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Recently, I found myself in a skin rut. It was just feeling a bit meh — too red, too blotchy. It’s also really sensitive.
I desperately needed something, anything, to rehydrate my skin without stripping it, and leave it feeling plump. So what to do?
Enter: Enzyme Therapy.
In case you haven’t read about it, the main purpose of the treatment is to detoxify all the nasties out of your skin using your own lymphatic system. Apparently it’s an absolute favourite of many celebs, the Miss Universe team included, so it has to be good — right?
After hearing about the benefits of enzyme therapy, I promptly booked myself into HÜD Skin and Body. My skin therapist, Anna, was an absolute dreamboat and talked me through everything that was involved in the process.
Watch: Here are 4 reasons why face mists are an absolute essential in your summer handbag. (Post continues after video.)
She began the treatment with Dermatox, a cleanser that stays on your skin for around three minutes. It eliminates impurities, and kind of smells like burning rubber on your skin. There’s a reason for this.
“Dermatox is ionized to turn the skin’s toxins into a gas which evaporates from the skin. It is designed to act like a liquid magnet for impurities in the skin, drawing them to the surface of the skin where they evaporate,” Gry Tømte, the founder of HÜD, explains to me.
“This sometimes causes unpleasant odours. Some tell us it smells like dirty socks or burnt rubber.”
Thankfully, it doesn’t feel like burning rubber or dirty socks on your skin. It feels really gentle and lovely.
After this, the DMK Enzyme Therapy mask was applied.
It's not a massagey-type facial but it does feel good, and trust me when I say it will leave you skin feeling incredible. The treatment is non-invasive and is designed to remove dead protein cells from the surface of the skin without peeling it.
The mask stays on for around 45 minutes, and gets tight quite quickly. If you're claustrophobic, I would recommend you discuss the process with your skin care specialist before having the treatment, because it does feel really tight. It never became too uncomfortable for me, though.
This was certainly helped by the staff at HÜD, who make the process as relaxing as possible. They'll treat you to a hand or foot massage while you sit back and listen to a guided meditation, and they constantly ensure you're feeling relaxed.
Some people also experience a pulsating feeling on the skin throughout the treatment, which is the lymphatic vessels pumping fresh blood and therefore oxygen into the tissue. (Post continues after gallery.)
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"The tightening action of the enzyme treatment has the bonus effect of actually exercising the facial muscles. This tones and tightens the facial muscles without having to physically exercise them yourself. The result is firmer, smoother, tighter skin," Tømte tells me.
"DMK Enzyme Therapy helps to restore and regulate skin functioning so we are getting to the core of the problem, not merely focusing on the surface. By doing so we need to use the lymphatic system to remove the build up of toxins and flood the cells with fresh new blood and oxygen," Tømte explains.
There's another aspect of this treatment we need to talk about: the 'Plasmatic Effect'.
As the blood vessels and lymph nodes respond to the enzyme treatment, your skin begins to look quite peculiar. Be warned: this next photo is really confronting, and slightly embarrassing, but for the sake of honest beauty advice here it is. Say hello to the Plasmatic Effect:
It's freaky, but it happens for a reason. The enzyme treatment promotes a new rush of fresh oxygenated blood from within the skin due to the dilated capillaries, and you can literally see this take effect on the skin around your neck and face.
"The capillaries stand out like a road map, proving the effect of the enzyme treatment goes deep enough for total dilation of the peripheral capillaries," Tømte says.
"DMK Enzyme Therapy works because it was designed to emulate the way your skin works naturally."
The plasmatic effect only lasts about ten to fifteen minutes, so by the time I got into the car it was gone.
The following day, my skin was a little dry, which is normal after Enzyme Therapy. However, after three days my skin had cleared up significantly — it felt softer, looked more plump, and was incredibly soft.
I was totally surprised how effective the treatment was on my sensitive skin. I would 100 per cent go back again, because the results were quite incredible.
If you're in a bit of a skin rut, definitely give it a go.
Have you ever tried Enzyme Therapy? What was your experience like?
You can find out more about Enzyme Therapy, and more about HÜD Skin and Body on their website.