That's a lot of needles in your face
Cosmetic acupuncture (aka facial acupuncture), the injection-free outlier of the bunch, uses needles approximately one-fifth the diameter of typical hypodermic needles and is said to increase circulation and collagen production, and improve skin tone. Long favored by wellness moguls such as Jessica Alba, Kim Kardashian and Gwyneth Paltrow, it has grown in popularity as more people turn to holistic skin care methods. In an interview in May, Sarita Choudhury, who stars in 'And Just Like That …,' said she indulged in weekly sessions with her acupuncturist.
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As one of the Western Hemisphere's more widely known forms of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture's stateside popularity reaches back to the 1970s when an American journalist trailing President Richard Nixon's 1971 delegation to Beijing reported on having received the treatment there.
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Stefanie DiLibero of Gotham Wellness conducted a facial acupuncture session in New York in March. Cosmetic acupuncture uses needles approximately one-fifth the diameter of typical hypodermic needles and is said to increase circulation, boost collagen production, and improve skin tone.
JEANETTE SPICER/NYT
In the ensuing decades, acupuncture coursed through the channels of medicine from alternative to the mainstream, seemingly effective for all manner of ills and conditions including migraines, digestive issues, infertility and insomnia, as well as general pain management. Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and NBA star LeBron James incorporated acupuncture into their injury recovery protocols. Wellness and lifestyle website Goop has referred to the treatment in more than 60 articles. Little wonder that as popular interest and curiosity has spread, some people would look to acupuncture for facial rejuvenation.
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Interest in cosmetic acupuncture also aligns with the nascent #notox movement, which rejects Botox in favor of natural alternatives promising similar results — especially among Gen Z consumers.
Online, Google searches for 'cosmetic acupuncture' have increased by 248% in the past two years. As of January, the average number of views for notox-related content on TikTok had increased 223% in the past year, according to the trend forecasting agency Trendalytics.
Part of cosmetic acupuncture's outlier status lies in its holistic nature. Typically, treatments target points on the body, as well as on the face, to address issues such as poor sleep and digestion, stress, PMS — culprits that can factor into the skin's appearance.
'Its greatest benefit is that it's not just skin deep,' said Stefanie DiLibero of Gotham Wellness in the Manhattan borough of New York City. There, clients undergo a full health intake before their multistep treatments, which include full-body acupuncture, microcurrent stimulation and manual lymphatic drainage. DeLibero said 90% of her patients came for cosmetic acupuncture but welcomed the all-in-one perks.
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Still, there's a strong emphasis on 'cosmetic,' as many salons build in treatments one would see on an aesthetician's menu: lymphatic drainage massages, hydrating face masks and red light therapy to stimulate collagen production.
At ORA, a wellness spa with two locations in Manhattan, founder Kim Ross said that even teenagers with complexion concerns such as acne came in for its acupuncture facial, which also includes body acupuncture, gua sha and LED therapy. Since ORA's opening in 2021, the facial has become one of the its most popular offerings. Regardless of age or generation, nearly everyone is chasing that elusive 'glow,' Ross said.
Claudia Baettig, an acupuncturist who works at Prosper LA in Los Angeles, is seeing women come in as early as their 20s for facial treatments. 'A lot of their peers are already doing Botox and injectables, and they want something preventative,' she said. Or they want to avoid Botox altogether.
Red light therapy is used to stimulate collagen production during a facial acupuncture session at Gotham Wellness in March.
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'I'm just so scared of getting filler and then regretting it,' said Michelle Desouza, who lives in Brooklyn and is the founder of Same Skin, a culture and wellness community for women. She scheduled her first cosmetic acupuncture session with DiLibero at Gotham Wellness when she was just entering her 30s. She wanted to look rejuvenated but 'not look like everyone else,' she said, referring to the ubiquitous 'Instagram face,' the neutered look (sometimes facilitated by face-tuning filters and actual aesthetic treatments) that, often as not, looks artificial-intelligence generated.
Desouza, now 36, said she was an exception among her friends, many of whom had gone the way of Botox. While someone who has gotten Botox can still receive cosmetic acupuncture, Baettig noted that it was like buying into 'two opposing schools of thought.' Botox prevents muscle contraction, while acupuncture performs the opposite.
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'We're stimulating,' she said. 'We want to increase circulation to the muscles.'
Does cosmetic acupuncture actually work? Success can be hard to measure because the objective is often subjective and varying. Baettig said clients tended to have an instant glow after one session, but she warned them not to expect the same results as one would with injectables.
'But you do see a subtle reduction of fine lines and wrinkles,' she said. 'You do see a brighter complexion, typically after anywhere from six to 10 treatments.'
At Prosper LA, where a single cosmetic acupuncture session costs $195 to $225, and at other skin care salons, including ORA, where the signature facial is $475, a series of treatments could easily put one in the same beauty budget range as injectables. But potential holistic benefits like serenity and a relaxed mood are foreign to most serums, peels and Botox sessions.
'It's a way for me to center and calm myself,' said Abrams, whose acupuncturist did manage to see her for a treatment without the six-week wait.
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