I hadn't heard about the non-surgical face slimming massage until a Japanese (of course!) acquaintance introduced it to me one day over brunch. She showed me the before/after photos of her husband after he tried it himself, and the difference was so noticeable! Like, to the point that I actually thought he might have gone under the knife to shave off a bit of his jaw to achieve that result. So upon being urged to give it a try, I thought, why not? The place is right near iSQUARE on Tsim Sha Tsui's Lock Road, and I found it easily. The company is called IPS International, and I believe it is first and foremost a cosmetic surgery clinic (which is why I thought I got the place wrong when I first arrived!). The face slimming specialist (Dr. Enoki) is actually based in his clinic in Osaka, and only comes to Hong Kong once a month for a few days at IPS, so given the small window of opportunity, it's advised to book ahead.
I was given a quick brief on what to expect and that I would notice a significant difference afterwards, despite the lack of intrusive surgery. You will have to fill out a form specifying exactly what 'bothers' you (imbalance of right/left side of face, drooping cheeks, jawline, etc.) and all the allergy questions. I was bewildered as to how this could possibly work with just a massage, so my skepticism stuck throughout the treatment. Before we started, the doctor did all of my measurements and gave me a mirror so I could see the precise measurements on his special head-ruler (yeah apparently it exists). He measured from the left side of my forehead to the right, right side of my jaw to the left, top of my forehead to bottom of my chin, bridge of my nose, and so on, marking it all down.
Afterwards, he began pressing on my face and doing his thing. I felt absolutely no pain, just a strong pressure that somehow never got uncomfortable. A ton of renowned Japanese celebrities and models love this facial, and it's quite popular in Tokyo and Osaka - guess it hasn't quite caught on yet in Hong Kong, but it probably will very soon. At one point during the procedure, he took out a muscle relaxing device that shot electricity into my face and made it twitch uncontrollably - couldn't stop laughing the whole time. Essentially, it felt like he was re-molding my facial bone structure with his hands from deliberate angles. People seriously shell out for this treatment, so I was waiting with bated breath for the result.
After an hour, we remeasured my face and as I watched, I could see there were gaps where my jaw and sides of my face had previously filled - meaning that by some crazy Japanese sorcery (or science-backed technique?), the doctor had managed to shrink my face. The new, smaller measurements also evidenced this. The photo on the right is the one I took the morning after the treatment (literally this morning). My jawline is very noticeably slimmer in person and in photographs, and has a distinct outline compared to before! I sent a few photos to my mom, and she was pretty stunned too. These results are supposed to last, so let's see if they do!
IPS VIP CLUB
Address: 21/F Lokville Commercial Building 25-27 Lock Road,Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon (MTR EXIT R)
Tel: +852 2376 0186
Email: sales@ipsvipclub.com
WeChat: IPSHONGKONG WhatsApp: +852 6941 2185