At the Arcona Studio, a holistic rejuvenation center for the face and body located in Studio City, California, they're offering up a different kind of facelift. It's called "Facial Contouring," a deep-reaching type of facial manipulation that's totally therapeutic. "It's an alternative to plastic surgery," says owner Arcona Devan, a Scandinavian facialist who's well known for her holistic approach to beauty therapy and wellness. Her method uses a combination of acupressure, deep muscle massage, and lymphatic drainage (to eliminate excess toxins from the body) to tighten and tone the fifty-five muscles in the face.

Just look at the faces of her famous clients, including actresses Linda Gray, Angelica Huston and Diane Lane, who's also a fan of the enzyme peel. "Many of my clients look younger now than they did 16 years ago," says Arcona. "Some of them don't even want to wear makeup anymore, it doesn't feel right on their skin and they feel more comfortable without it." Take for instance actress Debbie Morgan, who went all natural for a photo shoot for the film The Hurricane. "She was glowing and looked great."

Intrigued by her technique, I had to try it out. And let me tell you, my face has never had such a workout! Arcona began with an intense massage on my ears, working the acupressure points that benefit the body's internal organs. She did point out that she felt a little tension in my stomach. (Ok, so I was a bit nervous about the intense ear massage!) Then she moved her magic hands onto my face. It was like nothing I had ever experienced. She massaged and kneaded my skin for nearly forty-five minutes. It was incredibly relaxing.

Afterwards, I did feel and see a noticeable difference. My skin was tight and firm and had an incredible afterglow. "You won't see results in one session," says Arcona. Like exercise the results are cumulative. "When you do treatments like mine over a period of time the muscles get toned and tightened and not even gravity can pull them down."

So no need for plastic surgery? "No," says Arcona. "When people get a face lift it looks like the energy has been sucked out of their face. It looks so unnatural. I want to empower women not to go down that road. I've done the research and have found that there are fantastic alternatives." Her message: don't mess with Mother Nature. "Our body contains energy meridians and when you cut into the skin you disturb that energy and the organs don't function properly. Skin is a natural entity and we must treat it as such."

Arcona has a few tips to keep skin looking young and beautiful in between contouring sessions, including not using moisturizer, at all. She believes it only enlarges the pores and causes the skin to lose its elasticity. If you have very dry skin she suggests one drop of cold-pressed oil diluted with water (try sesame or olive). At bedtime apply plain yogurt to the face. Leave on for twenty minutes then massage off with warm water and apply witch hazel to the skin with a cotton ball as a toner.

-- Stefania Di Mambro