They sound almost identical and they do close to opposite things. One targets bacteria and inflammation; the other targets firmness. Confusing them means booking the wrong treatment for your skin, which is a waste of both money and an afternoon — so here is the difference in plain terms.

Why the names confuse everybody

Both are named after the electrical current they use, which is an engineering description rather than a description of what they do for your face. Nobody buying a facial cares about frequency in hertz; they care whether it helps with breakouts or with sagging. The names tell you nothing useful, which is precisely why the confusion is so persistent.

The shorthand worth remembering: high frequency for congestion, radio frequency for firmness.

What high frequency does

High frequency facial treatment is a non-invasive therapy that uses a high-frequency electrical current to stimulate the skin's natural healing process. It can help reduce inflammation, kill bacteria and regenerate collagen, which adds up to smoother, healthier-looking skin.

The practical use is congested and breakout-prone skin. The antibacterial effect is why it is so often applied straight after extractions in a deep cleanse — the pores have just been emptied, and this discourages what caused the problem from immediately setting up again.

It feels like a faint tingle and a slight warmth, and there is usually a smell of ozone. Neither is unpleasant, but both are worth expecting rather than discovering.

Book high frequency if

  • You break out, particularly along the jaw, chin or back
  • Your skin looks inflamed or reddened around blemishes
  • You are having extractions and want to support the result
  • Your congestion returns quickly after a facial

What radio frequency does

Radio frequency works on a different plane. It delivers energy that warms the deeper layers of the skin, and that controlled warming is intended to encourage the skin's own firming and collagen response over time.

So its territory is laxity and texture rather than spots: softening of the jawline, fine lines, skin that has lost some of its spring. It is a gradual treatment rather than an overnight one, and it is usually built up over a series.

It feels warm — a deep, spreading heat that most people find comfortable and some find very pleasant. If it ever feels hot rather than warm, say so.

Book radio frequency if

  • Your concern is firmness rather than clarity
  • You are noticing fine lines around the eyes or mouth
  • You want to target a defined area rather than the whole face

Which one for which concern

Take the thing that actually bothers you when you look in the mirror and match it:

  • Spots, congestion, inflammation → high frequency
  • Dullness and dehydration → neither, really. A hydrating facial at R450 is the right answer
  • Rough texture and blocked pores → start with a deep cleanse at R400, with high frequency included
  • Fine lines and slackness → radio frequency
  • All of the above → hydro dermabrasion at R900, which combines several of these

Treating specific areas

Radio frequency at Windrush can be booked for the whole face or for specific areas at R200 — the eye area, the lip area, the forehead, or the nasal labia folds either side of the mouth.

This is genuinely useful if there is one thing you want addressed rather than a general treatment. It is also the sensible way to try radio frequency for the first time without committing to a full-face price.

What each costs at Windrush

  • Repair treatment 1 — R850 — ten sessions of twenty minutes, including high frequency
  • Repair treatment 2, half face, including radio frequency — R500
  • Repair treatment 2, full face, including radio frequency — R900
  • Radio frequency, specific areas — R200
  • Deep cleanse — R400
  • Hydrating facial — R450

Note that Repair treatment 1 is a course of ten rather than a single appointment. Skin responds to repetition, and a ten-session course at R850 works out at R85 a session, which is why it is structured that way.

Who should not have either

Tell us before booking if you are pregnant, have a pacemaker or any implanted electrical device, have metal implants in the treatment area, epilepsy, or an active skin infection in the area. Some of these rule out one treatment and not the other, and some rule out both. If you are being treated for a skin condition, or you use prescription retinoids or have had recent injectables, mention that too — timing matters.

Not sure which you need?

Describe the problem rather than choosing a treatment name. Call the day spa on 072 928 2596, tell us what your skin is doing, and we will tell you which of these is right — or whether something simpler would serve you better.

How many sessions before anything shows?

Different answers for the two.

High frequency often shows something quickly, because reducing inflammation is a fast process — skin can look calmer within a day or two. It is at its most useful as a regular part of a facial rather than a one-off.

Radio frequency is slower by nature. It works by encouraging the skin's own response over time, so a single session is not where the value lies. Expect a series, spaced out, and judge it over a couple of months rather than a couple of days. Anyone promising a dramatic overnight change from one session is overselling it.

Aftercare for both

Mild redness afterwards is normal and settles within a few hours. Beyond that, treat freshly worked skin gently: no strong actives that evening, no harsh scrubs for a day or two, and sunscreen the following morning without fail. Freshly treated skin is more vulnerable to the sun, and Johannesburg sun is not gentle.

Leave a day between a facial and anything where you want to look your best. Skin often looks its best on day two or three, not straight afterwards.

A realistic word on expectations

Both of these are useful treatments and neither is a rewrite of your face. High frequency helps manage congestion; it does not cure acne, and persistent or painful acne is worth seeing a doctor about. Radio frequency supports firmness; it is not surgery and does not claim to be.

We would rather tell you that plainly than have you spend money expecting something else.