A cosmetic skin clinic serving London, organised around the finding rather than the equipment. Almost every disappointing skin result begins the same way: a competently performed procedure aimed at the wrong problem. Melasma treated as sun damage. Redness treated as scarring. A damaged barrier treated with more exfoliation.
So treatment starts from what you actually have. The finding is named, the mechanism that addresses it is explained, the realistic timeline is stated rather than compressed, and the risks that need a plan are set out before anything is switched on. Skin type governs the settings and sometimes governs whether a treatment is offered at all.
Where a course is proposed, the number of sessions and what happens between them is written down, and the course is judged on the skin at review rather than completed because it was paid for. What the consultation involves.
Each page states what the treatment changes, who it suits, how much it costs in London and what moves that number, how long the result takes, the recovery, and the circumstances in which it is the wrong choice.
Where the finding is texture, established lines or photoageing. These work over a course and are judged three to six months after the last session.
Treatment
The most reliable low-risk texture treatment, and the one most often undermined by home devices.
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Treatment
Microneedling with heat added. More remodelling, more downtime, considerably more operator dependency.
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Treatment
Controlled injury with a century of clinical history. Depth and skin type decide everything.
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Treatment
The most powerful resurfacing available, and the least forgiving of a careless assessment.
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Where a diagnosis governs the plan and the wrong device makes the appearance worse. Skin type and pattern decide what is safe here, not the price list.
Treatment
Four different conditions wearing one word. Getting the diagnosis wrong here is expensive and sometimes permanent.
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Treatment
Two problems, in strict order. Active acne is a medical condition; scarring is a staged programme.
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Treatment
A medical condition first and a cosmetic one second. The order matters more here than anywhere.
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Where the dermis has lost its capacity to hold water, or the skin needs support rather than injury. Courses with maintenance, described as such.
Treatment
Hydration delivered into the skin rather than onto it. Useful where resurfacing is risky.
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Treatment
A newer category with genuine promise and marketing that has already outrun the evidence.
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Treatment
Prepared from your own blood in the same appointment. The variability between clinics is the whole story.
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Treatment
The best version of an event treatment. Real, immediate, and temporary by design.
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Almost every disappointing skin result begins the same way: a competently performed procedure aimed at the wrong finding. These pages set out what each finding is, how it is assessed, which treatments address it in London, what will not work, how long it takes and what moves the cost.
Two different processes, one appearance, and only one of them is under your control.
ReadEtched lines, fine crepe and the difference between them.
ReadRoughness, congestion and visible pores, and what is achievable for each.
ReadDullness, dehydration and a barrier that is not doing its job.
ReadPhotoageing, and the one lesion type that needs a doctor rather than a clinic.
ReadStinging, flushing and reactivity, and what has to be ruled out first.
ReadFour different conditions wearing one word. Getting the diagnosis wrong here is expensive and sometimes permanent.
ReadTwo problems, in strict order. Active acne is a medical condition; scarring is a staged programme.
ReadA medical condition first and a cosmetic one second. The order matters more here than anywhere.
ReadNo badges, because a badge tells you almost nothing. The framework, and what it means for you, tells you a great deal.
Regulation of this sector is narrower than most people assume. Where a clinic is registered with the Care Quality Commission, that registration covers defined regulated activities rather than every procedure on the menu, and a great many cosmetic skin treatments sit outside it altogether. Legislation enabling a licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England exists but has not been brought into force.
Devices are the part clinics advertise and the part that matters least. A laser is a set of parameters, not a promise. What decides the outcome is whether the skin was typed properly before the settings were chosen, whether a test patch was performed where it was indicated, whether the settings were recorded so they can be repeated or adjusted, and whether anyone was prepared to decline treatment.
So what is published here is the framework rather than a badge: assessment before treatment, Fitzpatrick type recorded and acted on, patch testing where indicated, written consent that names the risk of post-inflammatory pigmentation rather than burying it, standardised photographs in consistent light for comparison rather than for advertising, and a protocol for what happens if pigmentation develops afterwards.
A consultation that runs for ten minutes and ends with a course price is not an assessment. This is the ground a proper one covers.
The same order every time, with the decision made at assessment rather than at the point of sale.
Tell us what you are seeing on your skin, how long it has been there and what you have already tried. You are told which treatments are relevant and which are not.
The finding named, skin type recorded, the routine reviewed, and anything needing a medical opinion referred rather than treated.
Where it is indicated, before treatment rather than after a reaction. Skin preparation where the plan calls for it, particularly in deeper skin tones.
Modality, settings, sessions, interval, cost and the risks that need a protocol, set out in writing. You take it away and think about it.
Delivered at the stated interval, with settings recorded each time so they can be repeated or adjusted rather than guessed at.
Judged on the skin at three and six months, with photographs in consistent light, rather than declared finished because the sessions were used.
There is no price list on this site. Almost everything worth having in this field is a course rather than a session, and the number of sessions follows from the finding, the skin type and the response to the first of them. A per-session figure quoted before an assessment is not a price, it is a hook.
What you should expect instead is a written plan after the assessment, stating the modality, the number of sessions, the interval, what preparation is required, what is included, when the result will be assessed and what happens if pigmentation develops. That document is what you compare between London clinics.
The cheapest possible outcome is worth naming, because it happens often: an assessment that concludes your barrier is damaged and the correct first step is to stop, wait and repair. That costs nothing at a clinic and it frequently works.
Enquiries come from every part of the city and from well beyond it. Consultations are arranged by appointment, so the practical question is how far you are willing to travel for an assessment rather than which street a door sits on.
Marylebone, Fitzrovia, Mayfair, Soho, Belgravia and the Harley Street medical district.
Chelsea, South Kensington, Knightsbridge, Notting Hill, Holland Park and Fulham.
Hampstead, St John's Wood, Primrose Hill, Islington, Highgate and Muswell Hill.
The City, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Canary Wharf, Wimbledon, Richmond and Clapham.
The finding before the treatment. Skin type recorded properly, the pattern and depth of what you have, the routine you are already using, and whether anything present needs a doctor rather than a clinic. Only then does the conversation reach devices, courses and cost.
Almost everything worth having here is a course rather than a session, so comparing a single session price between clinics is misleading. Cost depends on the modality, the number of sessions, whether preparation is required and whether reviews and photographs are included. A written plan follows the assessment.
Yes. Skin type governs which acids and energies are safe and at what settings, and treating the wrong finding is the commonest reason a course does not work. Where patch testing is indicated it happens before treatment rather than after a reaction.
Enquiries come from across the city, including Marylebone and the Harley Street medical district, Mayfair and Fitzrovia, Chelsea, Kensington and Knightsbridge, Hampstead and Islington, the City and Clerkenwell, and Wimbledon and Richmond. Consultations are arranged by appointment.
Surface treatments show a change within days and it is short-lived. Collagen-driven treatments are assessed three to six months after the final session, because remodelling continues throughout that period. Judging a course at four weeks is the commonest reason people conclude it did not work.
Every treatment described here carries risk, most commonly post-inflammatory pigmentation, and that risk is managed by typing the skin, preparing it and choosing settings accordingly. What separates clinics is whether the plan says what happens if pigmentation develops, and whether anyone is prepared to say no.
Tell us what you are seeing on your skin, how long it has been there and what you have already tried. You will get a considered reply setting out what the finding is likely to be, which treatments address it and which do not.
hello@aestheticlaunchlab.comPlease do not send clinical photographs or medical records by email. If something has gone wrong after a treatment, contact the practitioner who treated you, or NHS 111, rather than waiting for a reply here.