Stars flock to Harley Street skin expert Lesley Reynolds for all their beauty concerns. MAXINE GORDON heads to her London clinic for a red-carpet facial.

WITH its gilt-edged chairs, ornate chaise longue and antique tea cups, 48 Harley Street feels more like a Great Aunt’s sitting room than a classy skin-care clinic.

But appearances can be deceptive. Celebrities in their droves cross these doors in search of younger looking skin.

Plenty of not-so-famous faces have followed suit, drawn by the glittering reputation of Lesley Reynolds and her husband, Dr Aamer Khan.

The couple are Britain’s self-styled queen and king of anti-ageing. Earlier this year, they starred in the TV show, Stitch Me, Lift Me, Tuck Me, a fly-on-the-wall series for Sky Living, which took a warts-and-all look at the aesthetic medicine industry.

The couple set up their Harley Street Skin Clinic nine years ago and offer a wide range of treatments, from non-invasive therapies such as facials through to full-blown facelifts.

Treatments are complimented with a range of skin-care products, formulated by Lesley, who has more than 20 years experience in this field. Normally only for sale to clients, Harley Street Skin Care is now being stocked outside the clinic and is on sale at Fenwick, York. The three ranges are: SpotLess for acne prone skin; AgeLess to rehydrate and roll back the first signs of ageing and StemCellution to tackle full-blown ageing skin.

Lesley says before women consider treatment in a clinic, they should focus on getting their skin into as good a condition as possible.

“Skin care really makes a huge difference by renewing dead skin cells. It is important to cleanse properly; massage in your cleanser and clean it off with a wet cloth and water,” says Lesley.

This should be followed by exfoliation, a good moisturiser and a sun protection product – as well as a healthy diet and drinking plenty of water.

At the Harley Street Clinic, Lesley uses a high-tech machine called Visia to help diagnose skin problems.

I had a go – placing my head inside a ‘light box’, where the machine took a detailed picture of my skin.

My results were mixed, showing hardly any wrinkles and good texture, signalling that ageing shouldn’t be a worry at the moment. I have some sun damage, but the main concern was redness. Lesley asked her husband to have a look at the facial ‘x-ray’, and he confirmed her suspicion that I might have rosacea, a condition where the skin ‘flushes’, often as a reaction to spicy food, alcohol or extremes of temperature.

“It can be treated with a course of IPL,” says Lesley. IPL stands for intense pulsed light, which is also used to remove unwanted hair permanently as well as blast red veins (which can be a sign of rosacea), and age spots from the skin. Needless to say, it’s just one of the treatments offered at the Harley Street Clinic.

Patsy Palmer, Claire King, Patsy Kensit, Gillian Taylforth, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and Hannah Waterman are just some of the celebs who have Lesley’s number on speed dial. Most of them appeared in the TV show.

Other celebs want their association with Britain’s high priestess of skin care hidden from public knowledge. It’s not ususual for Lesley to meet clients at events and have to pretend to be strangers.

Besides the TV show, Lesley has written two books on looking younger, pens a weekly anti-ageing column for Best magazine and the Daily Express and regularly appears on This Morning and Lorraine on ITV.

It’s no wonder she’s the go-to skin guru for celebs. Lesley has flown round the world, just to pop a film star’s pimple – and was even once asked to remove a client’s toes so they could fit into a pair of Jimmy Choos. The first request she was only happy to fulfil, the second, was firmly declined.

I finished my visit to Harley Street with some A-lister pampering – the red star facial. Therapist Sajila Dhaubhadel used Lesley’s skin-care range to cleanse and moisturise my skin and let it rehydrate with a fruity enzyme mask.

“It will give you an instant boost,” said Lesley.

Afterwards, my skin felt silky smooth. Sajila finished off by applying Harley Street Skin Care’s mineral makeup – again designed by Lesley – which gave my face a lovely, even, colour.

As I left the clinic, my skin felt and looked amazing; plumped up, soft and glowing.

The only disappointment was my schedule: rather than heading for a real red carpet I was bound for Kings Cross and a seat on the 1700 train back to York.

• Find out more and read Lesley’s skin care blog at: harleystreetskinclinic.com

• Date for your diary… Lesley Reynolds and Dr Aamer Khan will visit Fenwick, York, on Friday, February 28, from 6pm. They will be offering personal consultations using the Visia machine to analyse skin problems and offer solutions as well as talking about their products. Tickets to the exclusive event, held in Fenwick’s café, cost £20, and will be redeemable against purchases on the evening and will also include Champagne, canapés and a goody bag. Telephone 01904 643322 Ext. 248 to book your ticket.