The best facialist in New York, IMO
Raquel Medina-Cleghorn on multi-massaging, high-tech tools, and microbiome skincare.
In this send:
Myoplastic facial massage, fascia manipulation, Environ, microcurrent, ultrasound, iontophoresis, scalp gua sha, corneocytes, chemical peels, CO2 Lift Pro, Dr. Evan Rieder, injectables, peptides, SkinPen, Biojuve, exosomes, micriobiome skincare, Cecily J. Braden, Traditional Chinese Medicine…
Welcome back to High Touch. What a night! Something about this newsletter is vaguely athletics-adjacent, right? Anyway, good enough timing for today’s feature on Raquel Medina-Cleghorn, New York’s number-one sports fan (she’s selling soccer jerseys out of her studio this weekend) and its best facialist, according to me. I’ve been going to Raquel for years, since she first opened up her space RAQUEL new york in Tribeca, and count on her to be my magic bullet whenever I feel like I need to pick my face up off the floor. I know I’m mogging out the door when she snaps on her microcurrent gloves for some cheekbone sculpting.
More from Raquel down below—plus a whole section at the end on the techy, biohacky-grade skincare products she uses at the studio—but first, word on the High Touch streets this week.
A touch of High Touch
The lofty science news is that we injected the first human with ER-100: epigenetic reprogramming through an engineered virus injected into the eye and designed to reverse age-related ocular diseases (glaucoma, NAION). The company behind it is Life Biosciences, run by David Sinclair, a guy who sometimes likes to say things are “proven” when they aren’t really. But, if this pans, we inch further towards the mythical cellular reset tool. Failing, though, could spell cancer.
I just learned about a new in-clinic radiofrequency device called Density by Jeisys (same company behind Potenza RF microneedling). Density differs from most other RF treatments in that there’s no skin puncture, no intolerable heat, no pain, no downtime, and yet it still reports a 239% increase in collagen. It’s a lot like Thermage, if you’ve heard of that one, except with two types of RF (monopolar and bipolar) and a lot more comfortable due to real-time device calibration based on tissue response. Exciting stuff! I’m trying it soon and will report back.
Methylene blue, a dinosaur compound in the longevity world (invented 1876, targets mitochondrial health, turns your pee and possibly your brain blue) is now being employed as a topical skincare / hair care ingredient in the recently launched Bleulene. It promises to double collagen and elastin in two weeks (hmm) and not to stain your skin blue due to its proprietary concentration.
A sitewide HigherDose sale ends today, it’s quite good: 30% off PEMF mats (I have one) and sauna blankets, plus 20% off everything else (red light masks, blankets, caps, etc) with DAD2026.
Laura Reilly: How do you describe what you do, and how did you arrive at this place?
Raquel Medina-Cleghorn: I am a facialist, and I focus on a combination of technology and holistic manual modalities—different types of massage, lymphatic drainage—all with the intention of supporting skin health and delivering long-term skin health to people. There’s obviously the cosmetic component. People want to fight wrinkles, fight aging, look better, all that. But ultimately, my goal is to ensure that their skin is as healthy as it can be, because that’s what’s going to deliver those results. I’ve arrived here [via] all the education and training I’ve received over the seven years I’ve been doing this.
LR: Can you describe some of that?
RMC: From the jump, it was esthetic school, which is the most basic level of skin education you can get. And then there was the facialist I worked for before; I trained with her and learned her techniques. From there, I was introduced to skincare lines that, like Environ, have really incredible education. Learning more about all of the different cascades of the skin, how the skin works, how ingredients work. And then diving into different technologies: How do they work in the skin? Why are they beneficial? How often should they be used? Training I’ve taken includes manual lymphatic drainage; I’ve done something called myoplastic facial massage, which incorporates a lot of decompression to the tissue. I just registered for a fascia manipulation course. Different hands-on techniques that bring in different elements of supportive skin health, and tissue manipulation, and tissue health.