Photo: 123rf
The words “painless” and “acne” don’t usually come together, for obvious reasons. And when put together, they form an oxymoronic phrase.
I believe I almost scoffed a little out loud when the good people at EstheClinic told me that their Intensive Acne Treatment has absolutely zero pain involved – and it’ll still be able to alleviate my acne woes. I mean, coming from someone who’s suffered with acne problems eight years of her life and counting (and am very – ahem – skilled at popping pimples), I wasn’t buying it.
In fact, to add on to my doubt, they told me that the treatment won’t include extractions. Honestly, I was appalled. How else were they going to bust acne?! But that’s what made the thought behind the treatment intruiging – EstheClinic makes use of Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) and light-emitting diodes (LED) as their anti-acne solution.
Photo: EstheClinic
The first step to the treatment was a pain-free IPL session all over my face and neck. High-intensity light pulses help to promote collagen production to rejuvenate and heal acne scars. That means, all the pesky little grey spots – a result of years of itchy fingers – will be soothed and lightened. This lasted for a good 30 minutes; the process was very calming that I actually dozed off for the duration of the IPL session.
A quick layer of serum was applied on my face before the next big step commences.
I shared with my facial therapist that my biggest problem with acne is that my jawline always seems to have inflamed blemishes. These spots were raw, red and at times, painful. And no matter how much I hydrate it, or ice it, or soothe it, the skin just looks messed up all the time.
Photo: EstheClinic
She told me that’s exactly what the LED Photomodulation Treatment will help with. The skin will be exposed to a precise sequence of intensive, but non-thermal blue and red light (that means, pain-free as well). Blue light helps to kill acne bacteria deep within the pores, and red light repairs the skin.
The light panels were placed only centimetres away from my face. The LED process took about 30 minutes as well – admittedly, that part of the entire facial was the dullest. I mean, it was literally light on my face for a good half hour… and truth be told, I wasn’t harbouring any hope of instantly clear skin after that.
I stand corrected. And in that LED process, quite literally saw the light in the whole point of the treatment. Immediately after the entire session (which was also the last step of the facial), I noticed that my skin wasn’t red anymore. Every single red patch has been calmed and soothed, and my skin looked visibly brighter – even without a shred of makeup on.
Gave my skin a day to rest after the treatment, and here’s what I noticed with regards to acne. The facial works on the two extreme of pimple “ripeness”.
For the really angry ones that’s been sitting on my face for days without “ripening” – the facial helped it to develop a whitehead, which makes getting rid of it easier. A gentle push, and the gunk is out. Zero pain.
For the small, “newly-developed” bumps, I realised that the treatments got rid of them entirely. That itself left me impressed.
But here’s what the Intensive Acne Treatment can’t do. It’s not going to help treat blemishes that are in the “in-between” stage (i.e. the dormant kinds that are neither here nor there). You’ll have to let the spot “ripen” itself. But whatever pain, or redness that you’ve been experiencing with it will be lifted away immediately after the treatment.
So, is it for everyone? Definitely. After all, it’s painless. But more than that, it’s an advanced step towards a new age of acne treatments that don’t require any extractions.
The Intensive Acne Treatment costs $380 for face, and $450 for both face and neck. Treatments are 75 minutes and 90 minutes-long respectively.
ALSO READ: 12 EDITOR-APPROVED CONCEALERS THAT WILL HIDE ALL YOUR BLEMISHES
