BEING a modern man, I like to take care of myself. By which I mean I moisturise daily and sometimes I pluck my eyebrows.

I appreciate it is still not exactly a routine, but I’m also blessed with pretty good skin so I have never had to try too hard.

Ageing and stress have a way of catching up with us all, though, so when I was offered the chance of trying the non-surgical “instant face lift” beloved of the likes of Madonna, I thought it was worth a shot.

The microdermabrasion facial is basically like sandblasting your face to remove the top few layers of skin and leave you supple and fresh-faced.

It is meant to help with anti-aging, skin firmness, old acne scarring, uneven skin tone, colour and texture, and lines and wrinkles.

It sounds terrifying, but thankfully it is painless.

At 27 Two 6 Beauty, Kristina Shepherd gives you more for your money by including a series of massages in with the treatment.

When I arrive at the clinic in Upper Wickham Lane, Kristina greets me and leads me through the busy Cullen and Co hair salon to her oasis of calm at the back.

For an office it is nicely decorated to make you feel comfortable, with soothing music playing and calming smell of eucalyptus burning.

Kristina talks me through the procedure, as well as reassuring me that plenty of blokes have it done.

I take off my shirt and lay on the bed where she starts by massaging my face and chest and applying a cleanser. It is so relaxing that I slip into the beginning of sleep a couple of times.

But there is no danger of that when the microdermabrasion machine starts up.

 

It feels and sounds just like a dentist has gone rogue with his vacuum tool and is dragging it across my face.

News Shopper:

It is noisy and a tiny bit uncomfortable, but no worse than that. It certainly doesn’t hurt.

What follows is my favourite bit. Kristina smoothes on a facemask and covers my eyes with a hot, damp towel before giving my chest, shoulders and arms a firm, stress-relieving rub down.

For the second time, I nearly doze off.

News Shopper:

The whole process takes around an hour and at the end I feel like I am floating out of the salon.

My skin is visibly fresher (though a little pink for a while, like I’ve just got out of the shower), the lines on my forehead are reduced and I feel great.

Microdermabrasion at 27 Two 6 Beauty in Upper Wickham Lane, Welling, costs £55. Go to 2726beauty.co.uk