Peering into a magnifying mirror after a certain age is downright depressing, making you slap on extra layers of foundation. Not the best idea, but it does disguise some of those blemishes and sunspots for a while...
A better solution would be to rejuvenate and stimulate your skin in order to regain that smoother and younger- looking appearance, with or without makeup. Visiting your Skin Renewal Clinic will give you all the latest skin resurfacing options; these vary from superficial peels to laser treatments.
What kinds of skin resurfacing treatments are available?
You can choose from a milder treatment with less downtime to a more intensive treatment, in all cases there will be a few days where you would prefer to be less socially visible while your skin is healing and you won’t feel quite as beautiful as usual.
- 3D Peel™: Recommended for sunspots, pigmentation, oily skin with enlarged pores, fine lines and wrinkles. The social downtime will be a few days.
- 35% TCA Peel™: The indications are similar to those of the 3D Peel above, but the treatment is more intense and will take about a week to heal.
- Pearl Laser™: For rough, leathery skin that has severe sun damage, excessive pigmentation, rough skin, oily skin with enlarged pores and acne scarring, fine lines and wrinkles. Time needed to heal is about a week to ten days.
- Pearl Fusion™: For all of the above as well as deep lines, wrinkles, acne scars and sagging skin. Be prepared to stay at home for a week or two.
For a detailed comparison between these treatments, please see our summary of peels table.
I have listed them from the mildest to the most intense treatment; but if you are going to be socially unavailable for a few days with all of them, go for the one with the best results: the Pearl Fusion option! For more information on these treatments, view our Intense Peels and Laser Peels webpage!
How long does it take to heal?
Depending on the type of treatment, anything from five to fourteen days, by the time the peeling has taken place, you should be able to ‘show your face’ again.
As the skin heals, it will feel very tight, become dark and after a few days will start peeling. It is especially important that you follow all the post treatment instructions to ensure the best results possible. Above all, stay out of the sun and do not scratch or pull on dry flaky skin! Yes, I know it’s tempting, but don’t do it!
Why is Pearl Fusion the better option?
The Pearl laser evens out the entire skin surface by removing the upper layers of skin. As a result, the skin is stimulated to produce more collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid that will help the rejuvenation and repair those blemishes and wrinkles that you wish to eliminate.
If you need additional help, the Pearl Fractional and Pearl Laser treatments are combined into a single treatment namely Pearl Fusion™. The Pearl Fractional removes little bits of tissue, especially where there are problem areas such as wrinkles, scars and sagging, but leave the rest intact.
The advantage of laser treatment is that it sets up a healing response because of the ‘shock’ stimulation it causes to the skin. This results in skin tightening and firming, with long term improvement to the skin.
It sounds rather extreme!
Yes, these treatments are quite extreme and best you avoid the mirror for a few days, it is however an extremely effective way of getting rid of those unwanted blemishes and lines.
Can these treatments be done on all skin types?
The more intense treatments can only be done on Skin Type 1 – 4 patients. This means they are not suitable for dark skin types.
Why would I want to do this kind of treatment?
If you want to look ten years younger, especially around the eye area, you should really consider doing this kind of treatment.
The good news is that your skin will continue to improve over the next few months, because it has been stimulated to produce all those goodies that kept your skin looking young and smooth when you were much younger.
(Source: “What is Fractional Skin Resurfacing?” INFOGRAPHIC – Cameo: School of Essential Beauty)