Remember restaurants? Those were nice. Occasionally, when you were dining at one, a server would put a drink or an appetizer down on your table that you didn’t order and you’d have to say, “Those fries look delicious, but they’re not mine.” In most cases, the server would pick the thing up and walk away, confused—but sometimes they’d say, “You know what, just keep it. I think it’s an extra.” You’d feel a little special, and maybe when the bill came, you’d leave a generous tip that would kind of negate the whole point of getting something extra for free.
That’s sort of how my experience with Zaffiro felt—like I was given the gift of a hydro-exfoliation appetizer with my thermo-lifting main course. (Of course, when it comes to cosmetic treatments, you can assume you’re paying for everything you get.) Most devices do just one thing, but Zaffiro, which hit the U.S. market in November and has been rolling out to doctors’ offices and medspas, has two modalities, to target both the epidermis and the deep dermal layers.
The first 10 minutes of the noninvasive anti-aging treatment are dedicated to the hydro-exfoliation, aka water peeling, portion, which uses a high-pressure stream of microscopic water droplets to remove the surface layer of skin and infuse it with a customized serum solution targeted to your particular needs. The nurse warned me it would be loud (before putting cotton balls in my ears) and cryotherapy-level cold, then began to power-wash, if you will, my face. It wasn’t particularly relaxing, especially over and under the nose, but it was highly effective at removing dead skin cells and clearing out some blackheads.
Part two—the thermo-lift technology—uses infrared light to heat the underlying tissue at a maximum depth of four millimeters, stimulating collagen remodeling for improved elasticity. It can be used all over the face, to lift the brows and cheekbones, refine the jawline, or smooth out fine lines around the mouth, and on the neck, hands, décolleté, stomach, arms, legs, buttocks, and above the knees. It’s similar to other treatments that use thermal energy to firm skin, including Thermage, FaceTite, and Ultherapy (only Zaffiro doesn’t require numbing cream or pain medication, the nurse assured me).
Related: What to Know About Thermage, From Someone Who Had It Done on Her Stomach
I was in charge of how much energy I could handle (the peak energy of the device can reach 1020 nm, which translates to going up to level 75). She applied a thick layer of conductive gel, then pressed the handpiece on my cheek and zapped me at a low level, which felt like nothing—a vaguely warm sensation. We upped the power to 50, my personal threshold. The first overall pass was hot but completely bearable; the second pass was less pleasant. I winced and pulled away when the device was on my crow’s-feet and actually cried out when it was placed between my upper lip and nose. (There’s no downtime, but that one spot was fairly red for the remainder of the day). The process took about 25 minutes, but that’s dependent on your treatment area.
When it was over, my skin did look brighter and more even from the exfoliation, and it certainly felt tighter, but there wasn’t a noticeable difference in terms of lift. (I’m also 30 and regularly get Botox and filler, so I wasn’t expecting dramatic results.) The manufacturer, Neauvia, recommends an initial series of one to three treatments, spaced four weeks apart, for face, neck, and décolleté rejuvenation, and four to six for tightening and lifting larger areas of the body.
Because Zaffiro targets collagen regeneration, results will continue to build over the next three to six months; still, depending on your desired goal, it’s likely you may need an annual session. A single Zaffiro treatment starts around $490, which is significantly more affordable than similar treatments in its class if you’re looking for light skin resurfacing and improved laxity.
