Written By Julie Barker
Maybe you are one of those people who has toyed with the idea of laser treatments, or perhaps your friends are talking about the place they went to because everyone is raving about their beautiful skin! Now you are noticing dark spots on your face that you didn’t notice yesterday, and where did those veins on the sides of your nose come from?! How about that ever nagging thought of “why are my pores making me look like an orange peel?” I think there’s a laser for that ?? !!
Yes, yes there is a laser or treatment for pretty much all things pertaining to beautiful skin! In this blog I will just focus on lasers. Lasers have been around since the 1960’s. However vastly improved in the 1990’s seeing safety and efficacy in treatments for hair removal, rejuvenation, scar reduction, pigmented and vascular lesions as well as tattoo removal. Into the current millennium, the continued development of lasers and their use in skin treatments has become safer, more refined, and produces amazing and stunning results!!
Spending a career learning about, gaining a deep understanding of how lasers work and the incredible results that are achievable with careful and detailed work, I have found that one of the biggest stumbling blocks to clients starting their laser relationship is a fear of the unknown, so I am going to give you all the education ammo for your laser journey that you need to get started.
First: you need to be prepared to hide out a little because the smooth, even beautiful results don’t happen in an instant. Your skin reacts and will generally get worse before it gets better. Worth it in 5-7 days, sometimes a little longer. I’m prepping you so that in your laser education you won’t go try to have an Intense Pulse Light (IPL) two days before a wedding, or your TED talk, or a first date, or a trip to the ocean. Beautiful skin takes time and commitment. I have worked on skin transformations that would make you truly be a believer. Nothing makes me happier than seeing the glowing face of the mother of the bride or noticing a little pep in someone’s step for a first date after coming in for skin laser treatments. It’s amazing how many times patients will state they should have come in sooner for laser hair removal. Now that they are saving time and money not having to shave, or wax and the skin is smooth and bump free.
Second, three to five days before your treatment you’ll need to stop using retinols, AHA’s and such products that are “active” and doing some type of exfoliation for your skin. Those products can make your skin extra sensitive and the risk of having the treatment not go to plan should be reduced.
Third, you’ll want to avoid the sun, that means don’t have a sunburn (no treatments aside from a calming facial should be done at that point) if your skin has a burn it is considered damaged and needs to heal. If you’re tanned, those active melanocytes make the possibility of burning from the laser or hypo-pigmenting (no color on your skin) a much higher risk.
Also, if you’re skin has a lot of sun spots, including moles, and different discolored lesions or if you have ever been diagnosed with a type of skin cancer this can occur. It’s a good idea to see your Dermatologist for a skin check before you start laser treatments.
Fourth: make sure you tell your Esthetician if you have started any new medications or supplements since your last treatment. It may not be a problem at all but sometimes it can cause adverse effects like burning or bruising and it takes that much longer to heal with the intake of certain things. Your Esthetician can adjust the settings for a safer treatment if you communicate well.
Fifth and last for this blog, your Esthetician will recommend products- and this can be very important for the full result of your treatment. We know what works and can customize products to fit your specific skin needs. We do fifty percent of what your skin needs and the other fifty is how you care for it when you’re not with your (B)Estie!! Nourishing your skin with the right product can correct many things in your skin and can make your laser results that much better, if you trust us. Believe me you will want to do your part in that unique, trusting relationship with your Esthetician.
Finding the right Esthetician is crucial too- watch for an upcoming post for the important signs an Esthetician knows what’s what and is one you can trust and book with happily!
