Foreo Bear users -Sally Hughes of the Guardian says all such devices are a useless waste of money. Is that true?

[BigButtons]

I have been stealing myself to pay the £££‘s.

Online reviews are all positive but then in yesterday’s Guardian the beauty person said that facial muscles don’t sag and it was all about loss of collagen therefore micro current devices would not work.
I want her to be wrong because I want it to work. I also want her to be right so that I can save my money.
Thoughts?

I disagree, I have the nuface mini and you see instant results with it. They don’t necessarily last but it definitely works and as long as you use it daily you do get results.

It's not about muscles sagging, microcurrent increases muscle size which gives volume, which then stretches skin to accommodate extra muscle size so fine lines and wrinkles become less visible, and the muscles give a more sculpted and taut appearance to the face. It's a substructure approach and that's what imitates a lift but it's just expansion of muscle. I take the point about collagen but nowhere does microcurrent advertise itself as a collagen inducing technique, it's about muscle tone and a fair bit of careful marketing copy around the use of the word 'volume'.

Labmuffin beauty (chemistry PhD) did a good write up about it, it's not without criticism but the collagen angle is no smoking gun. I love my Bear and even though I'd say the effect is subtle the biggest plus I've found is that it tackles asymmetry in the face and that does read as younger and more attractive.

Watching with interest as I'm considering the Bear. Has anyone any preferences between that and the Nuface? My lower face is sagging. I'll take anything that shows an improvement.

What are these magic devices you are talking about?

I read it and disagree with Salli. I think there IS some evidence microcurrents help. They started as medical devices for people who had facial paralysis and it was noticed they had a mild ‘face lifting’ effect. I’ve had salon CACI treatments and found them good if expensive. I use a Nuface mini and do like it. You have to keep up with using it but it does have an effect.

This is the difference in my eye after 1 month with the foreo bear.

I had a lot of weight loss through illness, and hereditary sagginess around the eyes. Though mine came on more quickly than other family members due to the weight loss. 40% of body weight in 3 months, but I've happily put about 10% back on.

I looked like Dot Cotton after a 48hr sherry binge

I've now been using it for 2 months and my cheeks aren't quite as gaunt, things have been pushed back a bit to where they should be.

There is a kind of finish to your face after using it. It brings out the planes of your face, like very carefully well applied makeup so the highlight and contours look very well done even though you have no makeup on.

Do they do anything for crepey loose neck skin?

Also disagree with her. But it’s a small difference (I use Nuface) but I can tell when I’ve missed a week.

And that’s probably the issue. The minute you stop using it your face goes back to how it was. You have to use them frequently too.
It’s not dramatic but with slight sagging even a bit of lift is good.

Thank you everyone. The article confused me. I have been doing facial exercises on and off for years and the really do make a difference and would do more if I did them more often. I have seen most results in my neck. But of course anything muscle strengthening only builds muscle as long as we keep doing it. If I stop exercising my body for a while I lose muscle definition.
The trouble with facial exercising is that they ARE time consuming. I liked the idea of a few minutes daily with the bear as I could easily do it reading the paper over a morning cuppa.
So I am happy (and sad) that the devices work. I shall go back to saving the £££’s then.
@70sduvet that is truly amazing- you must be thrilled!
@botemp presumably even the smallest lift can make a big difference visually? I wanted something to compliment the p50 which it does seem the beat will.
@J0nah when I was doing preliminary research I found that more people favoured the bear as it was seemed more effective overall and quicker to use . But I own neither so am not really qualified to comment.

@70sduvet that looks fantastic! Where do you apply the bear for it to have this effect on your eyes?

Newstepchild I hold it on the outer eyebrow for a few seconds and sweep out.
I looked at the videos for the foreo mini and some for the foreo bear and mimicked routines I found on YouTube
For the first month I spent 3 mins or a whole cycle working on the eyebrows and forehead. I usually do 3 x the foreo cycle around the face. Now that they are lifted well I just do the "recommended" sweep on the app and maybe go over them for a whole cycle once a week.

I'd say if I stopped for a few weeks itd all be back to normal fairly quickly. But it works well, compared to doing nothing

Thanks. I am seriously tempted!

@BigButtons whose facial exercises do you follow?
@70sduvet That's an amazing difference.

I also do face exercises plus I use a nuface. The FE really build muscle and push the face up - the nuface isn’t as dramatic but it’s doing something

@Ihopeyourcakeisshiti have tried many progs over the years. I have settled now on face aerobics on you tube. I like that it has variety and she explains exactly how to place fingers and why- also it’s free!

Sali Hughes isn't qualified to make such statements. She's not qualified at all, is she?

@tofuschnitzel

Sali Hughes isn't qualified to make such statements. She's not qualified at all, is she?

There I was thinking that she knew what she was actually talking about

Sami Hughes’ advice is hit and miss at best.

Thank you BigButtons. Sali Hughes appears to be a Beauty Journo but looks amazing. I'd love to know what her skincare routine is.
I looked on eBay to see how many were available second hand and there were hardly any. Took that as a good sign and ordered a new Bear. Hoping it's not unpleasant / painful as planning to introduce it into my nightly routine. Fingers crossed.

I've ordered one too based on @70sduvet 's eyes! Hope it does the same for mine

Sali Hughes says the idea of firming facial muscles to tighten skin is akin to ironing a vest but having a wrinkled blouse. But In my humble opinion, it’s like having a firm mattress. You can iron a sheet as much as you like but if the mattress is saggy the sheet will look saggy too. So i will keep doing my face exercises and microcurrent as they have worked wonders for me!

I would like to get one of these. Is anyone willing to say what they paid and if there are any deals out there? Also how often do you go through the serum if using daily?

.

I don't remember what I paid, I got 15% off at Cult Beauty and it came to around €265, I think. I bought it when it was quite new and exempt from offers in a lot of places but now you can get it with 20% off whenever spacenk, Lookfantastic or cult beauty do a code.

I don't use the Foreo serum serum serum, it's nice enough (comes with a sample of it) but stupidly overpriced for what it is IMO and they say you can use any water based serum that's oil free but choose wisely as you want something very basic and I'm unsure about silicones as they are oil like. I started off using conducting gel that I still had but you have to wash that off so you're washing your face twice so I switched to CosRX advanced 96 snail mucin power essence and I've used about 1/5 of it over the last 2/3 months. Others use Vichy Mineral 89. I would get a thermal spray water with it to keep your face damp as about halfway through it tends to dry up (especially if you do longer routines, I do one cycle each side of the face and then neck so three cycles total).

There I was thinking that she knew what she was actually talking about

Well. Hmm. You may find a few people who are somewhat, shall I say, sceptical about Sali Hughes.

I'm not sure how she is qualified to talk about facial musculature?

I mean, we know she understands Botox (when she finally had to admit she uses it) but does she understand the muscles and skin in the face?