The ten-minute needle-free wrinkle hack recommended by a top aesthetic doctor: The GH verdict
Adding another step into my already lengthy night-time beauty routine didn’t fill me with much joy. But in the name of skincare research, I have been taping my face for the last month. Why you ask? TikTok made me do it.
This is hard to acknowledge as a 46-year-old woman. However, if it involves 'diminishing wrinkles' and 'line-free miracle', I am in. There are lots of beauty brands jumping on the taping bandwagon, but it was influencer Bambi Does Beauty who persuaded me to try the £10 silicone scar tapes from Superdrug that she claimed helped to diminish her wrinkles. I was dubious as she is ten years younger than me and from what I could see, had no wrinkles. But maybe face-taping is why.
What exactly is face-taping?
Full face-taping is a trending technique that involves applying tape to areas of the face that experience active movement, typically during sleep. With some claiming it can mimic the effects of toxin injections.
Face taping is usually done at night before bedtime and involves placing strips of tape on various parts of the face; the neck, forehead, jawline, and the areas around the eyes and cheeks. Anne Hathaway’s facialist and skin ‘sculptor’ Guendalina Gennari revealed how face taping had helped to soften her lines and wrinkles.
“I’ve been using tape for a while to treat my nasolabial and forehead lines,” she said on Instagram. “Being a side-sleeper, I used to wake up with deep lines on the left side of my face and face taping is helping me [with it].”
Can face tapes help diminish wrinkles?
The jury is out with some experts not believing the hype and some saying that face-taping does have its benefits. “The silicone tape is applied to the scar area and helps to mature the scar more rapidly - so it becomes flatter quicker than it would without intervention,” says Dr Sophie Shotter, aesthetic doctor of the year.
“However, as for lines and wrinkles, there is no reason to believe these would provide any wrinkle-erasing effect, any short-term result could be down to improved skin hydration.”
Dermatologist Dr Dray believes that scar sheets can improve the moisture content of the skin's outermost layer, “plumping up and smoothing out the surface of the skin,” she says. Are you going to prevent those deep wrinkles by immobilising these muscle groups?
“It seems like a reach,” says Dr Dray. “They may help to hinder facial movements when your face is all taped up, but are you going to be wearing these 24/7? Probably not.”
Did face tapes help diminish my wrinkles?
I feel silly admitting this after some dermatologists I respect, dismissed taping as a bit of a fad but I saw a positive outcome. And each day the results were better. Did my wrinkles ‘disappear’?
Of course not. But my skin’s texture did 100% look smoother. Little niggly worry lines were less niggly. The area around my mouth and chin appeared lifted and taut, too. And if I can’t be bothered to tape one night, I notice a negative result in the morning. The best thing I can suggest is to make up your own mind because you may get great face taping results as I do, and for under £10, that’s worth feeling a bit silly for.
Shop our picks of the best face tapes
Silicone Wound & Scar Recovery Strips
Wrinkle Tox Face Tape
Anti-Wrinkle Facial Patches
Eyelid Lifting Stripes Large
You Might Also Like