By Dr Duncan Brennand, Lead Aesthetic Doctor at L’Atelier Aesthetics, 101 Harley Street
Profhilo has been available in UK clinics since 2015, and the question I get asked most often about it is simply: is it actually worth the money? Patients have usually seen friends get it, read conflicting reviews online, and come to a consultation without being clear on what Profhilo actually does. Here is the honest answer, with the trade-offs and the cases where I would steer a patient elsewhere.
Profhilo is worth it for the right patient: someone in their mid-thirties or older with decent facial structure who wants to improve skin quality, hydration and mild firmness. It is not a filler, it does not add volume, and it will not smooth deep lines. If your main concern is line-softening or volume restoration, the honest answer is that your money is better spent elsewhere, often on dermal fillers.
Profhilo is an injectable skin booster made from a high concentration of hyaluronic acid. What makes it different from most other skin boosters is that rather than sitting where it is injected, it gradually spreads through the surrounding tissue. This means a small number of injection points can improve a much wider area of the face over the following weeks.
Once injected, it hydrates the tissue and encourages the skin to produce new collagen and elastin over the following weeks. The effect builds across a two-session course: one session today, a second four weeks later, with the best results visible at around eight to twelve weeks. The specific injection points used are designed to place the product where it can travel naturally along the tissue, which is also why the appointment is quicker than most injectable treatments.
Profhilo works best for patients in their mid-thirties to mid-fifties whose main concern is skin quality: crepey texture under the eyes, loss of glow across the cheeks, loose skin along the jawline, or generally tired-looking skin. It is also a sensible early step for patients noticing mild jowl softening who are not yet ready for a tightening device. It works well as a preventative treatment in the mid-thirties, before more significant signs of ageing set in.
It is not the right treatment if your concern is deep lines, hollowing or significant sagging. Deep folds need filler. Significant volume loss in the cheeks or temples needs structural filler. Meaningful lower-face laxity may need a tightening device. Profhilo improves the quality of the skin, not the structure underneath it. Patients who understand that going in tend to be the happy ones at their review.
For patients who want skin tightening without an injectable, Sofwave is often the better first step, and the two treatments pair well together. For patients who want a stronger firming effect than Profhilo can give, Julaine is our preferred next option.
One myth worth addressing: Profhilo is sometimes marketed as an alternative to filler. It is not. Filler changes the shape of the face by adding volume. Profhilo improves the quality of the skin without changing the shape underneath. Both have a place in a treatment plan, but they do different jobs.
| Concern | Best option | Why |
|---|---|---|
Overall skin quality and mild firmness | Profhilo | High concentration, spreads across the tissue, stimulates collagen |
Under-eye crepiness and fine lines around the eyes | Polynucleotides | Better suited to the thin skin around the eyes, more targeted repair |
Early line softening with hydration | Sunekos | Combines hyaluronic acid with ingredients that support fine line improvement |
A Profhilo course is two sessions, four weeks apart. Downtime is minimal: the ten injection points show as small raised bumps for the first six to twelve hours, then settle. Most patients are back in makeup the next morning.
Early hydration changes appear within the first week. The firming and skin-quality improvement takes longer, with the best results visible at eight to twelve weeks after the second session. Results last six to nine months on average. A maintenance course once or twice a year keeps the effect going. For patients in their forties and above, twice a year tends to work well. In the mid-thirties, once a year is usually enough.
“The patients who are happiest with Profhilo are the ones who understood the brief. It will not make a 55-year-old face look 35. What it will do is make skin look healthier, more hydrated and a little firmer, subtly enough that people ask if you have been on holiday rather than if you have had something done. That subtlety is the point. If a patient comes in asking for a dramatic change, I will be honest that Profhilo is not the right tool.”
Dr Duncan Brennand, Lead Aesthetic Doctor, L’Atelier Aesthetics
All Profhilo injections at the clinic are administered personally by Dr Brennand. He is a GMC-registered doctor with over a decade of experience in aesthetic medicine. His GMC reference number is 4341662, which can be verified on the GMC medical register. We actively encourage patients to check this before booking any injectable treatment, as it is one of the simplest and most important checks you can do.
Profhilo is one of the most consistently rewarding treatments we offer, but only when it is matched to the right patient and the right concern. If you want healthier, more hydrated, firmer-looking skin without a dramatic change, it is hard to beat. If you want to address deep lines, hollowing or significant sagging, there are better tools for that job and Dr Brennand will point you in the right direction at consultation. Our clinic is at 101 Harley Street, London W1G 6AH, a short walk from Bond Street, Oxford Circus and Regent’s Park. Book through the website or call us to arrange a time.
Profhilo is described by most patients as briefly uncomfortable rather than painful. We apply a numbing cream before treatment. The injection points on each side of the face are done quickly, and the whole appointment including numbing takes around 40 minutes. Mild tenderness around the injection points for a few hours afterwards is normal.
Results typically last six to nine months after a two-session course. Patients often notice the hydration effect wearing off first, with the underlying skin quality improvement lasting a little longer. A maintenance course once or twice a year keeps the benefit going.
A standard course is two sessions spaced four weeks apart. A single session gives a hydration boost but not much of the firming benefit. The two-session schedule is what the product needs to produce a lasting collagen response.
Downtime is minimal. The small raised bumps at the injection points settle within six to twelve hours. Most patients are back in makeup the following morning. Strenuous exercise, saunas and active skincare should be avoided for 24 hours.
Profhilo is not suitable during pregnancy or breastfeeding, for patients with a known allergy to hyaluronic acid, with active skin infection in the treatment area, or with autoimmune conditions that are currently flaring. It is also not the right starting point for patients whose main concern is deep lines, significant hollowing or pronounced sagging. We will discuss better-suited options at consultation.
Profhilo is priced as a two-session course, which is how the product is designed to be used. Top-up sessions, once the initial course is complete, are priced per session. We discuss pricing openly at consultation and do not run discount promotions on clinical treatments. If you see Profhilo offered at a very low price elsewhere, it is worth confirming the product is genuine and that the person injecting is a registered medical professional.
We welcome patients from across Marylebone, Mayfair, Fitzrovia, Regent’s Park, Soho, Knightsbridge, Belgravia, Chelsea and Kensington, as well as visitors travelling to London for specialist aesthetic and skin treatments. Our location benefits from excellent transport links, with Oxford Circus only a 13 minute walk away, Bond Street and Regent’s Park Underground stations are also both within easy reach. The clinic is also conveniently accessible from major London rail stations and Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports thanks to the Elizabeth line, making visits straightforward for both UK and international patients.
Whether you are travelling from within London or further afield, our Harley Street clinic provides a calm, professional environment for personalised aesthetic and skin health treatments in one of the capital’s most respected medical locations.
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