Dr Yasmin Tayeb's Quick-Fire Five: The Treatments She Trusts for Ageing Well

My Quick-Fire Five: The Treatments I Trust for Ageing Well

Ask a doctor who spends her days treating faces which treatment she would keep if she could only keep one, and you learn a great deal in a few seconds. That was the idea behind a recent quick-fire round I did as the founder of Wellface. Five questions, five honest answers, no time to overthink it.

What came out was a neat little map of how I think about ageing prevention. Not the flashiest treatments or the ones with the biggest marketing budgets, but the ones that quietly do the work over time and keep a face looking like itself. My replies also carried a couple of warnings, because knowing what to avoid matters just as much as knowing what to book.

Below, I have taken each of my answers and unpacked what I actually meant, why I feel that way, and what it tells you if you are weighing up your own options.

Favourite treatment of all time: Profhilo

When asked for the treatment I love above all others, I didn't hesitate. Profhilo. It is a name that comes up again and again among practitioners who prize natural results, and there is good reason for that.

Profhilo is a stabilised form of hyaluronic acid, but it behaves very differently from a traditional dermal filler. Filler is placed to add volume or shape in a specific spot. Profhilo is spread across the face through a small number of injection points and then diffuses widely through the skin. Rather than propping up a hollow, it acts as what the industry calls a bio-remodeller. It draws water into the tissue, hydrates from within, and prompts the skin to make more of its own collagen and elastin over the following weeks.

The effect is subtle in the best possible way. Skin looks firmer, more even, a little dewier. People notice you look well rested without being able to say why. That is exactly the point. Nobody can see that you have had anything done, because nothing has been reshaped.

Why it suits an ageing-prevention plan

One of the first things to change as we age is skin quality. Collagen production slows, the skin holds less water, and that soft plumpness of youth gradually fades even before deep lines set in. Profhilo works on precisely that layer. It is less about correcting an existing problem and more about keeping the skin resilient and hydrated so it ages more slowly.

A standard course is two sessions spaced about four weeks apart, with results building over the following month or two. Many people then top up once or twice a year. Downtime is minimal. There may be small raised bumps at the injection points that settle within hours, and the occasional bruise, but most people carry on with their day straight afterwards. It is easy to see why a doctor who values understated results would name it her favourite.

The treatment I am most careful with: anti-wrinkle injections around the eyes

Asked which treatment I approach most cautiously, my answer was anti-wrinkle injections around the eyes. My guiding phrase says it all: keep it simple, keep it light, and don't kill the expression.

The muscles around the eyes are small, close together and responsible for a lot of natural movement. Treat them too heavily or in the wrong spot and you risk a frozen look, a dropped brow, or an eye that reads as slightly off even when the person can't quite explain why. The goal with anti-wrinkle treatment is never to switch a face off. It is to soften the pull of the muscles just enough that fine lines relax while the face still moves and communicates.

Why less is more here

The eyes carry so much of how we come across. Warmth, humour, surprise, sympathy. Over-treat the area and you lose that, and people around you sense it long before they can name it. My approach is to under-dose rather than over-dose, review after a couple of weeks, and add a touch more only if needed. You can always top up. You cannot easily take away.

This is also a reminder that the skill in injectables sits in the hand and the judgement of the practitioner, not in the product itself. The same vial can produce a natural, refreshed result or a stiff, startled one depending on who is holding the needle and how well they read the individual face in front of them.

The look I see overdone: cheeks

When the conversation turned to the treatment I most often see overdone elsewhere, the answer was cheeks. My words were blunt. Overfilled cheeks alienate a face. You lose the eyes, you lose the natural shape, and everything ends up over-contoured.

Cheek filler, done well, is one of the most flattering things you can do for an ageing face. As we get older, the fat pads in the midface shrink and slide downward, which is a big part of why the face can look tired or slightly sunken. A small, well-placed amount of filler can restore that gentle lift and support the area beneath the eyes and around the mouth.

The trouble starts when more is treated as better. Push too much product into the cheeks and the face widens and flattens in a way that reads as artificial. The natural transitions between features disappear. Ironically, over-filled cheeks often make people look older, or at least less like themselves, which is the opposite of what they wanted.

How to avoid the over-contoured trap

The honest fix is restraint and a doctor who will tell you when to stop. At our clinics the philosophy is to treat conservatively, build gradually across appointments if more is genuinely needed, and always assess the face as a whole rather than chasing one feature. If a practitioner is happy to keep loading product into your cheeks without ever suggesting you have had enough, that is a signal worth paying attention to.

The safest treatment: radiofrequency microneedling with Secret Pro

For the safest treatment on my list, I named radiofrequency microneedling, delivered at our clinics with the Secret Pro system. It is a treatment that combines two proven techniques into one, and it suits a very wide range of skin types.

Microneedling on its own creates tiny controlled channels in the skin. Each one triggers a natural healing response, and that response is what stimulates fresh collagen. Add radiofrequency energy delivered through the needle tips and you also warm the deeper layers of the skin, which tightens existing collagen and encourages more of it to form. The two effects together work on texture, fine lines, enlarged pores, laxity and some types of scarring.

Why I consider it so safe

Because the energy is delivered below the surface through insulated needles, the outer layer of skin is largely spared. That makes radiofrequency microneedling a sensible option for darker skin tones, which can be more prone to pigment changes with some laser treatments. The treatment is precise, adjustable in depth and energy, and comfortable when numbing cream is used beforehand.

Downtime is short and manageable. Expect redness a little like mild sunburn for a day or two, perhaps some tiny scabbing depending on the settings, and skin that feels tight as it recovers. Most people are presentable within a couple of days. Results build over several weeks as new collagen forms, and a short course spaced a few weeks apart gives the best return. For an ageing-prevention plan, it is one of the most versatile tools available.

The newest treatment everyone should be talking about: exosomes

The final question asked what is new and worth the attention. My answer was immediate: exosomes. I have used them on my own skin and my own hair, and I would describe the results as genuinely impressive.

Exosomes are tiny messenger packets released naturally by cells. They are far smaller than a cell itself, and they carry growth factors, proteins and genetic signalling material that tell surrounding cells to repair and regenerate. In aesthetics, exosome preparations are used to switch on that repair signalling in the skin and scalp, boosting collagen production, calming inflammation and improving tone, texture and hydration.

How exosomes are used

The most common and effective approach is to apply exosomes immediately after a treatment that opens tiny channels in the skin, such as microneedling, radiofrequency microneedling or laser resurfacing. Those channels let the exosomes penetrate deeply while the skin is primed to receive them, which is why application happens in the treatment room rather than at home. This is one reason exosomes pair so beautifully with the Secret Pro microneedling I rate so highly. One treatment creates the pathway, the other floods it with regenerative signals.

For hair, exosomes are used to support thinning by encouraging dormant follicles back into their growth phase and reducing inflammation around the follicle. Early evidence is promising, particularly for people in the earlier stages of thinning, though it is best thought of as support rather than a cure for advanced hair loss.

Exosomes are still a fast-moving field, so it is worth choosing a clinic where a doctor can advise on the right product and the right combination for your skin. Used sensibly, alongside treatments like microneedling and Profhilo, they slot neatly into a regenerative, prevention-first approach to ageing.

Common questions about ageing prevention

When should I start thinking about ageing prevention?

There is no single right age. The changes that lead to visible ageing, such as slowing collagen and reduced skin hydration, begin quietly in our late twenties and thirties, long before deep lines appear. Prevention-focused treatments like Profhilo, skin boosters and microneedling are about maintaining skin quality over time, so starting earlier with a light-touch plan often means needing less correction later.

Is natural-looking work actually possible?

Yes, and it is the whole point of a doctor-led approach. Natural results come from treating conservatively, respecting the way a face moves and its individual proportions, and building slowly rather than overcorrecting in a single visit. The unnatural results people worry about almost always come from too much product or too heavy a hand, not from the treatments themselves.

Which treatment should I choose first?

That depends entirely on your skin, your concerns and your goals, which is why a consultation matters. Someone worried about dullness and hydration might start with Profhilo, while someone focused on texture, pores or laxity might begin with radiofrequency microneedling. Often the best plan combines a couple of treatments that work on different layers of the skin.

Do these treatments hurt or need a lot of downtime?

Most are very manageable. Profhilo involves a handful of small injections and little to no downtime. Microneedling is done with numbing cream and leaves the skin pink for a day or two. Exosomes are applied as a serum. None of these require you to disappear for weeks, and I will tell you exactly what to expect based on the settings and the areas treated.

Come and talk it through with me

My quick-fire answers make one thing clear. Ageing well is less about chasing the newest fashion and more about choosing the right treatments, in the right amounts, from someone who knows when to stop. That judgement is what a doctor-led clinic is for.

If you would like a plan built around your own skin rather than a one-size-fits-all menu, book a consultation with me at our Cobham, Esher or Wimbledon clinics. We will talk through what will genuinely help, what you can leave for now, and how to keep your face looking like the best version of itself for years to come.