NCTF 135 HA is a mesotherapy booster made by FILLMED, the French laboratory that used to trade as Filorga. It is not a filler and it is not Profhilo. It is a thin, free hyaluronic acid solution at 5 mg per ml carrying a nutrient complex, injected as a field of tiny surface blebs rather than placed in one spot to create shape. What it treats is skin quality: dullness, crepey texture, the fine lines that show up in photographs before anyone would call them wrinkles. What it will not do is lift anything, fill anything or replace a filler.
This guide is written from how the treatment is used at Halcyon Medispa in Marylebone: what is actually in the vial, what the manufacturer's own protocol is, what the published research measured, who we think it suits, and the patients we send to a different treatment instead.
The short answer: NCTF 135 HA is a skin booster given as a course, not a one off. FILLMED's own protocol is three sessions, three weeks apart, and the change people notice is in light: skin that catches it evenly instead of looking flat. If you want a jawline redefined or a hollow filled, this is the wrong product and you want a structural filler such as cheek filler, or Profhilo for laxity, instead.
In this guide:
- What NCTF 135 HA actually is
- What is inside the vial
- Why it is not a filler, and why that matters
- What a session is like
- The protocol, and why three sessions
- What the research actually measured
- NCTF against Profhilo and polynucleotides
- Who it suits, and who it does not
- The 48 hours afterwards
- What it costs at Halcyon
- Frequently asked questions
What NCTF 135 HA actually is
NCTF stands for New Cellular Treatment Factor. The 135 refers to the formulation and the HA to the hyaluronic acid in it. It is a mesotherapy product, which means it is delivered into the upper dermis in many small doses across an area rather than in one bolus, and it comes from FILLMED Laboratories in France. Practitioners who trained before about 2019 will still call it Filorga NCTF, because that was the brand name until FILLMED separated its medical range from the retail skincare line. Same product, same factory.
The hyaluronic acid in it is free, or non cross linked. That single word is the whole difference between this and a filler. Cross linking is a chemical process that binds HA chains into a gel that holds a shape and resists being broken down, which is what lets a filler sit under a cheek for a year. Free HA does not hold a shape. It disperses, draws water into the tissue around it, and is metabolised in days. You are not buying volume. You are buying a delivery vehicle.
What is inside the vial
The hyaluronic acid is the carrier. The reason anyone injects it is the polyrevitalising complex dissolved in it, which FILLMED lists as 12 vitamins, 24 amino acids, 6 coenzymes, 5 nucleosides, 6 minerals and glutathione, alongside free hyaluronic acid at 5 mg per ml.
| What is in it | What it is there to do |
|---|---|
| Free hyaluronic acid, 5 mg per ml | Binds water in the dermis and carries everything else where it needs to go |
| 24 amino acids | The raw material a fibroblast builds collagen and elastin from |
| 12 vitamins | Cofactors for the reactions that turn those amino acids into structure |
| 5 nucleosides | Involved in the DNA and RNA work behind new collagen synthesis |
| 6 minerals and 6 coenzymes | Support the cell metabolism the rest of it depends on |
| Glutathione | Antioxidant, and the ingredient most often oversold in marketing copy |
A word about glutathione, because it is the ingredient patients ask about most. Its presence here is as an antioxidant inside a formulation. Injected NCTF is not a skin lightening treatment, whatever the internet says about glutathione drips, and no reputable London clinic should sell it as one.
Why it is not a filler, and why that matters
This is where most of the disappointment in skin boosters comes from. Somebody books NCTF hoping for the result their friend got from a syringe of filler, and then feels that nothing happened.
A filler is a structural product. It occupies space, and the result is visible the moment the needle comes out. NCTF changes what the skin itself is made of, slowly, and the result is visible in reflected light rather than in outline. In practice that means a face that photographs better, make up that sits flatter, and the fine crepe under the eyes looking less like tissue paper. It does not mean a lifted jaw. Nobody across a room will be able to say what you have had done, which for a good number of our patients is the entire appeal.
A filler changes your outline. A booster changes your surface. If you cannot say which of those two things is bothering you, that is the conversation to have at the consultation, not after the treatment.
What a session is like
About 30 minutes at our Marylebone clinic, and no anaesthetic is needed for most people, though numbing cream is available and we use it routinely under the eyes where the skin is thinnest.
The product goes in through a 30G or 32G needle, which is very fine, or through a cannula, or through a mesotherapy device. The technique is either multipuncture, a series of small injections in a grid across the area, or retrotracing, where the product is laid down in a line as the needle is withdrawn. The multipuncture approach leaves a field of tiny raised blebs called micro papules. They look like small insect bites, they are supposed to be there, and they settle over the following few hours as the product diffuses.
Faces are the common request. The neck, the decolletage and the backs of the hands respond just as well and are neglected far more often, and the periocular skin, the area around the eyes, has its own published work behind it. Expect pinpoint redness for a few hours and the possibility of small bruises, particularly under the eyes.
The protocol, and why three sessions
FILLMED's own protocol is three sessions and it names each one. Day zero is initialisation. Three weeks later is correction. Three weeks after that, so six weeks from the start, is stabilisation. For maintenance the manufacturer suggests at least two protocols a year, adjusted to the individual.
The spacing is not arbitrary and it is worth understanding before you judge the treatment. Fibroblasts do not build collagen on the day you feed them. The first session tells the tissue something has happened, the second arrives while that response is still running, and the third lands on skin that is already remodelling. One session on its own is a well hydrated week. It is the stacking that produces the change, which is exactly why we will not sell a single NCTF appointment as a treatment plan.
Halcyon uses NCTF four ways: on its own as the Classic protocol, as the higher concentration Boost formulation for more mature skin, driven in with microneedling, or as straightforward mesotherapy injections. The microneedling combination is the one to ask about if needle phobia is the thing standing between you and the treatment.
What the research actually measured
Most clinic pages claim results without pointing at anything. Here is the study people are usually referring to, along with its limits.
A clinical assessment published in the Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications in 2017 followed 20 healthy women aged 32 to 67, mean age 49.25, of whom 18 completed the protocol. They had five sessions, at days 0, 15, 30, 60 and 90, and were assessed at day 120 using profilometry, chromametry and high frequency ultrasound rather than opinion alone.
| Measured at day 120 | Change from baseline |
|---|---|
| Crow's feet wrinkle depth | Reduced by 43.3 per cent |
| Pore size | Reduced by 58.5 per cent, from 167.39 to 69.44 micrometres |
| Evenness of skin brightness | Improved by 52.13 per cent |
| Dermal thickness on ultrasound | Increased by 20.15 per cent |
| Dermal density on ultrasound | Increased by 24.19 per cent |
Now the caveats, because they matter. Eighteen women is a small group. There was no untreated control arm, so some of the measured change could be seasonal, or the effect of people looking after their skin more carefully while they are enrolled in a study. And the protocol used was five sessions rather than the three FILLMED sells. Read those numbers as a reasonable indication of the direction and size of the effect, not as a promise about your own face. Anyone quoting the 43.3 per cent to you without mentioning the sample size is quoting a brochure.
NCTF against Profhilo and polynucleotides
These three get lumped together as skin boosters and they do genuinely different jobs. This is the comparison we draw in consultation.
| Treatment | What it is best at | Typical course |
|---|---|---|
| NCTF 135 HA | Skin quality, texture, radiance, fine surface lines. Nutrient delivery. | Three sessions three weeks apart |
| Profhilo | Laxity and bounce across a whole area. Hydration plus a spreading remodelling effect. | Two sessions four weeks apart |
| Biostimulatory polynucleotides | Repair in thin, fragile skin. The under eye area above all. | Two to three sessions |
They are not mutually exclusive and combining them is common. A typical Marylebone plan for a patient in her late forties might be polynucleotides under the eyes, Profhilo across the lower face, and NCTF over the whole face and neck to bring the texture up with it. If you want the detail on the other two, our guide to polynucleotide treatment covers that ground.
Who it suits, and who it does not
Taking a position on this is more useful to you than a list of benefits.
It suits people in their thirties and forties whose complaint is dullness rather than lines. Smokers and ex smokers, whose skin tends to be starved and grey. Anyone with visible sun damage on the decolletage and hands, which is where NCTF earns its keep because there are few good alternatives for those areas. People preparing for something in eight to ten weeks who want to look well rather than different. And needle tolerant patients who want a maintenance treatment they can repeat twice a year and still look like themselves.
It does not suit anyone whose real complaint is a fold, a hollow or a heavy jaw. It will not touch those, and no number of sessions will change that. It is also the wrong first move for significant laxity after weight loss, for active acne, or for deep static wrinkles, where HIFU, anti wrinkle injections or a resurfacing treatment are what we would recommend instead. And if you can commit to one appointment but not to three, wait until you can. A single session is money spent on a week of glow.
The standard contraindications apply: pregnancy and breastfeeding, active infection or inflammation in the area to be treated, and a known allergy to any component of the formulation. Bring your full medication list to the consultation, blood thinners included, because they change how much bruising to expect rather than whether you can be treated.
The 48 hours afterwards
- Leave the micro papules alone. Do not massage them flat. They go down on their own within a few hours.
- No make up for the rest of the day, over dozens of fresh injection points.
- No gym, sauna, steam room or hot yoga for 24 hours. Heat and blood flow make the redness and any bruising worse.
- Sunscreen every day, and no deliberate sun for a few days.
- Skip retinoids and acids for 48 hours, then go back to your normal routine.
- Drink water. The product works by binding it.
Book the session with the calendar in mind. Small bruises under the eyes can take a week to fade, so if there is an event, put the last appointment at least two weeks in front of it.
What it costs at Halcyon
NCTF is priced per session and per area, and because it is nearly always taken as a course of three the sensible question at consultation is what the course costs rather than the single session. Our treatment price list is published in full and is the figure to trust, and your practitioner will confirm the course price against the areas you actually want treated before anything is booked.
The consultation itself is £200 with Dr Osman Bashir Tahir and £100 with our aesthetic physician, redeemable against your treatment. For a sense of where boosters sit in the range, Profhilo for the face or neck is from £250 with the aesthetic physician and £350 with Dr.OBT, and biostimulatory polynucleotides for the under eye are from £300 and £375 respectively.
The full clinical detail on the treatment, including how we assess whether you are a candidate, sits on the NCTF 135 HA treatment page.
Frequently asked questions
What is NCTF 135 HA used for?
Skin quality rather than shape. It is used to improve texture, radiance, hydration and fine surface lines on the face, neck, decolletage and hands. It is a mesotherapy booster from FILLMED containing free hyaluronic acid at 5 mg per ml plus a nutrient complex, and it does not add volume or lift.
How many NCTF sessions do I need?
Three, three weeks apart, which is FILLMED's own protocol: initialisation at day zero, correction at three weeks, stabilisation at six weeks. Maintenance is usually a repeat course roughly twice a year. One session on its own is not a treatment plan and we will say so.
Is NCTF 135 HA the same as Filorga NCTF?
Yes. FILLMED is the same French laboratory, renamed when it separated its medical injectables from the Filorga retail skincare range. Practitioners who trained earlier often still call it Filorga NCTF. The product is unchanged.
Does NCTF hurt?
It is a series of very small injections through a 30G or 32G needle, so it stings briefly at each point rather than hurting in any sustained way. Numbing cream is available and we use it under the eyes as standard. A face takes about 30 minutes.
How long do NCTF results last?
The hyaluronic acid itself is gone within days. What lasts is the collagen and elastin activity it triggered, which is why results build over weeks and then fade gradually. Most people repeat the course about twice a year, and FILLMED recommends at least two protocols annually.
What is the difference between NCTF and Profhilo?
NCTF is a nutrient delivery treatment aimed at skin quality, given as three sessions three weeks apart. Profhilo is a high concentration hyaluronic acid aimed at laxity and bounce, given as two sessions four weeks apart. They target different complaints and are often used together.
Can NCTF be used under the eyes?
Yes, and the periocular area has its own published work behind it. We numb it as standard because the skin there is thinnest, and we tell patients to expect the possibility of small bruises that can take a week to settle, so leave two weeks before any event.
What are the little bumps after treatment?
Micro papules, and they are meant to be there. Multipuncture technique leaves a small bleb of product at each injection point. They flatten within a few hours as the product diffuses into the skin. Do not massage them, and leave make up off for the rest of the day.
Not sure whether it is your texture or your structure that is bothering you? That is the question a consultation in Marylebone is for, and the answer decides which treatment you should be booking.
