What Are Skin Boosters? Everything You Need to Know Before Your First Treatment

Skin boosters are micro-injections of hyaluronic acid placed into the skin itself rather than beneath it. They improve hydration, texture, fine lines and radiance without adding volume or changing the shape of your face. Most patients have a course of 1 to 3 sessions at £250 each, and results typically last 6 to 9 months.

Skin boosters are among the most requested treatments at our Wimpole Street clinic in the Harley Street medical district, and they are also among the most misunderstood. Patients frequently arrive asking for them when they actually want filler, or dismiss them as "just hydration" when they are exactly what their skin needs. This guide is the explanation I give in consultation.

What are skin boosters?

Skin boosters are injectable treatments that deliver hyaluronic acid directly into the deeper layers of the skin. Hyaluronic acid is a substance your body produces naturally, and one of its roles is holding water within the tissue, which is what keeps skin plump, supple and resilient.

Production declines with age, and it is depleted further by sun exposure, smoking, alcohol and simple dehydration. The result is skin that looks flat and tired even when nothing about your facial structure has changed.

A topical serum cannot solve this, because the hyaluronic acid molecule is too large to pass through the skin barrier in any meaningful quantity. Injecting places it exactly where it is needed, at a depth no cream can reach. That is the entire premise of the treatment.

How are skin boosters different from fillers?

Dermal fillers and skin boosters both use hyaluronic acid, which is why they are so often confused. They are formulated completely differently and do different jobs.

Filler is a firm, cross-linked gel designed to hold its shape. It is placed in a specific spot to add volume, create projection or define a contour. It changes your face structurally.

A skin booster is thin and flowable, designed to spread through the tissue rather than sit in one place. It changes the condition of the skin. It does not add volume, does not create definition, and will not alter your facial shape in any way.

The shorthand I use with patients: filler is architectural, a skin booster is atmospheric. If your concern is that your cheeks have flattened, you want filler. If your concern is that your skin looks dull and crepey regardless of its shape, you want a booster.

What do skin boosters actually improve?

In practice patients notice change in four areas:

• Hydration. Skin that feels tight, looks flat, and does not respond to whatever you put on it.
• Fine lines. The shallow surface lines that come from dehydration rather than from muscle movement.
• Texture. Roughness, visible pores and an uneven surface.
• Radiance. Better hydrated skin reflects light differently, which is what people read as looking well rested.

They are not limited to the face. The neck, the décolletage and the backs of the hands all age visibly and all respond, and they are areas patients often neglect until the contrast with a treated face becomes obvious.

Who are skin boosters suitable for?

They suit a wider range of people than most injectable treatments. They are particularly useful for dull or tired-looking skin, dehydrated skin, early fine lines, rough texture, and skin that needs repair after a summer of sun exposure.

They are also a sensible first injectable. There is no structural change, nothing to look overdone, and nothing that alters how you are recognised. For patients who are cautious about aesthetics but unhappy with their skin, this is usually where I start.

Patients who already have filler often add boosters for the same reason: the filler handles the shape, and the booster handles the surface, which filler was never going to improve.

Who are they not suitable for?

They are not offered during pregnancy or breastfeeding, or where there is active infection or inflammation in the area to be treated.

They are also the wrong treatment if your main concern is volume loss or significant skin laxity. A booster will improve the quality of loose skin but it will not tighten it, and I would rather tell you that at consultation than take payment for a treatment that will not answer your concern.

What happens during the treatment?

Treatment begins with an assessment of your skin and a discussion of what you are hoping to change. On the day, the skin is cleansed and a topical numbing cream is applied and left to work.

Small amounts of hyaluronic acid are then placed across the treatment area through a series of fine, superficial injections. The whole appointment takes 30 to 45 minutes, most of which is numbing rather than injecting.

Small raised bumps immediately afterwards are normal and expected. They are the product sitting in the skin before it disperses, and they settle within 24 to 48 hours. Mild redness is common and occasional bruising is possible.

There is no significant downtime. Most patients return to their day straight away, though it is sensible to avoid make-up, heavy exercise and saunas for the rest of the day.

How many sessions will I need?

Most patients have a course of 1 to 3 sessions, spaced 3 to 4 weeks apart. The number depends on how depleted the skin is at the start, which is assessed in person rather than assumed.

Hydration improves after the first session. The change in texture and fine lines is cumulative and builds across the course, which is why a single session is best thought of as a starting point rather than a complete treatment.

After the initial course, most patients maintain the result with a single top-up roughly every six months.

What results can I expect, and when?

Improved hydration and a subtle glow are usually noticeable within the first week.

The more meaningful change, smoother texture and softer fine lines, develops over the weeks following the full course as the skin responds to being properly hydrated at depth.

This is a treatment that makes skin look well rather than different. Nobody will be able to identify what you have had done, which for most patients is precisely the point.

How long do the results last?

Results typically last 6 to 9 months. How long varies with your skin, your age, sun exposure, smoking and general lifestyle, which is why two people having identical treatments can need topping up at different times.

How much do skin boosters cost?

Skin boosters at DimAllure are £250 per session. A typical course of 2 to 3 sessions therefore sits between £500 and £750, paid per session rather than upfront.

Every consultation is £50 and fully redeemable against your treatment. Full pricing is on our price list.

How do skin boosters compare with Profhilo and polynucleotides?

All three improve skin quality, and they are genuinely different treatments rather than brand variations.

Skin boosters, at £250 per session, hydrate the skin from within and are the most straightforward of the three.

Profhilo, at £450 per session, uses a much higher concentration of hyaluronic acid and works on skin laxity and firmness as well as hydration, over a standard course of two sessions.

Polynucleotides, from £250 per syringe for under-eyes and from £300 for face or neck, are regenerative rather than hydrating. They use purified DNA fragments to prompt repair, and are particularly effective for thin, crepey skin and under-eye concerns.

Choosing between them is a clinical judgement based on what your skin is actually short of. Our comparison of polynucleotides, Profhilo and skin boosters goes through this in detail.

What can skin boosters not do?

They will not add volume or restore facial structure. That is dermal filler or Sculptra.

They will not tighten loose skin, soften lines caused by muscle movement, or treat pigmentation.

And they are not permanent. This is a maintenance treatment, and any clinic suggesting otherwise is overselling it.

Book a consultation at 2nd Floor, 2 Wimpole St, London W1G 0EB. All consultations are £50, fully redeemable against your treatment.

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DimAllure
2nd Floor, 2 Wimpole St, London W1G 0EB
Personally administered by Dima Alomar, GPhC-registered Clinical Prescriber Pharmacist
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Related reading: skin boosters versus Profhilo, babyGLOW versus skin boosters and when to book before a holiday or wedding.