Chanel injection:
what the skin booster nickname actually refers to

What is the Chanel injection?

The Chanel injection is NCTF 135HA, a skin booster made by Fillmed Laboratoires in France, a company previously known under the Filorga name. The nickname seems to have attached itself because the product arrives in a glass vial and is sold as a luxury treatment; it has nothing to do with the fashion house and tells you nothing about the ingredients, the mechanism or the evidence. In Singapore you will also see it written as the 'Chanel booster', 'Chanel skin booster' or 'Chanel mesotherapy'. The product behind every one of those names is the same.

The useful habit, with any skin booster that has acquired a nickname, is to translate the name back into its category: what the material is, where it is placed and what it is meant to do. That translation is what the skin booster treatment page does for every class, and the skin booster brands guide does for the brand names. This article does it for one nickname.

What is in NCTF 135HA, the so-called Chanel injection?

NCTF stands for New Cellular Treatment Factor. The '135' refers to the number of ingredients the manufacturer lists, and 'HA' to hyaluronic acid. The formulation combines non-cross-linked hyaluronic acid with a polycomponent mixture of vitamins, amino acids, minerals, coenzymes, nucleic acids and antioxidants.

Because the hyaluronic acid is non-cross-linked, it does not hold a shape or occupy space the way a dermal filler does; it hydrates the dermis and is broken down. The rationale for the other ingredients is that ageing fibroblasts may work better when supplied with the substrates they use. A review of polycomponent mesotherapy formulations of this kind describes that rationale and laboratory findings in fibroblast cultures. Laboratory findings explain the idea behind a product; they are not a prediction of what an individual's skin will do.

How it is delivered matters as much as what is in it. NCTF 135HA is placed by many fine, superficial micro-injections into the upper dermis, or by a needling technique, in the manner of mesotherapy. Small raised points, redness and occasional bruising are expected afterwards and settle on their own.

“A nickname tells me what the clinic wants the treatment to sound like. The vial tells me what is going into the skin. I read the vial.”

Dr Sin YongOn Chanel injection

Chanel injection vs Profhilo vs Rejuran: how do they differ?

All three are called skin boosters, and none of them is a filler. Beyond that they are different materials with different mechanisms, placed differently, and chosen for different skin.

The practical difference is what the skin is short of. Dehydration and dullness point towards a hyaluronic acid booster, of which NCTF 135HA is one multi-ingredient example. Skin that has started to soften without descending points towards Profhilo. Thin skin that needs repair rather than water points towards a polynucleotide such as Rejuran. The Profhilo vs Rejuran guide compares those two in more depth. None of the three fills a hollow, lifts a jowl or clears pigment, and a face whose main concern is one of those is assessed for something else.

Is the Chanel injection approved in Singapore?

Injectable skin boosters placed into the skin are regulated in Singapore by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) as medical devices or therapeutic products, depending on how the product is classified. Whether a specific product is registered, and under what name, can be checked on the HSA's online register, or the clinic can be asked to confirm it. The nickname will not appear on any register; the product name and the manufacturer will. A doctor should be able to tell you exactly what is being injected, show you the vial, and record the product and batch in your notes.

Two other rules sit behind every injectable in Singapore. Under the Singapore Medical Council's guidelines on aesthetic practice, injectables are performed by a registered doctor after a consultation, with consent taken in a way that leaves time to consider. And under the medical advertising rules, a clinic cannot promise an outcome or advertise with before-and-after photographs, which is why a page like this describes a product and stops short of telling you what it will do for your skin.

How a multi-ingredient skin booster fits into Dr Sin Yong's assessment

Hyaluronic acid boosters are one of the classes used at this practice, chosen for dull, dehydrated skin with fine surface lines once the examination confirms that hydration is what the skin is short of. Whether a polycomponent booster such as NCTF 135HA, a plain hyaluronic acid booster, Profhilo, a polynucleotide or no injectable at all is proposed is decided at that examination, not by the name a patient arrives with. Dr Sin Yong examines the skin himself and performs every injection personally.

What a booster cannot do is weighed at the same visit. Hollows are assessed for filler, descent for lifting, pigment for a laser such as laser toning or pico laser, and tethered acne scars for subcision first. Where the skin is dull because of low-grade inflammation rather than dryness, an inflammation-directed laser may be weighed instead of, or before, any booster. The point of the consultation is to find the cause, because a booster given to skin that needed something else is a treatment that cannot work.

What to ask before having the Chanel injection anywhere

• What is the product name? The answer should be NCTF 135HA, or another named product; a nickname is not an answer.
• Is it registered with the HSA, and can I see the vial? The product and batch should be recorded in your notes.
• Which class is it, and why this class for my skin? A hydrating booster is for dehydration; if your concern is firmness, texture or a hollow, ask why this and not another class or another treatment.
• Who is injecting? In Singapore, injectables are performed by a registered doctor.
• What are the risks, and who manages a complication? Expected effects are small raised points, redness and bruising that settle; less common are lumps, infection and a flare of cold sores. Ask who you call.
• What would you not treat? A clinic that can name what a booster will not fix is one that has examined the skin.

Aftercare for any skin booster is broadly similar: keep the area clean, avoid make-up over the injection points until they have closed, avoid heat, saunas and strenuous exercise for a short period, and protect the skin from the sun. Specific instructions are given on the day for the product used.