Skinvive Is the First Injectable of Its Kind Available In the U.S.

If you could just inject your favorite luminizing serum into your skin, wouldn’t you? Skinvive, a new hyaluronic acid filler, promises to make skin look glowier, smoother, and more hydrated for six months at a stretch.

Approved by the FDA in May 2023, the injectable’s official indication is to “improve skin smoothness of the cheeks” (in other words, smooth fine lines). But many are describing it more generally as a "skin booster"—unlike traditional fillers, it’s not designed to rebuild volume but to target subtle lines, hydrate, and give skin more radiance.

"Although Skinvive and other similar injectables have been available in Europe and other parts of the world for some time, it is the first of its kind available in the US market," says Carmen Castilla, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and clinical instructor at Mount Sinai in New York City. “This is a class of fillers that has been missing in our cosmetic treatment arsenal to date."

Now that Skinvive has been in the U.S. for over a year, we asked dermatologists for their honest, unfiltered feedback.

• Nigar Ahmedli, MD, is a board-certified plastic surgeon and director of the Division of Plastic Surgery at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.
• Macrene Alexiades, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City.
• Carmen Castilla, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist and clinical instructor at Mount Sinai in New York City.
• Laurel Geraghty, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist based in Medford, OR.
• Mona Gohara, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist based in Hamden, CT.
• Michele Green, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist based in New York City.
• Corey L. Hartman, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist and founder of Skin Wellness Dermatology in Birmingham, AL.
• Lyle Leipziger, MD, is a board-certified plastic surgeon based in New York City.
• Heidi B. Prather, MD, FAAD, is a board-certified dermatologist at Westlake Dermatology in Austin, TX.
• Rachel Westbay, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist at Marmur Medical in New York City.

• What is Skinvive and what are its benefits?
• Who is a candidate for Skinvive?
• What are the risks?
• How much does Skinvive cost?
• Skinvive FAQ

Skinvive is a hyaluronic acid injectable designed to change the appearance of your skin, rather than the shape of your face. The hyaluronic acid fillers you may be more familiar with, like Juvéderm or Restylane, "are used to fill and augment various areas of the face and don’t impact the quality of the skin," says New York City-based dermatologist Michele Green, MD. They are the types of injectables used to pump up someone’s lips, fill in their wrinkles, or make their cheekbones more prominent. And they rely on hyaluronic acid, which is also found naturally in the skin, for its ability to attract moisture and therefore keep skin plump.

Skinvive, on the other hand, is meant to leverage the moisture-attracting qualities of hyaluronic acid to increase hydration in the skin and improve texture. Instead of injecting the solution into the subdermis to fill in volume loss, dermatologists place droplet injections of Skinvive more superficially into the dermis. "Once it is deposited into the skin, it diffuses into an even layer," says board-certified dermatologist Corey L. Hartman, MD. From there, it can fill in fine lines and smooth crepey skin.

"The clinical trials for Skinvive demonstrate marked improvements in skin hydration and texture in the cheeks that lasted for six months," says San Diego-based dermatologist Melanie Palm, MD, a clinical investigator for Skinvive. In the trial, 63% of patients self-reported satisfaction with how radiant they looked at six months, compared to 11% before. “Skinvive also has clinically been proven to increase a water channel in the skin, called aquaporin 3, that increases skin hydration,” says board-certified dermatologist Heidi Prather, MD. Researchers observed a 49% increase in aquaporin—a marker of skin hydration.

"When Skinvive is injected, it also stimulates collagen production, which improves elasticity and reduces the appearance of fine lines," adds Dr. Green. And hydrating skin helps improve other skin woes, like a lack of elasticity and dullness—so by targeting hydration with Skinvive and a solid skin-care routine, you may see an improvement in those areas, as well.

And though the indication for Skinvive’s FDA approval was the treatment of fine lines and roughness on the cheeks, now that it’s approved doctors can use it “off-label.” Macrene Alexiades, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City who was the lead investigator on Skinvive’s clinical trials, has been using it to smooth crepey lines under the eyes and around the lips, as well as to address neck creases. “Skinvive is the first filler that is intradermal not subdermal—meaning it’s injected into the dermis not below it,” explains Dr. Alexiades, who has actually been using the product for almost a decade because she is also certified to practice in the EU, where it was approved under the brand name Volite in 2017. “So it gives me the ability to get rid of those shallow fine lines that I can’t get rid of with other types of fillers. I now have an alternative to, say, laser resurfacing or RF microneedling in the filler category.” Dr. Alexiades sees particularly impressive results in patients who have solar elastosis, a form of sun damage that can leave the skin looking furrowed or creased: “It’s not wrinkles per se, it’s just skin damage.”

You can expect to see an immediate smoothing of fine lines and may see some overall plumping shortly after getting Skinvive, but full results—including more hydrated, glowy skin—usually develop after a few weeks. "It’s important to know that since the improvement is in skin quality, the results tend to be more subtle than a volumizing filler," adds Dr. Castilla.

"In studies, Skinvive lasted six months. At that point, a sizeable portion of people wanted a top-up," says Dr. Alexiades, which is usually about half of the original dose. "We did up to two syringes in the trials, and then we would do one more at the six-month mark," she says. In practice, the dermatologists Allure spoke to who’ve been offering Skinvive over the last year said it’s too early to comment on how long patients' results are lasting on average.

Skinvive is approved for all Fitzpatrick skin types (I-VI). Anyone who is noticing dullness, wants smoother-looking cheeks, or more hydrated-looking skin would be a good candidate, says Dr. Hartman.

Dr. Castilla reiterates that anyone who wants to target volume loss might not be satisfied with Skinvive. "However, volume loss and changes in skin quality are both signs of aging and often go hand-in-hand," she says. "These patients would likely achieve better final results from combining a filler to target volume loss and Skinvive to help with skin quality."

The two treatments have yet to be studied in combination, says Dr. Castilla, but she expects that she will eventually incorporate them into a comprehensive treatment plan. "Right now, Skinvive is indicated for use on the cheeks but will likely be used [off-label] in other areas such as the neck, chest, or the backs of the hands."

Dr. Alexiades, who is already using Skinvive off-label, is particularly impressed with how it smooths creases where patients might not otherwise be able to see results, like in the neck. “Patients who have had CO2 resurfacing in their neck lines before tell me that the Skinvive performs better,” she says, noting that it’s particularly helpful for patients with darker skin who can’t safely get CO2 resurfacing to erase the crepiness of sun damage, particularly solar elastosis.

And who’s not the best candidate? Someone in their 20s or 30s who doesn’t have a lot of sun damage is not going to see wow results from Skinvive. Though Skinvive has been frequently described, and hyped, as an all-over glow-giving hydrator, “I think that it's a mistake to market this as an injectable moisturizer,” says Dr. Alexiades. “Not that it isn’t. But I think the true value of this product is being able to, for the first time in history, place hyaluronic acid where it naturally lives, in the dermis, and tackle fine lines and poor texture due to sun damage.”

When Allure executive beauty director Jenny Bailly tried Skinvive a few months ago, she was expecting to see a newfound I-just-woke-up-from-a-long-nap glow. Everything she’d heard about this product was about lasting hydration. She was disappointed. “Maybe there was a slight increase in dewiness for a few weeks. Maybe? I just didn’t see much difference,” says Bailly, who is 47. Then Dr. Alexiades sent her the after shots that were taken immediately after the injection. The shallow lines etched on the right side of Bailly’s face, the side she sleeps on, had disappeared. “With my eyes looking for a big impact on overall dewiness, not improvement in fine lines, I didn’t even register that change,” says Bailly. “Also, it turns out I may not look at the sides of my face much.” For patients like Bailly, who don’t struggle with dryness and dullness—“I have been a beauty editor for a long time—my skin has been extremely well-moisturized and regularly exfoliated since Bill Clinton's second term,” she says—Skinvive probably isn’t going to make the skin dramatically glowier. But, based on Bailly’s experience, it can significantly impact fine lines.

Side effects of Skinvive tend to be mild and temporary, according to a clinical trial of 135 patients (most other cosmetic injectables’ risks are similarly low). Redness, tenderness, and firmness may appear at the injection site, says Dr. Green. Patients may experience mild swelling—Dr. Hartman recommends applying ice packs to the treated areas for five to 10 minutes twice daily for at least three days after the treatment—and mild bruising.

That said, we’ve heard several anecdotal cases of people experiencing injection site bumps for several weeks after the treatment. And in the clinical trial, three participants had mild to moderate lumps/bumps that didn’t go away until 12 to 15 months after treatment. The 61-year-old mother of one Allure editor, who was treated by a board-certified plastic surgeon, had post-Skinvive bumps that she described as “bug bites without the redness—just inflammation.” She said they appeared immediately after treatment and took between three to four weeks to disappear.

Though it is by no means a scientific study (a generally accepted rule of thumb would be 100 cases for a reputable study), we reached out to six board-certified dermatologists and plastic surgeons to weigh in on Skinvive side effects specifically, and none were surprised by the experiences we had heard about. Bumps are an indicated side effect, along with redness, bruising, itching, discoloration, and more, which tend to resolve within seven days. Anything that lasts beyond a week merits another visit to your practitioner for an assessment and possibly dissolving the product with hyaluronidase.

“My colleagues have reported some troubles with Skinvive—some are seeing small nodules or blebs form after injecting it, creating a cobblestone look to the skin,” says board-certified dermatologist Laurel Geraghty, MD, who is not offering Skinvive at her own practice right now. “A few have stated this can last for a couple of weeks or more. And some patients need treatment to correct this: doxycycline or prednisone pills to reduce inflammation or injections of hyaluronidase to melt the blebs away.”

The bumps are most likely to happen if the injections are not placed at exactly the right level, adds Geraghty. If injections are too superficial there could be nodules. If they are injected too deeply, you can’t see any visible results. It’s a delicate balance but certainly not one impossible to attain. “Other dermatologists have had no trouble with the injections,” says Dr. Geraghty. “Like with any new product or treatment, we have more to learn.”

Allure reached out to Allergan for comment and its representatives highlighted the treatment's directions for use (DFU). “When the injection is completed, the treated site should be gently massaged by the injector so that it conforms to the contour of the surrounding tissues,” says the DFU. “If over-injection, visible lumps, or discoloration occurs, injectors are instructed to massage the area with their fingers or against the underlying superficial bone to obtain optimal results."

Bumps could indeed be a reflection of your practitioner. “The standard technique requires a precise understanding of anatomy and advanced clinical skill to administer the smallest aliquots [amounts] at the correct depth,” says Dr. Prather. Several of the dermatologists and plastic surgeons we spoke to agreed: While you may be able to get Skinvive at medspas or from your aesthetician, it’s always safest to stick with a board-certified dermatologist or plastic surgeon.

Executive beauty director Bailly is the only Allure editor who has tried Skinvive so far and she did not experience any side effects after getting about 20 injections on each side of her face. “I was a little pink afterward, but even that slight redness subsided within hours,” she says. “I had no bumps or bruising at any point.”

Skinvive also lists “lack of improvement,” as a side effect of the treatment. This did not surprise some of the experts we reached out to on the one-year anniversary of Skinvive’s FDA approval. One said they do not offer Skinvive because, in their opinion, the results are simply not worth the patient’s investment. Another, board-certified dermatologist Rachel Westbay, MD, says she finds she can get a similar effect with resurfacing lasers, microneedling with radiofrequency, or other hyper dilute low-viscosity hyaluronic acid fillers—like Juvéderm and Restylane—already available in her office.

The price is similar to other fillers per syringe ($600 - $1,000 or more, depending on geographic location). According to Dr. Alexiades’s experience in clinical trials, most patients need about two syringes.

Profhilo is another hyaluronic acid filler targeting dull skin that is available in the UK and Europe. (You can’t get it in the U.S. yet, though some experts think it’s only a matter of time before Profhilo comes to the U.S. and is granted FDA approval.) Profhilo has a higher concentration of hyaluronic acid than Skinvive, says Dr. Palm, and may help to target more dramatic signs of dehydration and aging.

Allergan Aesthetics, which produces the popular filler brand Juvéderm, is producing Skinvive under the Juvéderm umbrella of hyaluronic acid fillers. Skinvive has been available in Europe as Juvéderm Volite since 2017.

More on buzzy treatments:

• Injectables Trends From Around the World
• Are Phenol Peels Worth the Risks? What to Know About the Controversial Treatment
• Micro-Coring Is a 30-Minute Treatment That Can Help Tighten Skin

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