The Beauty Freeze

Beauty may still be hot, hot, hot – but behind the scenes things are hitting sub-zero

- Erica Bush

Whether it’s the unwanted sprouting of a wiry grey hair, the crow’s-feet wrinkles you were sure weren’t there yesterday or the sudden loss of your once rosy glow, the quest for a younger-looking appearance has never been more coveted. But among the creams, serums, lotions and potions kicking about in your bathroom cabinet, there’s another solution (dare we say cure?) taking over the beauty world. Meet cryotherapy, the non-invasive treatment that exposes either the whole body or localised areas to extremely low temperatures cooled by liquid nitrogen for short periods of time. Once a niche practice in treating sports injuries, the treatment has now been shown to have incredible results on the skin – and its popularity is growing.

‘Among the many other benefits including sports conditioning, weight management and pain relief, beauty enhancement is one of the core advantages of this treatment. Cryotherapy promotes collagen synthesis, skin tightening and boosts your complexion,’ explains Dr Yannis Alexandrides, founder of 111Cryo, the first full-body commercial cryotherapy chamber in the UK. With a number of spas and clinics now offering their own variation of the treatment – extending also to a more general concept of ‘freezing’ products – we decided to find out more about this cutting-edge trend.

In the beginning