ONLY in the beauty world would something akin to electroshock therapy have a wait list. And a $300 price tag.
But microcurrent facials have acquired near-mythical status among the Hollywood and fashion crowds and are now making their way into the mainstream. One of the more fabled practitioners, Joanna Vargas, decamps from Manhattan once each month, setting up shop in a discreet bungalow on the grounds of the Chateau Marmont. Another aesthetician with a following -- Kyoko Getz at Kate Somerville on Melrose -- has a five-month waiting list for weekend appointments. Microcurrent facials -- yes, yet another treatment billed as a "nonsurgical face-lift" -- are fast becoming the dish du jour on spa menus all over the city.
What's all the fuss about? On a recent day at the Chateau, Vargas got to work, waving two wands charged with a low current of electricity over a lucky customer's face. She applied delicate pressure to the contours of the forehead, cheek bones and chin. The treatment may, at times, cause a little tingling sensation.
In less skilled hands, it may, at times, cause your face to jerk uncontrollably.
Endure this, and the claims are impressive: The treatment is said to tone brows, cheeks and chins, supposedly doing for muscles on the face what a Nautilus machine does for the rest of the body -- but without any exertion.
"It takes all the tired out of my face," says Ilaria Urbinati, 28, a stylist for "The L Word" and celebrities such as Bijou Phillips and Rob Zombie.
While other treatments leave her skin looking red or irritated, Urbinati says, the microcurrent facial allows her to make an appointment hours before an event and leave looking better than she did when she arrived.
Taking a cue from medicine
But beyond anecdotal praise, what's behind this newest beauty trend?
Ever since Dr. Charles E. Michel tapped into an electrical current in 1875 to remove an ingrown eyelash, electricity has become a staple in the medical and cosmetic industries. Microcurrent technology (also referred to as microcurrent electrical neuromuscular stimulation) has been used for decades by doctors helping patients heal from soft tissue injuries, by orthopedics hoping to promote bone healing and by chiropractors and acupuncturists for neck and back pain. Although these treatments -- for medical use -- have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, machines manufactured for cosmetic use are classified differently and not required to prove efficacy, only safety.
