I Tried The Skin Tightening Xerf Treatment

As one who is often researching the latest beauty treatments that brides are obsessing over, Xerf kept popping up during my scrolls. The Korean-made treatment is said to promote collagen production and a snatched lift without major downtime—all things brides seem to be looking for in their pre-wedding beauty treatments. And while I already did a year’s worth of wedding prep for my celebration last year, it was hard to resist the invite to try Xerf for myself at Treat Medspa.

Xerf uses dual-frequency energy administered through a patented device that glides across the skin. Through controlled heat that reaches deeper structures, the process stimulates collagen production, resulting in skin tightening. The intended effect is to subtly improve definition in the jaw, cheekbones, and neck as laxity begins to set in. At age 32, I was beginning to see this take effect—particularly around the jawline—and was eager to see how the effects would set in. As someone who tried out a Nefertiti lift before my wedding, I was often looking at ways to continue to improve this area. One of the great perks of the treatment is it also required no downtime, meaning I could easily pop to other meetings later in the day without scaring anyone with a bright red face often seen post-microneedling or lasers.

While the team at Treat Medspa gave me all the details, this technology is relatively new, so I decided to get a second opinion before going under the heat. My pre-wedding aesthetician Elizabeth Grace Hand also recently began administering XERF, and pointed to this NIH study, as well as said she loved it for her clients.

“I love it because almost every bride I see wants to look a little more lifted and snatched on their wedding day and this treatment does exactly that without any pain or downtime,” Hand shares. “My ideal protocol is two treatments spaced one to four months apart. Because collagen remodeling takes time, your final results develop about three to five months after the second treatment.” She advises, “I recommend starting around six months before the wedding for the best outcome.”

Recent Vogue bride Gabrielle Katz actually used XERF ahead of her celebration and had no regrets. “Just one [treatment] and I noticed a difference straight away,” Katz tells me. “And it only improved in the days after and I felt like it maintained. I just sent my maid of honor to do it, too.”

With these recommendations in my pocket, I began my journey in early July with my first XERF session at Treat Medspa. When I started, my skin was in good shape with little acne or redness. I had also received the Botox alternative Xeomin two months prior, so my face was already relatively lifted and had minimized wrinkles. By the time I had my last treatment, the Xeomin would be entirely worn off and I would only see the effects of the XERF.

Before my session, co-founder Sarah Bloch walked me through the process and had me take before photos. I also was able to receive an Aura skin analysis so we could see AI-computed readings of how my skin quality would improve from beginning to end. The entire treatment would take an hour, divided between targeted sections including my forehead, eye area, cheekbones, jawline, and neck. I laid down in the room, had ultrasound jelly slathered on my face, and the process began.

As someone with a pretty low pain tolerance, I was surprised how tolerable XERF was. The wand would go over my face in sections with a small dose of heat. In certain areas, I definitely could feel an extra zap of pain but nothing so serious that I had my nurse practitioner stop for longer than five seconds before I was ready to go again. In fact, we were chatting away for the entire hour that I barely noticed it most of the time. Afterward, the jelly was removed, sunscreen was applied to my face, and I popped into the bathroom to see the damage. As someone with sensitive skin, I was shocked at how even my skin tone looked and the definition in my cheekbones and jawline. Sans makeup, it looked as though I had even done some contouring on my face. The post-treatment lift effect was real.

I admit that first snatched feeling went away within a week, but I did notice a solid lift at first. Since it does take a couple treatments for the collagen production to really take effect, I also didn’t clock too much of a difference in my skin within that next month. Round two came about in early August, and I once again left the session feeling lightly lifted and totally comfortable going to four more appointments around the city and a dinner that night.

One month later, I returned to Treat Medspa for a check-in and another Aura skin analysis. At this point, my Xeomin had completely faded and I had lots of movement in my face again. However, I really didn’t see much of a difference in my static wrinkles at all. The reading reported that wrinkle levels were pretty much the same, showing that possible increased collagen production was helping knock out those fine lines. My skin tone also looked more balanced (except for the touch of sun on my nose from a weekend spent on the beach ). As for my side by sides, there was a 4-degree difference of sharpness along my jawline and my cheekbones were lifted by one percent.

I admit, the results were subtle. And if I did this trial again, I would have loved to try without the fading Xeomin adding another variable into play. I would also love to see how the effects would play out on someone with more mature skin than mine (the NP who did my treatment said it was often more apparent after 40). But overall, there was a difference in my skin quality and a lift from beginning to end of the process. And if you could do a final session the week of your wedding, you would be quite happy with the sculpted look it gives.

I do think brides and grooms might want to give XERF a try if they have the budget to do so. That said, it does take a toll on that pre-wedding beauty spend. The cost range per session is $1,500 to $2,500 depending on the surface areas treated and a minimum of two sessions is advised. But if you want to treat your face in a way to improve collagen remodeling even past your wedding, it’s a great option to add to your pre-wedding regimen.

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