Juläine vs Sculptra
Two collagen biostimulators, the same active ingredient, and the differences that actually matter
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Not sure whether a biostimulator or a filler is right for your face? A consultation with the treating doctor is £50 and comes off the cost of your treatment.
Both are poly-L-lactic acid collagen biostimulators. The differences between them are practical rather than dramatic, and the one most patients notice is the aftercare: Sculptra asks you to massage the area five times a day for five days, while with Juläine the doctor massages it once at the end of treatment and you do nothing.
What they have in common
Juläine and Sculptra are both collagen biostimulators built around poly-L-lactic acid, a material that has been used in medicine for decades in dissolvable sutures and implants. Neither adds volume in the way a dermal filler does. Both are injected into the skin, where the material prompts fibroblasts to lay down new type I collagen over the following weeks and months.
That means both work slowly. You do not walk out looking different. The change arrives gradually, which is the point for most people who choose this route, and the reason neither is a good option if you want a visible result for a specific date in three weeks’ time.
Both typically need a course of two to three sessions, spaced four to six weeks apart, and both build on the collagen your own skin makes.
The differences at a glance
Three columns – swipe the table sideways to see them all
| Juläine of Sweden | Sculptra | |
|---|---|---|
| Active ingredient | Poly-L-lactic acid | Poly-L-lactic acid |
| Manufacturer | Nordberg Medical, Sweden | Galderma |
| Particle structure | Uniform spherical microspheres, made using the manufacturer’s LASYNPRO process | Irregularly shaped particles |
| Anaesthetic in the syringe | Contains lidocaine | Does not contain lidocaine |
| Preparation | Supplied ready to use | Reconstituted in the clinic before treatment |
| Massage afterwards | None for you – the doctor massages once at the end of treatment | Five minutes, five times a day, for five days – 25 minutes a day in total |
| Sessions usually needed | Two to three, four to six weeks apart | Two to three, four to six weeks apart |
| When results show | From around four to six weeks, developing over three to six months | Comparable |
| How long results last | Around 12 to 24 months | Around two years |
| Track record | Newer. CE-marked under EU MDR 2017/745, with a multicentre clinical study published in 2025 | In clinical use in Europe since 1999, and offered at Bodyvie since 2001 |
| Available at Bodyvie | Yes. Course of three £2,550, single session £950 | Yes, but selectively – hyper-diluted, on a per-patient basis. £950 per vial |
The aftercare difference is the one patients notice
Sculptra has a well-known aftercare protocol, usually called the five-five-five rule: massage the treated area for five minutes, five times a day, for five days. It exists to distribute the product evenly and reduce the chance of nodules forming, and it works.
What that actually means in practice. Twenty-five minutes of massage a day, broken into five separate sessions, every day for five days. You have to remember it, find somewhere private to do it, and fit it around work and everything else.
Some practitioners ask patients to keep going for longer than five days. It is the part of Sculptra treatment people most often forget, abandon partway, or quietly do badly, and because the massage is there to prevent lumps, doing it badly matters.
Juläine asks none of this. The doctor gives the area a short firm massage as soon as the product is placed, and that is the whole of it. You walk out and carry on with your day.
The manufacturer attributes this to the uniform spherical shape of its microspheres, which are designed to disperse evenly on injection rather than clump, so there is nothing to redistribute afterwards.
The second practical difference is comfort during treatment. Juläine contains lidocaine in the syringe. Sculptra does not, so any local anaesthetic has to be given separately.
Where the evidence actually stands
This is the part most comparison articles skate over, so we will be direct about it.
Sculptra has the longer record. It has been in clinical use in Europe since 1999 and studied extensively over more than twenty-five years. If length of track record is what reassures you most, that is a genuine point in its favour.
Juläine is newer. It is CE-marked under EU MDR 2017/745, manufactured in Sweden under ISO 13485, and a prospective multicentre study of its poly-L-lactic acid formulation was published in 2025. That is real evidence, but it is not twenty-five years of it, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling rather than informing.
On nodules, which are the recognised complication of this class of treatment. Nodules and late granulomas are the best-documented downside of poly-L-lactic acid, reported in somewhere between 2 and 14 per cent of cases depending on technique. The published evidence points at how the product is prepared rather than at the product itself: a 2026 review found a nodule rate of 1.3 per cent using a high-dilution protocol against 8 per cent with standard dilution, and concluded that massage alone is not enough to prevent them.
That matters here. Sculptra’s whole preparation routine, reconstituting hours ahead, diluting carefully, then the five-day massage protocol, exists to manage exactly that risk. Juläine arrives ready to use, which removes the preparation variable the evidence actually implicates. Its manufacturer also points to the uniform spherical shape of its microspheres as reducing clumping in the tissue, which is a reasonable rationale, though we have not seen a head-to-head trial against Sculptra and will not claim one.
Neither of them is a dermal filler
This is the most common misunderstanding, and it matters because it changes whether either product is right for you at all.
A hyaluronic acid filler places volume where you put it, immediately, and can be dissolved if you do not like it. A collagen biostimulator does not place volume. It asks your skin to rebuild its own, slowly, across an area rather than at a point, and it cannot be reversed.
So if you have a specific hollow or contour you want corrected, a filler is usually the better answer. If your face has become generally flatter and less supported and you would rather rebuild your own collagen than have volume placed, a biostimulator is the more appropriate treatment. At consultation we will tell you honestly which of the two your face is actually asking for, and sometimes the answer is neither.
If you want it to show by Christmas
A course of three runs eight to twelve weeks. The first change shows at around four to six weeks, and firmness carries on developing for three to six months after the course ends.
So starting in September or early October means you will be looking your best through Christmas and into the new year. Starting in November or December will not show in time, and we would rather tell you that than take the booking. This is true of Sculptra as well, for the same reason: both work by asking your skin to rebuild collagen, and that takes as long as it takes.
We offer both, and how we choose between them
Bodyvie has offered Sculptra since 2001, and offers Juläine too, so we have nothing to gain by talking you out of either. The question at consultation is only which one suits your face and your circumstances.
We do use Sculptra differently from most clinics, though, and it is worth explaining why.
Sculptra, here, is a continuation rather than a starting point. We use it hyper-diluted, and only for patients who have had it before, with an evidenced treatment history, who did well on it and have no history of granulomas following it. We do not start anyone new on Sculptra. That position was reached over twenty-five years of using the product and following patients up, not from reading about it.
That is a deliberate clinical position rather than a marketing one. The published evidence on poly-L-lactic acid nodules points at dilution more than anything else: one 2026 review reported a nodule rate of 1.3 per cent using a high-dilution protocol against 8 per cent with standard dilution, and found that massage alone was not enough. If we are going to use Sculptra, we use it in the way the evidence supports.
We would generally suggest Juläine where the aftercare is the sticking point. If you work long days, travel, have small children, or simply know you will not do twenty-five minutes of massage a day for five days, Juläine removes that risk entirely. It contains lidocaine, so treatment is more comfortable, and it arrives ready to use, so the preparation variable is taken out of the equation altogether.
We would continue Sculptra where you have had it before, did well on it, and can evidence that treatment history. It has been in clinical use in Europe since 1999 and the length of that record is a genuine point in its favour. It is £950 per vial here.
Neither is a bad treatment. They share an active ingredient and work the same way. Anyone telling you one is simply superior to the other is selling rather than advising.
What Juläine costs at Bodyvie
A course of three Juläine sessions is £2,550, which works out at £850 a session. A single session is £950. Clinics in central London charge up to £1,400 a session for the same treatment, which makes a course of three £4,200 elsewhere.
The number of sessions you need is assessed at consultation and depends on how much collagen loss there is to address. Full detail is on our Juläine cost page.
Who performs it
Juläine is a doctor-led treatment at Bodyvie. Dr Vadim Corjos treats at both Belgravia and Richmond. Dr Andrew Weber and Dr Dara Suite treat at Richmond.
Juläine is CE-marked for the correction of shallow to deep nasolabial folds. We treat the lower face. Where it is used across the wider face rather than in the folds alone, that is a clinical decision your doctor will explain and record at consultation.
Related reading
What the treatment involves, who it suits, recovery and results.
£950 per session, what a full course comes to, and what changes the number of sessions.
Fillers, Profhilo, polynucleotides and the rest of the range at Bodyvie.
Frequently asked questions
Is Juläine better than Sculptra?
Does Juläine need the five-five-five massage?
How many sessions will I need?
When will I see a difference?
How long do the results last?
Can Juläine be dissolved if I do not like it?
Is Juläine a dermal filler?
Do you offer Sculptra at Bodyvie?
What does it cost?
Is there any downtime?
A course of three Juläine sessions is £2,550. Book a consultation and we will tell you honestly whether it is the right treatment for you.
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