ELECTRIC LADYLAND When Bette Midler appeared on Larry King Live in November, viewers could be forgiven for dismissing her glowing complexion as Hollywood plastic surgery magic. But 58-year-old Midler set the record straight: fterskin is cour­tesy of a facialist ("That's what they're called nowadays/'she said):Tony at the FacePlace in West Hollywood,to be precise. Viewers everywhere wrote down his name on available napkins and newspapers."Within 10 minutes, our four phone lines lit up,"says the owner of the FacePlace, Paul Rogers.

The service Midler referred to is known simply as "the skin treatment" and involves vacuuming the skin's surface, a manual cleansing of every pore, exfoliation and the grand, somewhat bizarre finale: surgical cotton saturated with a specialized solution applied to the face and neck and penetrating the skin's tissues with the aid of galvanic currents.That's electricity, baby. Used primarily to help skin absorb the solution, Rogers says, the current tones and helps reduce wrinkles and fine lines.

 The FacePlace, which also counts Sofia Coppola and Rene Russo among its fans, has been offering the treatment since 1972, but the technology, rela­tively new to Canada, is only starting to make a name for itself. Rajesh Sharma, president of the Ambiance Day Spa in Toronto, says he now has clients coming in from Montreal especially for Ambiance's version of the treatment, known as the Hydradermie facial, which uses technology from Guinot, the famed French skin-care company. In May Guinot will introduce a new machine, with enhanced lifting capabilities, that will be used in spas across Canada.

Just as beauty companies are pushing products that promise less drastic alternatives to plastic surgery, Mr.Sharma says many of their clients want results without going under the knife."lt's not a violent procedure / he says."We're Not cutting into the face, we’re just making it look better” LAURA DECARUFEL