at Define Clinic (Image Instagram: @defineclinic)

For inside-out radiance: Map Health screening

Lifestyle and nutrition tweaks can give tangible skin improvements and optimise the effectiveness of your tweakments. If you want to improve skin health and radiance with a personalised plan built around your own data, Dr Dhillon recommends the Map Health test.

“It involves a full blood profile, DNA saliva test, and wearing a blood glucose monitor. It gets us a wealth of data on kidney and liver health, hormone levels, nutritional deficiencies, sensitivities and allergies and more. It’s packaged in a report that delivers detailed practical changes you should make for optimal skin and overall health.”

A Map Health test give personalised insights for inside-out skin health (Image Instagram: @defineclinic)

The hair booster: microneedling with PRP and polynucleotides

These days, we’re as likely to speak to our aesthetic doctor about our hair concerns as our skin. What does Dr Dhillon recommend for hair growth? “Microneedling is one of the best treatments for stimulating follicles to support hair growth, density and health,” he says. “But combining it with polynucleotides, PRP and sometimes exosomes (which all nourish follicles with the building blocks for growth) supercharges the process and helps prevent further hair loss.”

But it’s not a cure-all, he warns. “When patients come in with hormonal hair loss, we start with blood tests to establish potential deficiencies that we need to correct with supplements or medication.”

His microneedling formula won’t work for all types of hair loss (such as scarring alopecia), so you will be clinically assessed before going ahead.

For ‘filter effect’ skin: Julaine biostimulator

“This is the latest biostimulator on the block in the UK, but it has been around elsewhere for over ten years with a very impressive safety profile and excellent results,” says Dr Dhillon. If you’re seeing fine lines and signs of slackening with age, this is a collagen-boosting injectable, administered with a cannula, that delivers a smoothing filter effect, with gentle volume over three treatments. Treatment is preceded by numbing cream and takes about 20 minutes to complete. Julaine noticeably thickens and smooths skin for up to two years.

It’s similar to Sculptra (read our review) but “Julaine produces better-quality collagen with minimal inflammation, for a smooth and truly undetectable ‘better-skin’ result.” Sculptra has more of a ‘filler’ effect so Dr Dhillon would use this to correct more severe volume loss.

 

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The secret weapon: undetectable filler

“Fillers may have a bad rep at the moment, but they are an indispensable part of the aesthetics tool kit, and my speciality,” says Dr Dhillon. He uses filler to restore lost volume, not to make patients look ‘done’ –  hence his reputation for ‘undetectable’ filler. His secret? “Understanding facial anatomy, mastering the correct techniques with the correct products – because there are many different filler densities for different purposes ¬ and being prepared to say ‘no’ a lot,” he says. When might a ‘no’ be in order? If you already have great natural volume, for example, fillers will look unnatural, he says, while “If you have very bad skin quality, fillers won’t help.”

Before and after subtle dermal filler at Define Clinic. (Image Instagram: @defineclinic)

Book with Dr Dhillon and his team at Define Clinic