Amy Litz
Founder & Owner
EmFace · No needles · Chadds Ford | Glen Mills, PA
Two reasons people look past Botox.
Pick the one that sounds like you. It genuinely changes what we’d recommend.
FDA-cleared · BTL EmFace
Dr. Benjamin Lam, DO, Medical Director
Established 2018
Then this is the one to know about
Nothing goes into your skin. Nothing gets frozen.
Plenty of people want their jawline back and simply don’t want a needle involved — because of the needle itself, or because they’ve watched someone’s face go still and expressionless and decided that isn’t for them. Both are reasonable, and neither means you’re stuck with the face you’ve got.
EmFace sits on the outside of your skin. Two pads on the cheeks, one on the forehead. You feel your face contract and a spreading warmth, and twenty minutes later you leave with no marks, no bruising, and nothing to explain to anyone. Because it works by strengthening the muscles that lift rather than switching them off, it can’t take your expression away — you keep every bit of your ability to frown, smile and raise an eyebrow.
The needle-free option isn’t the compromise version. It’s a different mechanism aimed at a different problem.
Then this is probably why
It usually isn’t resistance. The problem changed.
“My Botox stopped working” is one of the most common things we hear, and the usual assumption — that you’ve become immune to it — is the least likely explanation. True antibody resistance is well documented in high-dose medical use, but it is rare at cosmetic doses.
What has usually happened is more ordinary. Botox softens lines made by movement. Over the years the thing bothering you quietly stops being movement and starts being descent — a heavier jawline, flatter cheeks, creases that stay put when your face is completely still. Botox is doing its job perfectly. It is just no longer the job that needs doing, because relaxing a muscle has never lifted anything.
EmFace treats that second problem: it tones the muscles that hold the midface and brow up, and heats the dermis to lay down new collagen. That is why it often works for people who felt their injectables had plateaued — not because the Botox failed, but because it was never built to do this.
If your lines are still dynamic, we’ll tell you to stay on Botox. We’re not here to talk you off something that’s working.
The actual difference
One switches muscle off. The other builds it up.
This is the whole distinction, and it’s why they aren’t really competitors.
| Botox | EmFace | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Blocks the nerve signal to a muscle so it stops contracting. | Contracts the lifting muscles thousands of times per session so they strengthen, while radiofrequency heats the dermis to build collagen. |
| So it suits | Dynamic lines — forehead, frown, crow’s feet. Movement you want less of. | Descent — flattened cheeks, a softened jawline, a brow sitting lower than it did. |
| Needles | Yes — several small injections per area. | None. Nothing enters the skin and no numbing is used. |
| Effect on expression | Reduces movement — that is the mechanism working. | Unchanged. Nothing is paralysed, so you keep every expression. |
| Time in clinic | About 30 minutes. | About 20 minutes. |
| Downtime | None, though small pinprick marks or bruising are possible. | None at all. No marks, no redness worth mentioning. Make-up straight back on. |
| When you see it | Three to seven days, photographed at two weeks. | Around the second or third session. |
| Full result | About two weeks. | About three months after the last session, as collagen forms. |
| To get started | One appointment. | Four sessions, one week apart. |
| To keep it | Repeat every three to four months, indefinitely. | One session every three to four months. |
| Visits in year one | Three to four. | Six to seven — the four-session course, then maintenance. |
| Visits every year after | Three to four, at the same rate, for as long as you want the result. | Two to three. The course is front-loaded; upkeep is lighter than the start. |
| Performed by | Pam Alger, RN and the Contoured injector team. | Pam Alger, RN and the Contoured clinical team. |
| Run both together? | Yes — they act on different tissue in different directions. Botox up top for line softening, EmFace for lift, scheduled a week or two apart. | |
On cost: Botox is a smaller amount repeated at the same rate forever, while EmFace front-loads a course and then asks less of you each year. Which works out better depends on how much Botox you have and where. We will put real numbers against your own history at the consult.
Contoured has "Botox" in its name and we inject a great deal of it. This page isn’t an argument against it — it’s for the two groups of people that injectables were never the right answer for.
What the research shows
The result keeps building after you stop coming.
Average wrinkle improvement measured by 3D imaging in a multicentre study of 33 patients — mean age 58 — after the standard four sessions.
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The day you finish
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One month later
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Three months later
In the same study 88% of patients improved by at least one point on the Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale, 86.8% reported being satisfied, and no adverse events occurred. Average discomfort was rated 1.1 out of 10. Synchronized RF and HIFES Technology for Clinically Significant Wrinkle Reduction: A Multicenter 3D Evaluation. Study averages, not a promise — your face is its own case.
The part nobody describes properly
What twenty minutes actually feels like.
Start to finish
- You keep your clothes on and your make-up comes off. Three pads go on — one across the forehead, one on each cheek. Nothing is injected, nothing is numbed, and no gel or blade touches you.
- Then your face starts moving on its own. The muscles tap and pull in a rhythm, and a deep warmth spreads underneath. Most people describe it as strange for the first two minutes and then completely unremarkable. Patients in the published study rated discomfort 1.1 out of 10.
- You can talk the whole time. Most people scroll, some fall asleep. We build the intensity up gradually rather than starting at full strength.
- Then you leave and do your day. No redness worth mentioning, no swelling, no bruising, nothing to hide. You can put make-up straight back on and go to a meeting.
What you’re committing to
Four visits, then a top-up twice a year.
No packages, no membership. We bill per visit, the way we do everything.
Weeks 1 – 4
The initial series
Four sessions, one week apart, twenty minutes each. Most people notice something around the second or third — usually the jawline first, then the cheeks.
Month 3
Peak result
The collagen your skin was prompted to make finishes arriving. This is the point we photograph against your baseline, and it’s the fairest judge of what EmFace did for you.
Every 3 – 4 months
One session to hold it
Muscle behaves like muscle: it needs the occasional reminder. A single maintenance session two or three times a year keeps the result where it landed.
Where we’ll tell you no
EmFace is not a facelift, and we won’t pretend it is.
- Significant loose skin that needs surgical removal. A device cannot cut tissue away — Dr. Lam will tell you honestly if that’s what you’re looking at.
- Deep static creases already etched at rest. Those want resurfacing, not muscle work.
- Lost volume in the cheeks or temples. That’s a filler conversation, and we’d rather have it than sell you the wrong thing.
- Wanting one dramatic session. EmFace is cumulative by design; there is no version of it that works in a single visit.
- Electronic or metal implants in the face, or a pacemaker. We screen for this at the consult.
- Pregnancy — we wait.
If any of those is you, the consult is still worth having. You’ll leave knowing what would actually work, even when the answer is something we don’t sell.
Who’s holding the device
The same hands, every visit.
You see the same provider through all four sessions, and every plan is reviewed by our medical director before it starts.
Lead Injector · Clinical Team
Pam Alger, RN
Runs the EmFace protocols with the Contoured clinical team. Photographs at baseline and at three months, so the change is measured rather than remembered.
Medical Director · Plastic Surgeon
Dr. Benjamin Lam, DO
Board-certified plastic surgeon and Director of the Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship at PCOM. He is also the person who will tell you when surgery is the honest answer.
Start here
Book a free consult.
Thirty minutes, no charge, no obligation. We look at your face, work out whether the issue is movement or descent, and tell you which of the two actually fits — including when the answer is to stay exactly where you are.
1Fastest: text (610) 632-6469 and we’ll book you in.
2Self-booking? Open the EMS category below.
3Choose EMFace — your first visit includes the consult.
Questions first? Text (610) 632-6469 — usually answered within the hour on clinic days.
Or call (610) 787-9154.
What patients say
The pattern in our reviews is being told no.
Six years of Botox with Amy. I’ve referred my mom, my best friend, and three coworkers. She knows my face. She tells me no when I ask for too much. That’s why I trust her.Lisa P.Long-term client
I had an incredible experience at Contoured. I would highly recommend — the owners and staff were extremely welcoming. The treatment plan was written, transparent, and there was no upsell. That’s not how my last medspa worked.Cassidy S.New client
I had filler done elsewhere two years ago that I hated — looked overdone in every photo. Amy dissolved it for me, waited, and then placed a half-syringe in tear troughs that completely changed how I look. Six months in, no one knows I had anything done. That’s the goal.Megan R.Filler patient
Before you book
The things people ask first.
Is EmFace as good as Botox?
It isn’t the same job, so the comparison doesn’t quite work. Botox relaxes a muscle so movement lines soften. EmFace strengthens the muscles that lift and adds collagen. If your complaint is a frown line, Botox wins and we’ll say so. If your complaint is that your face has dropped, Botox was never going to fix that and EmFace might.
Have I become resistant to Botox?
Probably not. True antibody resistance is documented mainly in high-dose medical use and is rare at cosmetic doses. Far more often the dose, the placement or the interval has drifted — or, most commonly, what bothers you has shifted from movement to descent, which Botox doesn’t treat. We’d rather work out which of those it is than assume.
Will my face look frozen or overdone?
It can’t. Nothing is paralysed — the opposite happens, the lifting muscles are made to work. You keep every expression you have now. The change reads as looking less tired rather than looking treated, which is precisely why it appeals to people who never wanted injectables.
Does it hurt, and are there needles at any point?
No needles at any stage, and no numbing, because none is needed. You feel your facial muscles contracting and a deep warmth. Patients in the published study rated it 1.1 out of 10 for discomfort and 84% called the treatment comfortable.
How soon will I see something, and how long does it last?
Most people notice a change around the second or third session. The measured peak is about three months after the final session, once new collagen has formed. A maintenance session every three to four months holds it.
Can I keep having Botox as well?
Yes, and many patients do. They work on different tissue in different directions, so they combine well — Botox in the forehead and frown for line softening, EmFace in the cheeks and jaw for lift. We space them a week or two apart.
Is there any downtime at all?
None. No redness worth mentioning, no swelling, no bruising, no marks. Make-up goes straight back on and people regularly come in on a lunch break.
Who shouldn’t have EmFace?
Anyone with significant loose skin that needs surgical removal, deep creases already set at rest, or volume loss in the cheeks — those need different treatments and we’ll say so. It’s also not for anyone with electronic or metal facial implants or a pacemaker, and we wait through pregnancy.
What does it cost?
Pricing depends on the areas treated and how many sessions your plan calls for, so it’s confirmed at your consult and shown in our scheduler before you book anything. We bill per visit and don’t sell prepaid packages.
Same hands.
Who's behind your care.
Every treatment at Contoured is delivered by a named, credentialed team member — and every dosing plan is reviewed by a board-certified physician.
No needles. No downtime. No packages.
Twenty minutes is a low bar to find out.
Bring us the thing that’s been bothering you in photographs. We’ll tell you whether it’s movement or descent, and what we’d honestly do about it.
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