I have seen a few of my mom's friends who have gone under the knife for a "lift here" or a "tuck there" and I wanted to cry for them. The idea of injecting something into my skin that eventually gets absorbed into my system and has to be redone again and again in order to keep looking the same ... doesn't sound like a very good long term solution to having a younger, healthier face. Even though I am thirty-something, thanks to my Asian genes I very few wrinkles and fine lines, but my skin does have sun damage and teenage/adult acne scars. I am not a huge fan of wearing foundation or concealer, so my "flaws" are often visible. Who doesn't want gorgeous complexion? I know I do!
For Christmas my dad bought my mom a treatment of IPL (intense pulsed light) Photofacial. She loved the results so much that she got 2 more treatments. My dad was so impressed he got himself 2 treatments. My cousin was also so impressed she had 2 treatments done as well! They all have a significant reduction of sun damage, scaring and age spots. So, when my friend Jen sent me a link to a $99 coupon for IPL on Buy With Me I figured why the hell not!
Today, with 3 vouchers in my wallet, I walked into OasisMD Plastic Surgery & Medical Spa for my IPL consultation. My enhanced image photos showed that my skin has very large pores, sun damage and darker pigmentation on my forehead, scars on my cheeks and around my nose, but minimal deep skin damage. Overall, not so bad.
Top Left: Pores & Wrinkles Image, Top Right: Spots (PL) Image
Bottom Left: Skin Tone Image, Bottom Right: Sports (UV) Image
Unfortunately, because I have "Level 4" skin I am not a good candidate for IPL. The laser could cause hypopigmentation streaks on my forehead which would not be pretty. This ruled out all facial laser treatments and left me with the option of a chemical peel.
Do you remember the episode of Sex and the City when Samantha gets a chemical peel? If not, here is what she looked like when the peel was doing its magic.
The Vi Peel I had done apparently will not have the same drastic effect. I promise to tell you what the next week is like (with photos if you are lucky). So stay tuned ...
