Common questions we receive each January

• What is the best treatment for my skin type?

The best treatment is the one that achieves the results you are looking for. These are just some of the areas that our clients look for help with:

• Acne
• Scars
• Pigmentation problems
• Sun damage
• Thread veins
• Rosacea
• Wrinkles

When assessing what treatment will achieve the results you want, your clinic needs to consider the various properties of your skin. There is no one size fits all.

Your skin type will be one of 6 types within the Fitzpatrick system – although within each type there will be variations:

• Type I Extremely fair skin, always burns, never tans
• Type II Fair skin, always burns, sometimes tans
• Type III Medium skin, sometimes burns, always tans
• Type IV Olive skin, rarely burns, always tans
• Type V Moderately pigmented brown skin, never burns, always tans
• Type VI Markedly pigmented black skin, never burns, always tans

Then your skin condition will usually fit within one of these descriptions:

• Oily, clogged pores, severe breakouts
• Oily, combination, occasional breakouts, anti-aging
• Oily, combination, sensitive, consistent breakouts
• Oily, combination, sensitive, occasional breakouts
• Normal, sensitive, red, anti-aging
• Normal, anti-aging.
• Dry, tired, aging

Your clinic will give guidance on the best treatment for your skin and the changes you want to make, using experience, knowledge and empathy to give you an honest assessment. For example, a 50 year old won’t be able to achieve the skin of a 20-year old. But they can have a younger looking skin. Really bad sun damage will never go away completely, but it can be improved enormously.

• How can I make my skin look younger?

There are many products available over the counter that promise rejuvenated skin with wildly varying price tags. The truth is that these products are unlikely to make a lasting difference in older skin. For this, you will get better results from a prescription-only product, like Obagi Nu-Derm. Nu-Derm is prescription-only because some of the products contain 4% hydroquinone, an active ingredient that will make a real difference to your skin’s appearance. The treatment will take between 16 to 24 weeks, after which you can move to non-prescription Obagi products.

Your clinic should not just offer a free consultation but also provide free reviews with a trained clinician, so you can discuss how the treatment is going, any concerns you have, and ensure that you are following the treatment programme correctly.

You can of course look at aesthetic treatments too, including chemical peels, dermal fillers, skin needling, thread lifts, Botox and IPL. An established, high quality clinic will want to find out exactly what you would like to achieve from your treatment, and which specific problem areas you want to tackle, whether that is wrinkles around the eyes or lips, sagging skin, thread veins or liver spots.

You need to be sure that the clinic you choose is committed to achieving a natural look rather than a frozen Hollywood stare!

• What’s the best way to ensure hair free skin?

It may only be January but thoughts of summer holidays, weddings and festivals start to come to mind. Maybe you would love to have hair free legs, or perhaps you are conscious about hair in a particular area, such as your upper lip.

Laser hair removal is one of the best methods of permanently removing hair. The laser beams heat up your hair follicles, destroying them and permanently preventing them from producing new hair.

As a general rule for laser hair removal, you will need 6 to 8 sessions to get the best results and make a real and permanent difference – this could take 6 months or more, so January is a good time to start!

Things to consider when choosing a clinic include what laser machines are used, if they provide a free consultation, what their reviews say, whether the clinic offers a results guarantee and payment plans.

Where do I start?

There’s only one way to start – go online and find a clinic local to you that gives a wide range of treatments. Then look at their reviews, find out what their clients say. Check out whether they offer a results guarantee, what payment plans they have in place. See if they talk about their staff, what training they’ve had and how experienced they are. Do they provide lots of helpful information on their website?

We’re proud of our own track record for all of the above, so if you want to measure other clinics against us, please take a look at our reviews here, and check out our website knowledge base that provides plenty of information on the treatments available, based on our experience.

And if you would like to find out more book your free consultation online now by clicking here or call us on 020 868 36730.

Wishing you all the best for a New Year; New Start; New You!