Durban Laser Clinic

So this is a first for me.
I don’t think I’ve ever shared pics of myself in a post, let alone a close up.
We all know I’m not a fashion or beauty blogger – so sharing pics of myself in any format was always going to be a big challenge – I take my hat off to those bloggers who do it regularly!
But I know that it’s not just me who battles with pigmentation & sun damaged skin, so I put my big girl panties on and am sharing my journey with you of how I’ve transformed my skin over the last few months at Durban Laser Clinic.

Just first off – I have never been that girl who lies on the beach and tans, the sun damage I have was caused pre-sixteen, in the days when I used to go to the beach or swim in a pool and my face would get burnt and my nose and cheeks peeled in sheets – we really were all so dumb about sun care back then.

The only treatment I have ever done on my face was botox when I turned 30 – even though I didn’t need it – and it ended up being far too pricey to maintain. I have regular facials and have used Dermalogica for years, until giving it up last year and switching to Bioderma, which I love.
However, every single line and crease looks like a crater to me and pigmentation & sunspots make me look even older. One word of advice if you’re not doing so already – wear factor 50 on your face EVERYDAY! Under makeup or over makeup, just wear it, you don’t have to be tanning to get burnt. Because I promise you, age is not kind to sun damaged skin – it’s not a pretty sight sans makeup.

I have the trifecta of messed up skin – broken capillaries/redness, sun damage/freckles and rough/uneven patches – yippee!
Actually, you can add enlarged pores to that too – I’m lucky like that – so only a select few get to see me without a shred of makeup – except now you lot who get to see me in all my, um, non-glory.

I knew very little about the different kinds of skin treatments available and was quite nervous, so when I first met with Marinda Scholtz Steyn I gave her the third degree! She didn’t bat an eyelid and after reassuring me, gave me the rundown on the condition of my skin, as well as the different treatments she’d recommend to target problem areas and then devised a course of treatments, which I’ve followed for the last 4 months.

So here’s the first photo taken of me before any treatments – hello freckles and sun spots!!!

Because of the extent of my pigmentation, freckles and sunspots Marinda started with IPL – a photo rejuvenation treatment, to target the brown spots caused by sun damage, and aging. A cold gel was first applied to the area to be treated and then the handpiece held against my skin, which emitted a very bright pulse of light, which kind of felt like a sharp prick, but it immediately subsided. I won’t lie, it gives you a bit of a fright and for me it was quite sore, but as soon as it was sore, it immediately wasn’t anymore and it was time to move to the next spot. It took about 20 zaps to cover my face and I was quite red afterwards – like this:

Avene Spring Water was used to cool my face down and after a few minutes, factor 50 Heliocare was applied and off I went – all in all about a 45-minute treatment. Over the next few hours, the sunspots I could always see on my face darkened considerably and I looked like someone had thrown brown paint at me. Then sunspots I never even knew were there emerged and I was actually quite horrified at how damaged my skin really was, seeing as I don’t go in the sun at all anymore.

By the next morning, my whole face was covered in dark patches of skin which over the next few days turned into very dry, flaky patches. Moisturising was key and I was given additional Bioderma products to use over this time and I also bought a Bioderma face wash from Clicks.
The dry patches started to flake off after 4-5 days and I was honestly amazed at the results – it was if my freckles were just falling off! My skin tone evened out substantially and I kept checking the before pics of each angle of my face and then looking in the mirror, to discover that there were no marks, or they had completely lightened where they’d once been.

Here are some pics to show you the changes – I made the last 2 black and white so you can see how much my skin tone evened out.

So round one – super successful!

I followed up 4 weeks later with another IPL treatment, this time carried out by Mandy, Marinda’s assistant, along with an underarm hair removal treatment. I was very sceptical about this, as my sister had it done years ago and said it was extremely painful and it didn’t work at all, but after just one treatment at Durban Laser Clinic I had substantially less hair growth and it doesn’t hurt AT ALL, so I’m now hooked and will be doing a series of these treatments too.

After 2 rounds of IPL, I then had a PCA chemical face peel. These peels are applied in layers, resulting in overall exfoliation, allowing a new layer of skin to grow and evening out your skin tone. I didn’t feel a thing – this was completely non-invasive and is a quick and easy way to give your skin a major pep up – I was glowing afterwards. Over the next few days, my skin peeled very slightly on my cheeks and chin mostly, with a little peeling on my forehead and my skin looked and felt super plump and healthy. I did not look like a tomato and my face did not peel in big sheets as most people presume happens with a skin peel. You cannot go in the sun at all after these peels – which was easy for me – and I used a lot of moisturiser and sunscreen, so my only issue was a few pesky zits in the creases of my nose, but this almost always happens when I use lots of sunscreen.

I have since had one more face peel, as my skin is being prepared for a new round of laser treatment, this time to target my uneven skin surface and enlarged pores – I cannot wait for those results!

So hopefully you haven’t been scared off seeing such up close and personal pics of me!
I really cannot recommend the team at Durban Laser Clinic enough – I’m thrilled with the results so far and have been so happy with the personalised course of treatment put together for me and their attention to each issue I have with my skin.
I’ll be sharing the results of the next round of laser treatment, so do let me know if you have any questions on any of the treatments I’ve had.

You can contact Marinda or Mandy at Durban Laser Clinic for any queries:
59 Kensington Drive (Adelaide Tambo Drive), Durban North
email admin@durbanlaserclinic.co.za or call 031 564 9834.