After my very first and thorough consultation with Beverly Wilshire’s Head of Aesthetic Medicine, Dr Liow Tiong Sin, I was recommended to Fraxel Treatment, to address my skin concerns.
The entire laser procedure lasts about 10-15 minutes. The nurse will first apply numbing cream on your face to desensitize your face. If you’re not a fan of pain, I suggest you let your face feel like rubber before you get started. Once it soaks in, that’s when they are ready to begin.
There are different frequencies that Fraxel utilizes. During my first treatment, Dr. Liow didn’t go too “deep” as he wanted to see how I would react to the treatment itself. (I find this super important because he prioritizes about your skin reaction first and getting the right results, not pushing too hard on the first treatment).
The following treatments, he was drawing horizontal and vertical lines across my forehead, cheeks, chin, nose and upper lip – accordingly in that order.
After he went through the “runs” on my face, I could feel the heat underneath my skin burning up. The nurse used a machine to blow cold air on my face to reduce the heating from within. Then she placed a cooling face mask for about 20 minutes and it was the most soothing part of the whole procedure. Lastly, she puts some post-laser cream on your face to help with the healing process.
After the procedure, I took a look in the mirror and it looks like a bad sunburn – my face is red, slightly swollen and my skin feels a little chapped. The texture feels dry and scaly like I’ve been skiing all day and the weather has just made everything sensitive. After the first day, the redness and slight swelling starts to subside and my skin starts to look slightly discoloured.
After the second day, if I look closely, the outer layer of my skin darkens and starts to look “dotted”. This is actually the process of my dead skin cells exfoliating away from my new skin. After the third day, if I rub a little on the old skin, it just comes off and I start to see much of my new skin and a much smoother texture. By the fourth day, if I do a very gentle scrub or exfoliation the peeling will be removed except most of parts around my hairline and jawline which are the last to come off.
In total so far, I have gone for 3 treatments. After each time, the recovery period has improved subsequently and my skin gets better each time. I have to look after my skin so wearing sunscreen is important to keep my skin healthy and to keep away from the sun.
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After the first treatment, I noticed slight changes in terms of discolouration. Fraxel had evened out my complexion but some of my scars were still there. When I had the second treatment whereby Dr. Liow increased the depth of the lasers, I could see that my pores were much smaller and a lot of my scars had smoothened out. The third treatment addressed a few more of the deeper pock marks. They say if I go in for one more treatment I would probably clear it all up.
It is so amazing to not have to load up on foundation or “full coverage” make up. I feel confident walking around without makeup because my skin naturally glows. My skin lightened up quite a lot and went a couple shades lighter.
At first I didn’t think there was much of a difference until I kept getting compliments on how my skin was glowing and how amazing it looked. I’ve never been someone who has been known for having amazing skin because I’ve been on heavy oral medication for my acne at least 3 times in my life (just so you have an idea) and I couldn’t believe I was getting compliments on my skin now instead of my make-up.
Makeup artists that had worked with me before told me what a huge difference it was. Some even thought I did some magical treatments to my face because of the glow. Many thought I had reversed the signs of aging citing that I looked younger now than I did about 5 years ago.
I am totally enjoying how my skin looks right now. Whenever I’m in front of the camera or conducting interviews, I am no longer conscious of how I look or if people are scrutinizing my imperfections. I’ve never felt so free or confident before and I really thank my lucky stars for encountering Beverly Wilshire Medical Centre.
Let you know more in the next post what my new skin did for me!
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