23 Jul Switch it up for winter!

Our South African sun and outdoor lifestyles limit us from having intensive skin treatments during the summer months.  Winter is therefore the ideal time to step up your skincare and have more invasive treatments because:

• Less sun exposure allows for a more comfortable healing process 
• Temporary skin barrier impairment may induce inflammation within the skin causing sun sensitivity for the duration of the healing time

What does “Intensifying your skin care treatment” mean?

Intensifying your winter skin care treatments usually requires working on a deeper level of the skin – targeting the area of the skin requiring “work”.

The 1^st layer of the skin

• Your full epidermal peels, such as TCA peels, assist in removing the entire epidermis and will result in a flaky, dry skin for up to 7 days.  This peel is ideal for irregular skin texture, epidermal pigmentation and general skin rejuvenation.  The peel may be repeated after 2 weeks for a series of 1-3 peels, and you will be required to prepare the skin with a barrier cream and pigment suppressor from home for 3-5 days prior to treatment. This type of peel is best performed in late Autumn and through the winter months.
• Lighter chemical peels can be used to improve skin texture, superficial pigmentation, mild acne and general skin condition.  There is minimal to no downtime required for these treatments and they can be repeated every 2-4 weeks, depending on the skin condition and type of peel recommended.  Your skin will be sun sensitive for 3 days and a good broad-spectrum SPF needs to be applied, even in the winter months. 

The 2nd layer of the skin

Rejuvenation treatments generally target both the epidermis and the dermis and generally cause a bit of downtime while the skin heals.  This may be seen as redness, mild swelling, flakiness and sensitivity.  The dermal area consists of the Fibroblast cells required for collagen and elastin production.  Fibroblasts are stimulated by the following treatments:

Dermapen

Non-ablative laser 

Hydrapen 

 A series of treatments is recommended between 4-6 weeks apart, depending on the type of treatment.  These assist with softening of fine lines, improvement of skin texture, acne and surgical scarring and improvement of hyperpigmentation. 

For an interactive graphic on what treatments reach which layers of this kin follow this link MASC | How deep do we treat? (masclaser.co.za)

Winter is also the ideal time to start with laser hair removal to prepare you for a ‘hair free’ summer.  The technology in laser hair removal is mainly based on skin tone, the less melanin (tan) you have the better the results – as the laser can better target the pigment/melanin in the hair.  A course of 6-8 treatments is recommended with intervals of 4-6 weeks. 

So, take the opportunity now to rejuvenate and revitalise your skin, as well as hair free and bikini ready before the much-loved summer months return.